Race Recap: RockShox Enduro Challenge - Mt Buller
Mt Buller, one of Australia's iconic mountain biking destinations held the inaugural Rockshox Enduro Challenge powered by Sram in crisp summer conditions on the first weekend in February. An unprecedented race format in Australia, the event and series are modelled off the Enduro World Series, and certainly represented the epic nature of the renowned events. Spread over six stages, and multiple gruelling liaison linking trails, even top riders were visibly feeling it during what would be their first major enduro race for 2015.
As many riders had arrived a couple of days before the event, most had done a hard day's riding around the entire course in the days leading up to the event, giving themselve an opportunity to recover from practice. With 6 stages to practice and race, transitioning downhillers were in a new element with far more trail to recall and execute come race day. While the trails were typically less intense than downhill, mistakes that lost momentum were as costly as ever.
Saturday evening held the 'Prologue' race, which would determine seeding for riders based on their times on the short Village Run - the final stage of the Sunday's event.
Cool temperatures and bluebird skies made for ideal racing conditions on Sunday, and after a short rider briefing the trails were alive.
With the first round done and dusted, riders look forward to the next Australian Rockshox Enduro Challenge held in Toowoomba, QLD on March 8th.
View full results here.
MENTIONS: @SramMedia, @yeticycles
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As many riders had arrived a couple of days before the event, most had done a hard day's riding around the entire course in the days leading up to the event, giving themselve an opportunity to recover from practice. With 6 stages to practice and race, transitioning downhillers were in a new element with far more trail to recall and execute come race day. While the trails were typically less intense than downhill, mistakes that lost momentum were as costly as ever.
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 Saturday's practice saw many riders sessioning Outlaw Express, one of two lift assisted trails to be raced and perhaps the most technically demanding. |
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| #soenduro. |
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| The second half of the powerful Yeti EWS team, Richie was looking very quick all weekend. |
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| Mike slaying turns and looking ultra-comfortable on the enduro steed. |
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| It was smiles all round the entire weekend from Troy, not only did he pick up second place, but he had a ball doing it, we never saw him without a smile on his face! |
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| Dominating the course like only Jared can, first stage almost complete, laying a huge gap between his next closest rival. |
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| Stage 5 met up with Buller's famous International DH trail in sections, for some high-speed open trail action and many opportunities for sneaky grass lines. |
Saturday evening held the 'Prologue' race, which would determine seeding for riders based on their times on the short Village Run - the final stage of the Sunday's event.
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| Only 800m in length, riders needed to nail it top to bottom to secure a good starting position on Sunday morning. Stage 6 varied greatly, presenting riders with grassy flat and off camber turns, steep stair rollers and tight forest sections. |
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| Jackson Davis bringing his downhill prowess to the enduro game, smashing the loose fire road on his 650B Specialized Enduro. |
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| Top Dog for the first round of the SRAM Enduro series, Jared Graves keeping it fast and wide open even on the flat corners. |
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| Matt Dodd screams down the inside line on the fire trail during the prologue seeding event on Saturday afternoon, approaching a tight left hander into the woods. |
Cool temperatures and bluebird skies made for ideal racing conditions on Sunday, and after a short rider briefing the trails were alive.
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| Mike Jones at full pace through stage 1, which he held throughout all stages. |
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| Putting the power down, Jerome puts some work into stepping his plate up to the number one position. |
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| Graves proving once again why he is dominant in the sport, with astounding speed and style at the end of Stage 1. |
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| Troy rails a lower flow section of the Stonefly descent, during his race run. |
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| While stage 3 was a predominantly descending trail, getting to the top involved a brutal singletrack or access road climb - while the climb was a liaison stage, riders were feeling the pain by the top and many made the most of the opportunity to recover before dropping in. |
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| Lunch was in order post stage 3 with a quick break. |
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| When the team mechanic gets to ride, there's ear to ear grins! Shaun Hughes, Jared Graves and Richie Rude's team mechanic came out for a pedal to watch his boys dominate. |
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| The course claimed a few through out the day, with Muddy picking up some bonus stitches after stage 3. |
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| Flat Pedals are still winning medals, well...not quite this time, but enough to get Sam up into 5th spot on the podium. |
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| Local, and World Trail track builder Ryan De La Rue aka "Muffin" blasted his way into 3rd only a tiny margin behind Troy and Jared. |
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| Jerome Clementz didn't pick up a spot on the podium, but still looked very comfortable on the bike half a world from home. |
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| Elite Men: 1. Jared Graves, 2. Troy Brosnan, 3. Ryan De La Rue, 4. Richie Rude, 5. Sam Hill. |
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| Elite Women: Peta Mullens was on fire, taking first place 28:07 ahead of Brodie Chapman, 28:42 and Claire Whiteman 29:08. Having also taken the recent Road National Championship title in Ballarat, Mullens is showing promise for a big year of racing. Pauline Dieffenthaler and Sasha Harrington rounded out the women's podium respectively in a field of 12 elites. |
With the first round done and dusted, riders look forward to the next Australian Rockshox Enduro Challenge held in Toowoomba, QLD on March 8th.
View full results here.
MENTIONS: @SramMedia, @yeticycles
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Must Read This Week
Check out the breadth and depth of the mens field, then check out the podium:
1. Jared Graves, 2. Troy Brosnan, 3. Ryan 'Muffin' De La Rue, 4. Richie Rude, 5. Sam Hill.
Notice anything? 3rd place. Now THAT is the story of the weekend. Look forward to seeing Muff in the EWS one day!
Re-read the the bike check.
"It will take more than an enduro race to convince Sam Hill trade out his flat pedals for clips"