The Rocky Mountain Bicycles Urge bp Rally Team in Chile for EWS

Chile is stunning. I come from a downhill background, and one of the things I think I will really enjoying about this enduro thing is how much more we get to dig into an area. Photos will tell you more than I can, but the whole experience has been awesome. The people, the trails, the food, everything.



The event started off with a major bummer - after training all winter and looking super sharp, ALN went down while practicing Stage 2. Her front wheel tucked on one of the tricky and loose corners at the bottom. "Definitely not how I wanted to start the season,” she said. “A broken hand means that I will have to sit out a few rounds. But I will heal and be ready to race soon enough!”



Practice had some massive kilometres, everyone was feeling it but we were all excited to get racing. Stage 1 was a good mixture of tight twisty woods and high speed DH. The speed at the bottom was some of the best of the weekend. Stage two was what the Frenchies call “very physical” at the top with some awkward corners and a solid climb. As riders headed toward the ocean, the stage became steeper with open grass corners that caught more than a few riders out.





"It’s been a frustrating weekend for me. 16th on the first stage shows me that I have the pace to compete, but a crash and a hurt shoulder on Stage 2 slowed me down for the rest of the weekend. Now it’s time to recover and see if I’m able to ride the next race." — Jesse Melamed, 36th overall



Stage 3 started with a long pedal before entering the tighter woods. Once in the woods, we had to maintain speed while riding through narrow sections of trees. The stage opened up again at the bottom with a steep chute into the finish area.




“So much riding! The week was very long and I’m very tired, but overall happy. I think that my fatigue on day 2 lost me the lead after making some mistakes, but I know what to work on and the next round will be good!" — Seb Claquin (aka The Claq), 2nd in U21




Day two started with Stage 4, a super fun bobsled track. Very few lines and tons of support in the corners. Not a ton of time to be made, but a rider favourite for sure. Stage 5 is where the most technical riders shone—no surprise that Flo took the win here, a few people even called it after walking the stage. The bottom of the track was the steepest of the weekend and many riders fell victim to the slippery conditions and difficult corners. Sometimes slower is faster!




"I was a bit too conservative this weekend, but I’m happy with my consistency overall. 15th is a good result, but I am hungry for more." — Alex Cure, 15th overall




"Yes very good! I do not crash and I win Stage 5!" — Florian Nicolaï, 5th overall


The sixth and final stage was a full on downhill stage. Any rider who excelled on this stage scared themselves more than once in their run.


"As for me, enduro is tough! I royally messed up Stage 5, but for the most part I am stoked on how I rode my bike. Two 11th place stages have boosted my confidence in my trail bike speed, and I am excited to build on that. I still have lots to learn about this type of racing!" — Remi Gauvin, 25th overall

Thanks for everything Chile, and we’ll see everyone next weekend in Argentina!

Words by Remi Gauvin
Photos by Matt Wragg


Florian Nicolaï - 5th
Alex Cure - 15th
Jesse Melamed - 36th
Sébastien Claquin - 2nd (U21)
Rémi Gauvin - 25th
Team - 2nd

The Rocky Mountain Bicycles Urge bp Rally Team rides Rocky Mountain bikes and wears Urge bp helmets. The team is supported by: Shimano, Maxxis, Fox, Stan’s NoTubes, Race Face, Royal Racing, 7iDP, FTI Consulting, Smith, WTB, OneUp, Clif bar, Evoc, & Val d’allos.

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MENTIONS: @RockyMountainBicycles / @urgebikeproducts / @shimano / @Maxxis / @foxracingshox / @raceface / @Royal-Racing / @sevenidp / @SmithOptics / @wilderness-trail-bikes / @OneUpComponents / @CLIF / @evocsports

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