Stay On - Enduro World Series, Round 2 - Tweedlove
As the sun rose over the Tweed Valley this morning 600 racers were getting ready to take the trail for the second round of the Enduro World Series in 2014. Starting from the town green in Peebles, they would then head some 15km to Innerleithen and climb up into the hills. By the end of the day they would have tackled 50km and 1400m climbing, on some of the most demanding trails we've yet seen in the EWS. Tracy Hannah was joking that Fort William will be less intimidating next week after this... It's going to be a tough weekend of racing, the key to winning? Simply to stay on the bike. The chances are that the winners this weekend will be the riders who don't override the tracks and keep things clean over both days.
www.enduroworldseries.com
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 Shaun Hughes puts the final touches to Graves' bike for a race many people expect him to win. |
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| Ben Cruz took full advantage of the morning sun to warm his bones. Warm sunny skies were a welcome sight for racers, but the tracks still remained slicker than snot on a doorknob in the woods. |
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| With stickers fixed to all the major parts of the bikes first thing this morning, it was time to head out and get racing. |
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| Jerome Clementz- out, but not down. While most racers might find it difficult to be in a racing environment while injured, Jerome was all smiles and on course cheering everyone on. |
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| Joe Barnes was all focus as he headed to the stage at the start this morning. |
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| Timing chip readers for all of the stages lined up and ready to go this morning. |
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| The top riders were accompanied off the start line by local kids from the cycling clubs. |
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| From Peebles there was a 15km transfer along the valley floor to Innerleithen and the race course. Times were tight - there was just an hour and a half to cover the valley and the climb up to the stage. |
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| Tracy Moseley opened her account today with a win on stage one. |
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| Nico Lau tearing through the grass to a win on stage one. |
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| Anneke Beerten ripping into the second stage of the day and into the steepest bits of track on course. |
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| Sic Mic coming to grips with the slick steeps of stage two. |
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| Much of the racing was through the dense, wild forest. |
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| Martin Maes saddle, post-stage 2. Nobody should be surprised that the wild, young Belgian is hard on his bike parts. |
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| At the timing check after stage 2 riders were given a printout with their stage times, there was a little wait to see how it all stacked up, and it's plain to see how much the top guys wanted to know how they were doing. |
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| A knackered Andrew Shandro escapes the sun and contemplates the next two stages. "I had a great day today, it was challenging, but I really enjoyed it and I made some great friends along the way. These enduro races have been a very humbling experience for me." |
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| With all of our trusty steeds loaded up on the media van, we load up and head to the top of the next stage after a short break at the bottom of stage two. |
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| Anne-Caroline Chausson was keeping it relaxed today, taking a little nap in the sunshine before stage 3. |
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| When we predicted that Tracy Moseley would be a fair bit of the mens field, we didn't suspect quite how many though. In the standings she is currently sitting on 88th overall - meaning she's ahead of around 500 men. She swept every stage today and it seems that the technical tracks and long pedals are really playing to her strengths. |
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| Florian Nicolai was just about in touch this evening, but a 30 second deficit to the leaders may be a bridge to far in his hunt for a maiden victory, but a podium is surely still within his grasp though. |
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| This is what enduro is all about - racing hard, but then riding with your buddies. |
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| The top of stage three is a perfect, light grey line of rock, flowing through the open moorland. Photographers heaven, in other words. |
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| Francois Bailly-Maitre is living up to his claim that he had the speed to win in Chile, winning stage 3 today, held back only by a 15th on stage 2. |
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| While Joe Barnes may be Scottish, he actually lives a good few hours north, so this isn't strictly home turf for him. However, living further north means the hills become mountains and the rain more continual - so he is used to this style of riding. That comfort in these conditions has translated to second overall this evening. There is still another day of racing to come, but at this rate he could be fighting for his first EWS victory. |
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| Jesse Melamed repeated the form he showed in the Whistler round of the EWS last year, smashing his way up to 16th in the overall standings - the top Canadian by a fair stretch. |
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| Greg Callaghan put in a storming ride this today, sitting fifth in the overall standings this evening. |
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| Steve Peat was cursing a flat on stage one, but by the time we saw him again on stage three he was charging again. |
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| Tricky tip of the day from Anneke Beerten: Carry an old toothbrush for freshening up that haggard, mud choked rear derailleur pulley. |
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| Anne Caroline Chausson is sitting in second at the end of day one. ACC charged hard today but just couldn't keep up with Moseley. |
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| Off camber rooty evil waited everywhere in the woods and took down more than one racer. |
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| Jared Graves had a hard time coming to grips with the tracks at Inners today. Graves finished twenty-eighth, surely not the result he was hoping for today. |
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| Nico Lau is sitting in first after day one. The frenchman was not with out mishaps though, "I had a good pace through the stages. I made a couple of mistakes, it's very difficult to have a clean run here." |
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| Curtis Keene said he knows it's going to be difficult to out pedal the locals here in Scotland, so he's putting everything he has into his runs. |
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| Light to dark was definitely a factor in today's racing. Brilliant sunsine for Sik Mik one second, and then blinding darkness the next. |
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| Breakthrough ride of the weekend has to be Damien Oton. He hasn't really showed his pace at the EWS before, but was pushing for the win against Clementz and Nicolai at the last French national round a few weeks ago, but fourth this evening is marking him as a rider to keep an eye on this season. |
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| Mean and green trails here in Scotland. Ripping fast singletrack and DH level trails. |
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| Bottom of the 4th stage was easy access for fans and beautiful Scottish forests. |
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| Be willing to get loose and lay off the brakes. Trust your bike and let it dance. That is the key to holding on here in the Valley Tweed. |
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| Steve Peat was bandaging up the battle wounds from the rough and unforgiving Scottish terrain. |
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| CG comedy show. |
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| Manuel Ducci may have broke his ankle in training, but his spirit's still in the race here at Tweedlove. Note the plate on the crutches... |
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| Ruaridh Cunningham has been slaying these trails for years, and he sits in sixteenth overall at the end of day one. "I've been riding here all my life, but I haven't raced like this. I'm used to DH, but this has been amazing fun." |
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| This missing time stamp of stage four on Michael Hannah's race slip. Race organizers recovered the missing times and Hannah is sitting in thirty-eighth. He was 20 plus seconds off Lau on stage four. |
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| Ah, the sunny skies of Scotland. Open vistas and mountain tops covered in heather were a welcome sight in the Tweed Valley today. While the higher altitudes dried out, the woods remained wet and still posed a problem for many. The results show just how challenging these tracks are. Now we wait and see what Glentress serves up tomorrow. |
www.enduroworldseries.com
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Good to see current and past pro DH'ers taking part
The Santa Cruz Tallboy gives me a Tallboy know what im sayin?
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Great coverage, awesome pictures. That' s why I go on Pinkbike
Are full faced helmets not needed?