Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win Round One of the Enduro World Series?

May 17, 2013
by Matt Wragg  
Nobody likes to admit they don't know. But as the first ever round of the Enduro World Series at Punta Ala hurtles towards us this weekend, the truth is that nobody knows how it's going to shake down when the racing starts. A lot of people are familiar with the Superenduro format, but no enduro race has ever seen this kind of field. Then there's the question of pre-season training, with the level going up like this year, who's really been putting in the winter miles? Throw in a lot of new riders turning to the discipline and you have a big unknown.

Al hucking.

Al Stock going big in practice for last year's race.



Jerome Clementz has shown good form, winning the first round of the Superenduro season a month ago and Metabief last weekend, but then Fabien Barel edged him to the win at the Lake Garda Specialized/SRAM enduro a few weeks ago. Fabien has lost a lot of weight this year, adapting his strength from the explosive power of downhill to the endurance fitness needed to win in enduro races. Dan Atherton dominated the last Superenduro he raced last October, but has changed trainer this winter was slightly off the pace in Garda, winding up in fourth. Nico Vouilloz is, well, Nico Vouilloz, anybody who even needs to ask why he's in the hunt should read up on downhill history. Joe Barnes might be one to watch, in Garda he won one stage and claimed two solid seconds, before punctures put an end to his hopes. Or Ben Cruz, who was also plagued by punctures at Garda. Al Stock very nearly beat everyone at the race here in Punta Ala last year, denied by a crash on stage four, and he's got new handlebars and is looking lean and hungry. Remy Absalon has been very, very quiet recently, is he quietly building a head of steam? What about the Italians? Davide Sottocornola, Alex Lupato, Andrea Bruno... this is home turf and everybody wants to put on a show for the home crowd. Then there are the riders who made the jump to enduro recently - Jared Graves, Curtis Keene, Justin Leov. Not to forget the downhillers who are coming outside their World Cup schedule - current DH world champion Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat, Cedric Gracia, Josh Bryceland, Sam Blenkinsop, Cam Cole. There is no doubting their speed on the descents, but do they have the legs to be competitive over a 60km loop? Or is someone we haven't even thought about just going to lightning-fire out of the blue beyond and destroy everyone?

Who do you think will be standing on that top step come Sunday?

Take the Pinkbike Poll

Who do you think will win the first round of the Enduro World Series this weekend?





