Race Day Photo Epic: EWS Loudenvielle 2022

It was a day for the home nation and flat pedals at EWS Loudenvielle, as Morgane Charre and Alex Rudeau rode to victory in front of a vocal French crowd. The pair mastering a series of steep Pyrenean trails left slick and treacherous by significant rain. The French had further reason to pop the Champagne as Isabeau Courdurier would be crowned as 2022 series champion.

In the men’s title battle, a sixth place for an injured Jesse Melamed was enough to secure his debut series title while being pushed hard by his equally-battered rival Richie Rude who ended the day in seventh and as runner-up in the title race.

Rain on Friday and then again on Saturday left the steep and testing tracks of Loudenvielle almost traction-free and there were crashes aplenty as riders pushed hard. Morgane Charre used all her flat-pedal downhill skills to master the Pro Stage on Saturday, a win that would be one of four she would grind out in the six-stage race to emerge nearly 10s ahead of a remarkably-consistent Isabeau Courdurier. Indeed, Courdurier, whose season was nearly ended by a horrific foot injury in July, was patient in her approach, knowing she just had to ride smoothly and do little more than finish in one piece. An approach that paid dividends spiriting her to victory in the two stages that didn’t go Charre’s way en route to the championship.

As Courdurier’s closest title rival, Charre pushed hard but so did 2021 EWS champ Melanie Pugin who finished every stage in the top six. Good enough for third on the day. Israel’s Noga Korem was another rider who found late season form with her best result of the year in fourth. Harriet Harnden finished fifth with a result that was good enough to clinch third in series. The result saw her win the Battle of the Brits in 2022, leapfrogging both Bex Baraona who finished the race in 18th after a huge crash and mechanical and Ella Conolly, who was sidelined by a crash prior to racing on Sunday.

In the men’s race, young Frenchman Alex Rudeau found his flow with a remarkably-consistent performance which saw him place within the top five on every single one of the six stages. With a stage win on the first test of Sunday, Rudeau looked in charge on his flat pedals from the get-go. He followed that up with two thirds, a fifth and a second on the final stage of the day to hold off an in-form Martin Maes and a hard-charging Jack Moir - the 2021 EWS champ. A win for Moir on stage four and then a second on five saw the Aussie go into the final stage just 4.28s behind Rudeau but the ice-cool Frenchman held his nerve to take a further 2.6s out of the Aussie who was himself leapfrogged on the last stage by Maes. A result that would secure him the third spot in the title race. In his best result for some time Charlie Murray came home in fourth after winning the fearsome Queen Stage/S3. Pro Stage winner Youn Deniaud came home a creditable fifth after a series of big crashes in the slippery mud.

That may be a wrap on the EWS series, but we still have the Trophy of Nations event in just one weeks time, where national teams will battle it out in Finale Ligure, Italy.