Race Day Photo Epic: Pietra Ligure Enduro World Cup 2023
Morgane Charre and Jesse Melamed stamped their authority on the trails of Pietra Ligure to triumph at the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup in Finale Outdoor Region. The pair took two stage wins apiece and were simply too consistently fast for their rivals on six fast, chunky and technical tracks above the azure waters of the Ligurian Sea in Italy.
After a huge 56km day, France’s Charre had a fairly comfortable win margin of nearly 14s over second-placed local hero Gloria Scarsi, with last year’s champion Isabeau Courdurier in third. Charre came out swinging and won the first two stages of the day - both around 10 minutes of riding and the longest in the race by some margin. As a result, she led all day despite a strong challenge from Scarsi, who took a later stage and was buoyed by a vocal and partisan local crowd to her best-ever result on the world stage.
In the men’s race it took Canadian Melamed a stage to get going but then he found his pace, took a stage win and held the lead for the rest of what was a massive day in the saddle with more than 2,000m of climbing and 3,100m of descending. Melamed’s biggest threat came from his countryman Rhys Verner who took the first stage of the day along with the fifth. That meant, at the close of play, he was only five seconds back after nearly 30 minutes against the clock. Frenchman Alex Rudeau won a stage and had two seconds places to finish less than a second behind Verner in third.
In the U21 race, it was a dominating win for Canadian Emmy Lan of the Forbidden Synthesis Team, France’s Lily Planquart was second and Lan’s compatriot Elly Hoskin was third. The U21 men was a win for Raphael Giambi, Scotland’s William Brodie was second and Giambi’s fellow Frenchman Alexis Icardo ended up third.
The team of the day were Canyon CLLCTV Factory Enduro Team but after three EDR rounds in 2023, Yeti/Fox Factory Racing lead the team standings.
Finale Ligure
The beautiful alley way of Pietra Ligure
Dry and loose as
Alex Storr looked like he was enjoying himself in the dust and ended the day in 16th
Dark woods and harsh sun in the June heat
Series leader Richie Rude has a huge crash on Stage 2 that resulted in a damaged front brake, a destroyed kneepad, and a gash to his elbow. He would salvage 8th on the day
Morgane Charre looked fast and confident in the loose conditions and was never really challenged for the victory
5th for Melanie Pugin
Tree dodging in finale
Bex Barona didn't quite have the pace of the opening to rounds, and the current series leader ended the day in 7th
Jose Borges on the limit of grip in the blown-out conditions
Hometown hero Gloria Scarsi took home 2nd in the women's race
An off day for Hattie Harnden in 9th
Seth Sherlock on Stage 2
In contention but just not quite up to pace was Slawomir Lukasik in 6th
6th for Rae Morrison
Top 10 for Youn Deniaud
The loudest cheers were for the Italian Champ Tommaso Francardo who would end the day 7th
Alex Rudeau would make his second-ever podium appearance to take 3rd
The riding in Finale is always a game of trying to dodge trees while trying to keep speed and flow
Spot Miranda Miller in the tight trees
Back on form and back on top for defending champion Jesse Melamed
Louis Jeandel in 9th
Rumor has it GT paid out Noga Korem's contract mid-season and essentially cut her from the team. We don't know the details but she was in Finale racing on a Commencal as a privateer
11th for Jack Moir
Andreane Lanthier-Nadeau said this was the first race she was able to do without the pain of a nagging ankle injury, and is finally beginning to feel her race form return.
Raphaela Richter took 4th in the women's race, her best result of the season
Dimitri Tordo used his knowledge of the tracks to his advantage to take 4th.
Rhys Verner came out swinging with a win on Stage 1 and would battle up front all day long to take his best every Enduro World Cup result with a 2nd
Morgane Charre was simply unbeatable today and took a commanding lead start top finish
Defending Champ Isabeau Courdurier giving chase, but could only manage third this weekend
Martin Maes drifting it through the blown out conditions on Stage 4
Morgane Charre, Gloria Scarsi, and Isabeau Courdurier wash off the dust with a little champagne from atop the podium in Finale
Jesse Melamed, Rhys Verner, and Alex Rudeau on the podium in Finale
Ciao Finale
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- Deniaud also win a stage and had a huge crash loosing time.
- Començal Flat pedal Team, and Rudeau using Telemetry on trainning
- Jesse using the strive for first time on competition followed only by few sec by his team mate party boy with the Spectral. Both on Air.
- Look at that flexing shoe on Maes on that compression... wondering which is the right balance with sole stiffness and bending for performing well on EDR...
- Rude on Coil, Luvastik on Air
- Jesse´s fork seemed to dive so deep on the travel on the videos... Perhaps for better cornering and lower center gravity.
- Trail bikes performs ( 4th and 5th)
But it for sure does not seem that she got a fair chance to find another team as they offered a new contract…
Goo luck Noga!
PLEASE!
Understand that he's running the same Scarab Evo that Sophie was running until last year.
(R. Richter can't be riding an Ibis...based on the top tube...and according to Ibis)
lightroom.adobe.com/shares/dadfd2b3af5e49c18252b1f9b3f324ab
Hope you like it