The third round of the EWS in Madeira provided some intense racing across some loose and dusty trails. Here are five things we noticed from the sidelines:
1. The Queen Stages have helped push the series leaders to a massive early leadThree for three. Martin Maes and Isabeau Courdurier are looking unstoppable this year with back to back wins at the first three rounds of the series. Sam Hill was dominant last year but was only ever able to get two wins in a row. Isabeau still has some way to go to match Cecile Ravanel's perfect season in 2018 though.
Martin and Isabeau currently sit on 14 stage wins each. In recent years, only Cecile Ravanel has reached this target in the first three races, getting 14 stage wins in the first three rounds in both 2018 and 2017. In the Elite Men, the closest rider to Maes current 14 stage wins in the three opening races was Richie Rude in 2016 who managed to rack up 10.
On top of this, Maes and Courdurier have amassed huge leads in the overall. Maes is 380 points clear while Isabeau's lead sits at 420 points. Last year saw both overall titles won by about 400 points so Martin and Isabeau are already in the ballpark. Their totals have been bolstered by clean sweeps of the Queen stages, giving both riders an extra 120 points each and means they're going to take some catching now, even with five rounds of racing still to go.
2. There are a lot of privateers charging up the women's rankings
After finishing 12th and 11th in Rotorua and Tasmania, Ella Conolly went on to achieve her first Elite stage win and podium in Madeira. Ella hasn't come from nowhere, she was Under 21 champion last year but, unable to pick up a team ride for this year, she embarked as a privateer.
Just behind Connolly was Morgane Charre, who is also running her own program, and Melanie Pugin also slipped into the top ten without factory support. Let's also not forget Rowena Fry who came third in Tasmania. There are plenty of fast women racing at the moment without the support they need, hopefully they will be picked up soon to help raise the bar for the women's competition even higher.
3. Sam Hill is inching closer and closer to Martin MaesThe current men's reigning champion hasn't had the start he hoped for coming into 2019 with his worst run of races since he switched codes to enduro. He placed 13th and 9th at the first two rounds and was 4.2% and 2.9% off the pace of Martin respectively each time - his third and fifth worst results in the EWS. Madeira would see him improve with a 5th place finish, just 2.5% back on Martin's winning time.
Sure he's on a new 29-inch-wheeled setup, but there were other factors at play as well, including that Sam was shaking off an illness at the first two rounds. Still, it's clear that last year's champion is starting to get his program in order and build up momentum as the season progresses.
There is now a long break before the next two rounds in Italy and France so we expect Sam Hill to be pushing even harder when the series returns.
4. Home soil advantages played a part in Madeira
The EWS will stay in Europe for the next two rounds and the return to home soil seems to have done the native racers some good. In both Tasmaina and Rotorua, Europeans made up 55% of the top 20 places in the men's field but in Madeira that rose to 70%. The Portugese did especially well, with Jose Borges and Emmanuel Pombo both earning personal best results in second and tenth respectively. On the women's side, 60% of the top ten in Tasmania were non-European, which fell to just 20% in Madeira (Korem and ALN).
Crowds, time zones, and familiarity with conditions all play into advantages for riders and it will be interesting to see if North American riders have their own surge in Whistler and Northstar later this year.
5. Adrien Dailly is tough as nails
Adrien Dailly has been down on his luck this year. He kicked off his season with a torn muscle in his elbow just before Rotorua but raced through the pain in rounds 1 and 2, earning respectable results on the way.
Dailly was supposed to be on the road to recovery in Madeira and seemed to be back to his normal self, until stage three when he hit a tree and opened up a hole in the same elbow through his elbow pad. He finished that stage in second then went straight to the medical tent for some stitches.
With a swellbow fresh from surgery he took to the start line on Sunday and was on track to finish second until he slid out on the last stage, which slipped back to fourth. Respect.
Previously:•
Video: Full Highlights - EWS Madeira 2019•
Overall Standings: EWS Madeira 2019•
Final Results: EWS Madeira 2019•
Course Preview: Paradise Island - EWS Madeira 2019•
Practice Photo Report: Party at the Beach - EWS Madeira 2019•
Day One Photo Epic: Rough and Tough - EWS Madeira 2019•
Day Two Photo Epic: Three For Three - EWS Madeira 2019•
Video: Course Preview - EWS Madeira 2019
MENTIONS: @EnduroWorldSeries /
@davetrumpore /
@mdelorme
it wont be hard to get a tourist visa.
its just that after Brexit, we'll actually need one.
I kinda disagree though. There is money to be made, just if sponsors were a bit bit braver. Like why not have an all female team? That would get loads of attention
if the bike companies started looking at the girls market as the untapped goldmine it is then things would be a lot different for the ladies in making a biking career. it shouldnt be that difficult, but for the moment the industry is making it difficult either though ignorance or apathy. shame on them
Also, the article says it went "through" his elbow pad... yikes!
Now, were did I put my passport so I can go a book a trip to Maderira. Great race, can't wait for the next installment
I do still speak with her and she's stoked to have hit the podium. I still say, as I did when I first saw her race that she's the next TM for UK cycling, and given I knew Tracy when she was Ella's age I reckon I'm in with a shout there. So in that regard its a surprise she doesn't have a bigger sponsor when she has so much obvious talent, but if Cannondale are supporting her properly (and I hope they are) then being a 'Factory' team on the EWS circuit is basically just marketing. You could be the biggest team with the biggest budget but unless you paid your EWS team dues your racers are still privateers.
We need a "Semi-Priv" league so we can tell the Ramon noodle riders apart from the Team Fee avoiding "Sponsored" riders...
While I like the EWS in many ways, it has some structural issues I think that try to keep it a level above the rest of the racing, but sometimes just mean it allienates the people that support the grass roots of our sport.
The thing is there are probably small companies with the budget to easily afford the full fee and larger companies that are running on a much smaller margin. So it's hard to define what is small and what is large. Or who can and who can't afford something.
Ben said that it makes more sense to not be full factory if you can live with the fact that you can't advertise your rider through the team name. Which makes sense. It's playing the system, but it's the fault of the system to both enable and to encourage that.
Not sure how this could possibly be seen as an elbow pad issue :/
Fearnone Tassie. NZ-s own too.
1. Sponsorship of women doesn't sell as many bikes. Plenty of people buy a bike because it's clearly good enough for Sam Hill, Ritchie Rude, Aaron Gwinn, a huge portion of the high finishers in the DH World Cup (referring to the Commencal Supreme), etc. Not many people are buying a bike because it's good enough for Morgane Charre (top ranked non-factory rider). The women are a more realistic model for most of our own skill levels, but marketing is about aspiration.
2. Women don't stress the equipment as hard. Men bend, break, and otherwise mangle more parts than women, which is a great way to learn where a bike needs to be reinforced or where weight can be saved.
Though I'm sure RachyBox has sold a fair amount of bikes to guys as well as gals over the years.. Still pry falls short of what either of her brothers have "sold", even though I "think" her racing achievements are higher? (I think, don't know?)
Gotta love that RedBull Hardline. Way more than a funny vid or cool pic! Even though such riding is well beyond any of my aspirations!