Race Report: Dirtlej Epic Enduro 2024

The Dirtlej Epic Enduro started in 2015 with the goal of being the hardest one-day enduro race ever and so far their goal has been accomplished without hesitation each year. The event takes place in Olargues, France, the region was visited by the Enduro World Series (then EWS now EDR) back in 2018 and most of the riders tested on their bodies the technicality and physicality of the terrain. To this day some pro riders consider that particular race to have been one of their toughest ones.


The race consists of 3 loops with time gates. This means that each rider needs to complete a loop inside a predetermined time, if not, you are out of the race. And there are actually two more intermediate time gates halfway through the second loop and the third loop. All this to avoid having riders until midnight on the trails. The winners usually take around 12h to complete the race and the last ones to complete the last loop can get to the finish at around 15h from starting it. It's a gruelling race.

For this year the riders needed to complete a total of 110km with 5300m of climbing split into 11 stages. The longest stage was the very first one with 5km and -638m drop. But don't think that the organizers are easy with the riders and that as the event progresses stages are easier, not at all. Actually, the stage that is usually considered the most technical and sketchy was stage 8, the first one of the third loop, Cretes XXL. Is "only" 2.7km long but it has -522m of descent, meaning: steepness is the name of the game. The shortest stage is stage 4, the last one of the first loop, with 1.5km and -292m of fun and flow.




Olargues and its surrounding area is known for its cloudy and rainy weather and right it was for the race. But riders were lucky enough that they got some light rain just the very first hour of the race and as the day progressed trails started to dry up and the terrain was better and better. The Sun even showed up after midday so the riders still on course were able to pedal and enjoy some warm weather.

The main names participating this year were Damien Oton, Alex Rudeau and Albi Cambos, Irish enduro champ Greg Callaghan, Gabriel Torralba and some other known names with some extensive enduro experience. But for many, it was the first time taking the start on this suffer fest. It is not just about the fitness and skills, is also about knowing where to push, where to hold off and to take care of your bike and components. Many riders are known to drop from the event after having several flat tires and they run out of spares or just can't repair a broken wheel or derailleur. Is not unusual to see two-thirds of the riders not making it to the finish line and doing the three loops.

And this was the case for Gabriel Torralba, in a close battle with local French rider Albi Cambos, both winning several stages throughout the day. Gabriel had a flat on the very last stage and on the last 200m rear rim exploded so he couldn't ride the last 6kms to the finish line and required assistance so he finally finished 7th overall. Greg Callaghan had a similar situation with a broken chain high up on the last stage, but he managed to keep the 3rd place overall even losing some precious seconds on that eleventh stage.

On ebikes french legend Damien Oton and Alex Rudeau were in a constant battle all day long, winning most of their stages in between the two and exchanging first place all day long. But it was Damien "el Zorro" who finally managed to take the win by a mere 6s after 1:13:40.8 of racing.

In the women's category, only one managed to finish the whole 3 loops, french Master35 Juliette Courtigne. Two other women managed to finish up until stage 9, Alexandra Marchal and Audrey Gianotti. And all of them were on normal bikes, no women were on an ebike.

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Results

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Full Results here

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MENTIONS: @dirtlej Velocaroux

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