Photo Epic: Race Day - EWS La Thuile 2021 Race 1
The EWS is back in La Thuile for another week of doubleheader racing at a venue known for its steepest and technical tracks. While in years past most stages have been extremely long with starts high in alpine zones above treelike, heavy spring snowfall has forced all the starts to be quite a bit lower this time around. With nearly all racing taking place below the tree line where the technical difficulty will be the biggest challenge rather than the sheer length. In the first race of the week, riders took on four stages over 30km with 2,700m of descending.
For the Elite Women, it was a close battle between Melanie Pugin and Isabeau Courdurier until the final stage, where a 19th place finish for Isabeau knocked her back to sixth in the overall making way for Melanie Pugin to take her second overall win in 2021. Another big result was Harriet Harnden coming fresh off racing the XC World Cup in Les Gets to take a solid second-place finish in the Elite Women's overall.
Richie Rude and Jack Moir were again the riders to watch with some incredibly close racing again in La Thuile. Rain began falling as the top-ranked men hit stage 3 and it was getting pretty heavy on the fourth and final stage of the day. The final stage shook up the results, but it was Richie Rude who just edged ahead to take his second overall win of the season.
Racing starts up again on the weekend with the second event of the doubleheader Saturday evening with the Pro Stage, and another four stages on Sunday.
The weather machine is in a bit of a mood over the Alps right now. Not much sun, a little chilly and a lot of rain are on the cards right now
Sunrise in La Thuile promised a clear morning yet left no guarantees for the afternoon weather.
Cut mud spikes were still being debated in the pits in the morning hours.
Variable conditions in training and in the race due to the daily rainstorms
The only bit above tree line this year in La Thuile as heavy spring snowfall made it impossible to clear the upper slopes that we've seen raced in the past
The usual big views of the alps we've come to expect in La Thuile are hidden by cloud cover this time around
Sometimes the clouds clear just a little
Heavy rain again overnight meant lots of water on track in spots to start the day
McKay Vezina through the trees
Rae Morrison through the Italian greenery
Vid Persak back on form and in 5th
Speed and style from Richie Rude
Alex Rudeau with his best EWS result in 8th
Estelle Charles was easily the fastest of the women, and most of the men, through the rock garden
Martin Maes is back and wasn't wasting any time He even took a stage win before coming down visorless and into ninth.
Melanie Pugin traded stage wins with Courdurier throughout the day.
Antoine Vidal closing out the top ten.
Jesse Melamed just off the podium in fourth.
Just as close to that tree as he was to the top 10 was Elitot Heap in 11th
Three seconds off the podium for Morgane Charre.
Despite the rain, it was still dusty in some spots, only adding to the difficulty made by the variable conditions
Kasper Woolley broke into the top 10 for the first time with a 7th
Isabeau Courdurier was leading after 3 stages, but a crash in the worst possible spot on stage 4 would ruin her day and push her off the podium
Noga Korem bouncing in the boulders into fifth.
A massive crash for Thomas Lapeyrie in the rock garden
Martin Maes looks to have had a moment of his own higher up on track so having to pass Lapeyrie was the least of his concerns
Fresh off a mudder in Les Gets XCO, Hattie Harnden embraced the sunny first stages and took second on the day.
Not Sam Hill's day on stages that looked tailor made to his skillset
Anita Gehrig sporting some new hardware after a dislocated elbow in Canazei
Jack Moir found himself in an epic battle for the lead with Richie Rude for the third race in a row, with the two never separated by more than a second or two all day.
Raphaela Richter through the light in the forest on stage 1
After a rough go in Canazei, Adrien Dailly was back on pace to take 3rd
3rd for Andreane Lanthier Nadeau to help put Rocky Mountain on the team podium in 3rd as well
6th and another consistent performance from Dimitri Tordo
16 for Robin Wallner
Youn Deniaud started the day all the way up in 4th but would eventually settle in 17th when all was said and done
Jesse Melamed was 3rd for much of the day but a disaster of a 4th stage would push him down to 4th.
Richie Rude in the worst conditions and on his way to his second EWS win of the season
Heavy rains left their mark on the final stage of the day, reshuffling the final order a bit for some.
Grass, mud, grime, you name it.
Another win for Pugin. Can she do it all over again on Sunday?
Melanie Pugin, Harriet Harnden, and Andreane Lanthier Nadeau making it rain champagne in a thunderstorm
Richie Rude leads out Jack Moir for the second time this season with Adrien Dailly in 3rd
Second win of the year and back on top of the overall for Richie Rude
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A little mistake : the girl crushing the rock garden is Estelle Charles (not Laura) !
In the photo of Raphaela Richter, what fork is that? Don't recognize it.
Hope this helps