Race Analysis from the Bielsko-Biala EDR World Cup 2024

The second round of the 2024 Enduro World Cup has wrapped up after riders faced a fresh challenge in Poland. The racing provided interesting results and tight overall race finishes, so let's get into the stats.

Course Details

Stage 1
Kamieniolom: 2km / 275m descent - Stage 1

Stage 2
Dziabar: 3.7km / 524m descent - Stage 2

Stage 3
Debowiec: 2.5km / 336m descent - Stage 3

Stage 4
Cygan: 2.5km / 305m descent - Stage 4

Stage 5
DH+: 1.8km / 283m descent - Stage 5

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Race Results

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Elite Women

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1st. Isabeau Courdurier: 27:23.465
2nd. Hattie Harnden: 27:23.701 / +0.236
3rd. Chloe Taylor: 27:37.527 / +14.062
4th. Estelle Charles: 27:41.365 / +17.900
5th. Ella Conolly: 27:45.812 / +22.347

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Elite Men

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1st. Charlie Murray: 23:42.034
2nd. Slawomir Lukasik: 23:42.129 / +0.095
3rd. Richie Rude: 23:44.832 / +2.798
4th. Jack Moir: 23:51.459 / +9.425
5th. Jesse Melamed: 24:03.739 / +21.705




Full results, here.

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Stage by Stage Results

Overall Stage Positions

Stage 1:


Stage 2:


Stage 3:


Stage 4:


Stage 5:


Stage Rankings

Stage 1:


Stage 2:


Stage 3:


Stage 4:


Stage 5:

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Story of the Race

Women

After stage one gave an early lead to Ella Conolly, there would be a big shakeup in the results during the second stage as Chloe Taylor surged into the race lead by 9.2 seconds. After stage three, just 0.094 seconds were splitting Isabeau Courdurier, Hattie Harnden and Chloe Taylor as last week's top two finishes fought back from deficits of over 13 seconds after the previous stage. The penultimate stage saw Taylor hang onto Courdurier and Harnden as the top three were split by just 3.6 seconds into the final stage. Courdurier put in a big effort on stage five as she went 2.487 seconds up on Harnden to secure the round two victory by 0.236 seconds.

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Men

Once again, stage two was crucial in the racing today as Charlie Murray bested Richie Rude by 2.195 seconds and put himself into the race lead. After losing time on the second stage, Slawomir Lukasik started his comeback on stage three as he would be unmatched for the rest of the race, picking up three back-to-back stage wins. Sadly, Lukasik couldn't take a dream home country race victory as, despite his best efforts, he ended the day 0.095 seconds behind Murray.

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Stage Breakdown

Women:


Across all five stages, Isabeau Courdurier only went fastest in the final stage, instead making up time against her competitors with consistent stage results. Courdurier ended the day as the only elite woman to place inside the top five across every stage and crucially was able to go 1.54 seconds up on closest rival Hattie Harnden on the second stage of the day that seemed to act as a deciding factor in both races.


Comparing the finish spread percentages across each of the five stages, Chloe Taylor's stage two victory, was the biggest of the day as the gap to 2nd amounted to 2.77%. The remaining stages had a gap to second ranging from 0.73 to 1.05%. While stage two certainly had a big effect on the results, the gap between the top 10 and the race leader was evenly matched with the third stage as they sit on 5.82% and 5.98% respectively. The final stage saw the biggest split of the top ten with a 6.78% difference to Isabeau Courdurier's winning stage time.

Men:


Similar to Isabeau Courdurier's victory, with only one stage victory the key to Charlie Murray securing his first EDR World Cup win was a steady ride with no stage finishes outside the top five. With the race coming down to just 0.095 seconds, it is clear Slawomir Lukasik lost the fight for a home World Cup win in stage two as he gave up 7.12 seconds to Murray. Although Lukasik was quicker through stages three, four and five, he was not able to completely pull back the gap.


The brand-new course in Poland truly brought some of the closest racing we have seen in quite a while with very close margins throughout the day. Alongside the tiny 0.095-second winning margin, every stage was decided by less than 0.83% of the winning stage time. The first stage couldn't have been much closer between Richie Rude and Jack Moir as the pair created the closest percentage margin of the day at an incredible 0.05%. The next closest stage was the fourth, where Slawomir Lukasik led Jack Moir by 0.24%. Across the race, the top five riders on a stage were never split by more than 2.33% of the winning time.

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Overall Standings

Full results, here.

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Posted In:
Racing and Events Enduro Racing Nerding Out Race Analysis EDR Bielsko-Biala 2024 World Cup Enduro