Pinkbike Predictions: Who Could Win the Second Round of the Enduro World Cup?
The dust may have only just settled after last weekend's season opener at Maydena but the riders and teams have made the four-hour drive to Derby for the second stop of the 2023 Enduro World Cup season. Derby may not be a new venue for international enduro racing but after a four-year break plenty has changed since we last visited. We have given it our best shot to think about what could happen this week so here are some predictions on who could be a top performer on Saturday.
Who Was Fast at the Opening Round?
Riders have not had long to rest after the opening round in Maydena last weekend but we are straight into the next race as we stay in Tasmania for the return of Derby to international racing. Last week Isabeau was on her usual strong form securing three stage wins and no stage result lower than fifth. Sitting in second place at the end of the day was Morgane Charre who secured a win on the longest stage after a mixed day of racing with two 3rd places, two 2nds and a 10th across the six stages. Scottish racer Ella Conolly is back on strong form with a string of 2nd and 3rd places alongside a fourth-placed stage one. Ella did finish the race with a slower 10th place on stage six but with plenty of short stages this weekend she could be even more of a threat.
In the Men's race, Luke Meier-Smith backed up his U21 overall win in 2022 with his first Elite win at his first race. Alongside Luke Maydena trail builder and flat pedal shredder, Dan Booker crossed the line in 2nd with no stage result lower than 3rd and a win on the first stage. Connor Fearon secured his best result since taking the silver medal the last time we visited Derby in 2019. Rhys Verner is worth a mention as the only non-Australian rider inside the top six.
Who has Won Here Before?
Derby has twice been a host for the EWS and while it has been four years since the last time many of these riders were here it is always worth a look back to see past results. In Women's racing, Isabeau Courdurier has dominated at this venue taking her only win against Cecille Ravanel in 2017 before backing this up with another victory in 2019. The only other Woman inside the top four at both of these races taking part this weekend is Noga Korem who has taken fourth place twice.
For the Men, quite a few riders are racing on Saturday who have performed well at this venue. In 2017 the Men's race was topped by Adrien Dailly who pulled ahead of Greg Callaghan by 2.65 seconds. While Richie Rude ended the 2017 race in fourth place, 11 seconds off the win. Looking at the 2019 event Martin Maes originally took the win before it was taken away following a positive test for a masking agent. Sitting in 2nd after the adjusted results was Connor Fearon in his best result, following a very successful weekend in Maydena Connor is back on strong from in 2023. Kevin Miquel may not have had the best start to the season with a DNF but he did place very well in 2019 crossing the line in fourth place.
Who Could Win the Women's Racing?
After a 2022 overall EWS win Isabeau Courdurier has continued 2023 where she left off last year as she took the win in Maydena. Isabeau has always done well at Derby winning both times the EWS visited so it is hard to bet against her winning once again this weekend. While Isabeua may be a clear favorite this weekend our other two picks did manage to beat her across three of the stages at the 2023 Opener.
Morgane Charre is our next pick for the win in Derby, while she took 7th when the EWS visited in 2019 Morgane has quickly risen to be one of Enduro's best riders in recent years and took her flat pedals to 2nd at last weekend's racing. Morgane is on the hunt to secure the overall title she will be wanting to secure an advantage over her fellow French racer before the EDR breaks for a few months until round three.
Finally, we have Vali Höll, last week we questioned whether the DH racers would put pressure on the Enduro Pros and it turns out they did in a big way. Until a crash on stage five Vali Höll was not only putting down a strong performance but she was in the running for the win with only Isabeua Courdurier matching her. Vali now has two international Enduro races to her name and we think she will be after a big result in the tricky conditions this weekend.
Who Could Win the Men's Racing?
Just like Isabeau, it is difficult to go against last week's winner as Luke Meier-Smith is proving he is worthy of being amongst the World's best in the Elite category. Luke is already looking comfortable on Derby's trails and the wet conditions don't seem to be holding him back as he is flying in practice. The big question will be can he make history again this weekend and become the first first-year Elite to take back-to-back wins.
Jesse Melamed had a wild time in Maydena, with some race moments that have to be seen to be believed. After a tough weekend that placed him in 19th for the race and 11th overall Jesse will be wanting more this weekend to back up his EWS overall win in 2022 and we think he can do just that.
Connor Fearon took a career second-best finish last week with only his performance on the Derby trails in 2019 achieving more with a 2nd place. With this in mind, Connor will be a rider to watch in the timing feeds as he will not only be looking to continue his strong form but also try and keep the Forbidden Synthesis team at the top of the rankings for another round.
Honorable Mentions
While we have made our main predictions for potential winners above there were other riders who we should mention as potential top performers this weekend.
Rhys Verner is on our list for honorable mentions this week as he secured a career-best Elite finish with fourth place in Maydena and was also the only non-Australian rider to break into the top six. Rhys has proved he has the form against a very strong collection of Australian riders hungry for victory at home so we are watching him for another round of Tasmanian racing on Saturday.
Next up is Ella Conolly who took home a strong third place after some consistent stage results last week in Maydena. It seems Ella had a chain issue on the longer stage six with an eighth place but with all the stages in Derby falling way below or at most around 4km and with hopefully no mechanicals we think Ella will be a potential threat as she did very well on the shorter Maydena stages never falling below fourth.
Finally, our last rider in our predictions is Bex Baraona who featured fourth on last weekend's timings but after spending a few weeks racing the Trans Tasmania Enduro series she already has two wins in Derby under her name in 2023. Some extra knowledge of the trails can definitely help when practice is limited and add this to some great speed shown in Maydena and she could be on for another top performance.
Who do you think can win this weekend?
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75 Comments
That’s not true. Pinkbike has commented a number of times that they didn’t have time to set it up this year as they had other commitments.
It sucks as it was a lot of fun, but it is also hard to complain about something they haven’t been able to deliver when they were more than likely doing something that paid them, when we didn’t pay anything for the fantasy league
“hard to complain”
You must be new here.
Unfortunately not
But at times I do like to think the better of my fellow pinkers.
however in the wet it is difficult to predict, it will be an "elimination race"
Definitely not the fans, as theres no reliable way to keep up with scoring, times, nor any sort of live stream.
I'd like to know why the f*ck PB stopped posting the EWS wrap-ups? Maybe because the dip-shits going on about no 'live' coverage?
But seriously, Bex and Ella both spring to mind as Scotland-based riders.
They better get their shit together for the DH one though.
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