Author Info:
mattwragg avatar

Member since Oct 29, 2006
753 articles

138 Comments
  • 41 1
 I think Minnaar is going to surprise a lot of people, I'd argue that he's the fastest out of anyone on the downhill sections and I reckon he has the legs to last the whole distance. Other person to watch IMO is Graves, he's been winning road races here in AUS and a solid finish at the National champs in both the DH and XC means he's on form for the win!
  • 13 0
 I voted Fabien but I totally agree with Minnaar and Graves being tough contenders too. Good luck to them all.
  • 6 0
 I know Greg does 350-400km in road rides a week as part of training, he's definitely got the endurance to do super well. have to wait and see!
  • 2 0
 Would love to see Cole or Blenkinsop win it also being from NZ, however i think its hard to look past Dan
  • 2 0
 This will be an epic battle, i guess! All the big dogs are there, and what more, the some of the best from the past. Cannot wait for it!
  • 60 4
 All I want is to see someone on a 26" win by a large margin. That would make my day.
  • 6 0
 What's a GC?
  • 6 2
 My money is on Jerome. Also this Enduro series may be more exciting to folloe than WC DH this year. I would love to see Joe Barnes tear some shit up too!
  • 6 4
 Who cares about the winner, which fork is going to win the marzocchi vs rockshox battle a brewing?
  • 3 0
 Since when's Graves been winning road races back here at home? hahahaha
  • 1 1
 Ya I saw Graves riding road before. He a beast on any bike, can your imagine him as a sprinter on a team. Throw a huge curve ball at the whole pack, thats what these road teams love doing.
  • 3 4
 Gay cow?
  • 4 4
 Ginger cat?
  • 4 2
 Random words too you to broby.
  • 15 2
 Dan atherton for the win, when he starts to pedal the earth spins the other way. Wink
  • 4 1
 I picked Fabien, it seems some others agree, lol
  • 6 1
 I picked Greg, and I think he is capable of winning, but I think that he will hold back a bit so that he doesn't get hurt before DH season begins. I think he will upset Aaron Gwin for the World Cup title this year in DH.
  • 2 0
 Yeah I have to agree he's been hot on Gwin's heels.
  • 2 0
 ben cruz is gonna win!!!!!!
  • 2 0
 giant caterpillar?
  • 21 0
 hey, PB. any chance for bike checks?! would love to see what these riders' bike set-ups are!
  • 4 0
 I second that
  • 4 0
 Go Quere!! Big Grin
  • 2 0
 Martin Maes
  • 1 1
 hemplers.com
  • 1 0
 I taking Yankees all the way thru world series if Mariano stays healthy. Jetter better get something going this is redicilous. His towel boy makes money money than the whole pinkbike community and he still not playing. I work for the Yankees so I gett the inside goods. Tonight I taking a breather, too much party hardy. I had some of ya, oh hey this not baseball waaahhhhh. Jerome Clementz going to take the win, dan atherton going to take 4-5 th spot. Some frenchies get 2nd and 3rd.
  • 3 0
 GC is short for Good C*nt... A term of endearment in Australia and New Zealand, everywhere else in the world, it's just highly offensive haha.
  • 1 0
 Nice one Tom , gota love NZ slang, yeah nah
  • 1 0
 I doubt Minnar will win because I doubt he'll be going for the win. But maybe he will.. I have a feeling enduro racing won't be dominated by one guy, it'll be a little harder to predict than DH. I bet Barel wins but I hope Nico does.
  • 1 0
 Fabien would be great for a win or Nico, do it for the old timers.
  • 33 0
 CG because win or lose he'll still be the funniest guy there.
  • 21 0
 Whats the bet CG does some suicide no handers or some thing to spice shit up !
  • 6 0
 I sincerely hope he does. I bet if he does the cameras will miss it or something though
  • 1 0
 CG 3 in the prologue right after barel! And this dude had a shattered hip just half a year ago - amazing!
  • 14 2
 im going to win all of them and im on a kona stinky lol
  • 7 1
 I expect a couple of "unknown" guys to be ahead of some well known riders cited here... Still I guess top five will be: Clementz Absalon Barel Lau and Atherton.
Possible surprises: Maes, Arnoud and Bailly-Maître.
Can't wait anymore!
  • 5 0
 Clementz is going to win, I'm sure.. He is super strong, good with the downhill, ect. Maes is good but probibly too young!
  • 1 0
 What about the Swiss riders. Not listed here, but possible winners
  • 10 1
 Julia Gillard...
  • 3 0
 uwotm8
  • 6 0
 Vouilloz simply because he can do shit with clipless pedals that others can't.
  • 7 0
 Hope Joe Barnes wins it for the Baeys!
  • 5 0
 Don't discount Gracia. He's got a couple sweet enduro wins under his Tallboy LT.
  • 3 0
 Furthermore he beat Barel in the mondraker enduro series this year.
  • 1 0
 And the Santa Cruz guys are all equipped with Bronsans and from what I've seen of those guys they've been going fast!!
  • 1 0
 yeah it looks like santa cruz is really pushing their dh team to race/advertise their enduro bikes.
  • 5 0
 Man with so much talent and competitive riders how the frig am I supposed to decide!?!
  • 2 0
 You're right, the skills of all those riders are terrific!!! Hard choice because seriously, maybe 10 or more contenders can win this event! I voted Barel because of his recent win, but damn, my brain is melting!! Smile This is why i love enduro, riders coming from every discipline with huge amount of skills!
  • 1 0
 Would be awesome if a relatively unknown racer won the first race.
  • 2 0
 Here we try to present the favourites for an EWS round with Ducci, Gambisario, Riffle ??
But without F. Golay, F. Bailly-Maitre, M.Maes or F. Nicolai ????
Ya, for certain people Enduro is a new discipline, indeed.
Maybe that will be a surprise if a guy like Jey Clementz win this weekend... haha
  • 2 0
 Gonna be one of the experienced Enduro crew. Not taking anything away from Minnar or Graves, but they don't have the multi stage experience that Nico, Dan, Fabian, Remy, Lopes, etc. have. e.g. it took Atherton a year of racing before he dialed it in for his first win. Gonna be the same this year for the guys new to the format/disapline IMO.
  • 1 0
 Yeah, I will go out on a not-very-long-limb and agree that there's no way a DH racer is going to steal this one from the full-time enduro shredders. Top 3 will be specialists like Jerome and Remy. Would be rad to see Keene or another American finish in the top 10.
  • 1 0
 Don't get your hopes up...i have a feeling the euroa will dominate.... but you'll at least do better than Canada.
  • 1 0
 Well I was wrong, kinda. DH racers that have recently become Enduro racers did well, eh? Keene in 11th, not a bad guess.

