Practice Photo Epic: EWS Crans-Montana 2021

Another new venue for the Enduro World Series greets racers for round 7 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Five stages starting high above the treeline and descending through the technical forest below will test bike and body as everything takes the beating of racing and training on such long runs. There's quite a bit of bike park trail used to start many of the stages, many of which feature a plethora of jumps and road gaps, perhaps the most we have seen at any EWS round, and for sure the biggest. And with only one practice run, racers will have to commit without hesitation when trying to piece together the puzzle that is stage racing at the EWS.

The week started off blown out and dusty, perhaps too much so until the nightly rainstorms began to roll in. The trails have been a mix of mud, grip, slick rocks and roots, hero dirt and dusty loam. Often all on the same run so tire choice, line selection and the ability to make do on the fly will be paramount in keeping pace at the front.

Racing starts with the Pro Stage Saturday that is basically a shortened 4-minute version of the massive Stage 5, and the continues full bore on Sunday with 4 more fast, long and technical stages that will throw just about every kind of terrain you could imagine at racers throughout the day.

Stay tuned for the action as it gets underway in Crans-Montana