www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/Alex-Cure-Wins-Urban-Prologue-of-Enduro-World-Series-Punta-Ala,595

1. Barel
2. Clementz
3. Graves
4. Atherton
5. Blenkinsop
10. Lopes
11. Keene
  • 7 1
 Brian lopes is the one
  • 2 0
 Voted that way too and would love to see it - but I don't really believe it.
  • 1 0
 Jared Graves is my choice, he has represented Australia in BMX, 4x and DH mountain biking and now Enduro, all these riders have the skills of more than 1 discipline which has brought them to Enduro, he who has done the hardest yards and has the legs to push it to the line will come out on top. Love this Sport.
  • 2 0
 i like graves for the win too. his overall bike handling ability combined with fitness prowess is a winning combination. although a lot of these world cup dh racers seem to be up to the task, even the older gents, who have been showing the kids how to race this past season and pre-season (peat at sea otter).
  • 1 0
 Who do I want to see win? Curtis Keene. Great attitude, solid rider, and enough skill and fitness to pull it off. Who do I think will win? Jerome Clementz. He has the experience, track record, fitness, and skill. That man is made for these races. I would love to see Nico Vouilloz win it. I'm pretty sure we'll see him on the podium though.
  • 1 0
 It's interesting that in this short article, there is no mention at all on how technology might give certain riders the edge - yet this is one of the big arguments against DH racing in the olympics. If we can have a debate on who will win which is based on talent alone and assumes that bikes offer only marginal gains, it goes some way to dispelling the notion that DH wins are too heavily 'bike' reliant. I want to see complety different manufacturers in the top 5.
  • 1 0
 The completely different manufacturers bit might be an issue, even if the bike actually makes no difference the top riders are still mostly on big name teams/bikes
  • 1 2
 If you're one of the top guys, most likely you're going to have identical setups. Having the same, or different manufacturers in the top 5 doesn't mean squat other than they picked good riders for their teams. Remember, a bike is just a bike until a rider is thrown in and that rider has a LOT of say, haha.
  • 5 0
 Having done 3 local enduro races this year (i cant speak for the intl scene) the pro podium 1-5 have all been riding bikes all across the board. At VP Endurofest, the pro winner won on a Cannondale Scalpel with short travel fork. The tracks were decently steep and rocky too. second and third place won on modern 5-6inch trail bikes. The variation in bike setup and manuf was consistent at the other races as well.

So I think having a bike check section would be really cool just to show what the pro's are riding and how they choose their setup based on their style of riding. And that's where the technology advantages will happen. Peat's personal bike setup may not be optimal for Graves given they have different styles of riding and charging sections. That will be interesting to compare given their bike setups.
  • 2 1
 It will be interesting to see the results because I feel that judging your opinion based off local races in Cali compared to races you've never attended around the world is a bit... well, not accurate. We will see though, I guess, but I still stand by the fact that using the top racers of big venues as to what's the best rig is the same story, no matter what well established brand they're ripping on... and that's even if you can exclude the variable of the rider him/herself.... which is not possible. So at the end of the day, it's nothing you can ever confirm as to which setup is the most ideal because as I said, the RIDER has a lot of say into how a bike does.
  • 1 0
 Hence the qualifier "i cant speak for the intl scene"
  • 1 0
 I want to gamble on this! Would be sick to have a game where each rider is auctioned off and whoever has winning rider takes the pool. So you have bidding strategy to bid up the big names you think won't win and try to get a deal on the sleepers..friends did it for the masters and it sounded fun
  • 1 0
 So is this gna be webcasted?
All these wearable cams with wifi now....

French guy first. Fabien, atherton, minnar, lopes, peat, nico all within reach.

My buddy just got a bronson. Other than no internal cable routing...really nice. And a large feels like a large. (6'2")
..ill wait for gt to release new models next month b4 I go sc.
  • 1 0
 I just want to watch Nico, BLopes, and CG do amazing things on their bikes, shortcutting sections with skill and speed. Getting fast times wins races, which is cool and all, but style and skill wins fans. Big Grin


As for the winners, I'd probably bet on Clementz and T-Mo.
  • 1 0
 this should be a french guy, one for the enduro roots in france and second Barel, Vouilloz, Clementz, Lau, Absalon,Gracia and Quere are all serious contenders.
I want to see skill wins, no techologies or $.
  • 2 0
 From EWS FB page,
“So many superheroes racing in Punta Ala this weekend, that I heard it being called the Expendables of MTB.”
  • 3 0
 I've gotta say Al Stock is the man (because he's got NEW !!!! handlebars ) WTF
  • 1 0
 I'm screaming for Al for sure! Such a nice guy.
  • 5 0
 How can All Stock have new anything?
  • 5 1
 1. Barel 2. Vouilloz 3. Clementz.
  • 8 1
 La France en force!!!
  • 2 0
 cocorico ! Big Grin
  • 2 0
 santa cruz syndicate have got it sorted this year: they avoid coombe sydenham mudfest and instead sun themselves in Monterery, back over for fort bill BDS and now Punta Ala
  • 1 0
 I just Googled Punta Ala. Very nice too.
  • 2 0
 Nico is always going to be in the hunt. I really hope he can win, the guy is an absolute legend and always rides really intelligently. Come on Nico!
  • 2 0
 Hopefully someone on a 26inch wheeled bike will destroy the competition. and then finally we can be done with 27.5. gah... Frown
  • 4 0
 missing the girls :-)
  • 36 1
 in my life.
  • 5 0
 I bet on Anne Caroline Chausson by 5 min on the 2nd
  • 2 0
 only 5 minuts? jaja.
  • 3 0
 Nicolas Lau is also a strong contender, he won the transprovence last year
  • 2 0
 I think it is either going to be Vouilloz or Barel. I'll go with Barel as he has youth on his side.
  • 2 0
 Definitely Barel, simply because he's become totally committed to this. And we all know how is he when he gets committed...
  • 3 0
 jerome clementz all the way....
  • 1 0
 aah funny thing we have exactly the same question oin french MTB website..... Dhers or Enduro riders.... or Xcers or 4xers....
  • 4 0
 Joe Barnes!!
  • 1 0
 Bet here and win a Specialized Enduro 29 Carbon with SRAM Super Build Kit: enduro-mtb.com/en/enduro-world-series-betting-game
  • 3 0
 Got to be Dan Atherton,thier winners full stop....
  • 1 0
 I just went for the rider(s) on my fantasy enduro team in the hope that they'd win: Affy, Barnes, Prokop, Callaghan, and Chausson. Go team!
  • 3 0
 ACC
  • 4 1
 Semenuk hehe
  • 1 0
 Aled 'Pisgah' Griffiths is defo going to win. His shoe sponsor is Morrisons.
  • 2 0
 I voted Steve peat . Old dog new tricks
  • 1 0
 STEVE PEEEEEAAAATTTTU! I maintain that his power beard shall defeat all.
  • 2 0
 that is an impressive power beard
  • 2 0
 1st Clementz
2nd Barel
3rd Nico/ Minaar/ Scottornola?
  • 1 0
 Agree
  • 2 0
 Love to see Dan on the podium
  • 1 0
 Me too.
  • 2 0
 One thing is certain. A frenchman/woman will do it. Big Grin
  • 1 0
 I reckon Barel or Nico but take an outside punt at Cam Cole ............. Give it some Cam
  • 1 0
 I think Fabien will win, but my favourites are Joe Barnes and Cedric Gracia for sure.
  • 1 0
 Dan Atherton had a great season last year in enduro i can't wait to see him take some sprint and stage wins this year!!
  • 3 1
 Martin Maes!
  • 2 0
 Go on Greg Callaghan!
  • 3 1
 Someone riding a bike.
  • 1 0
 The winner will be.............from France Smile
  • 1 0
 every body hatin on ben cruz
  • 1 0
 love to see peaty win something this season..........
  • 1 0
 Mitch ropelato gonna take everyone to school
  • 1 0
 Don't forget Andrea Bruno. He has won a lot of enduros!
  • 1 0
 I hope Quere does well, fuckin love his edits
  • 1 0
 Would love to see these races live. Whoever wins - what a great field!
  • 1 0
 Person who wins will be a ex cross-country rider
  • 1 0
 Mark Weir.
How does a racer with his own tire model not make the list?
  • 1 0
 jerome...of course...who else could be??? good luck by the way
  • 1 0
 Vouilloz ofcourse. Gotta root for the old pinners
  • 1 0
 it could be the dark horse" steve peat" seen him doing a lot of training.
  • 1 0
 What about Josh Carlson?? The kid shreds !!
  • 1 0
 Fabien Barel
  • 1 0
 Hey! it's Fabulous Fab'
  • 1 0
 Get Donny on a podium!
  • 1 0
 Fabien Barel epic win Big Grin
  • 1 0
 Michal Prokop!
  • 1 0
 Enderpo! Big Grin
  • 1 0
 Me.
  • 1 0
 You meant to say ME Wink
  • 1 0
 Fabien FTW!
  • 1 0
 John Hauer!!!!!!
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