2017 French Enduro Series Round 3, Val d'Allos - Day One - Photo Epic by kabelleira

The chairlift was the plan for the first day of racing in Val d'Allos. With Stage 1 and 2 sharing the first 200 meters and the start line settled at more than 2,400 meters above the sea level, pedaling up the mountain was not an option.

With just two stages for the day and chairlift liaisons, someone could think that Val d'Allos is not a hard race. Riders had to ride Stage 1 twice in race mode, and once the Stage 2. The winning times were more than 15 minutes for each of the runs on Stage 1 and over 10 minutes for the Stage 2.

We had a great weather for most of the day until the sky decided to release some water in liquid and solid states. Within a few minutes, the trails were muddy in some sections, but that only affected part of Stage 2 practice before the sun came out again and dried out the wet soil. There is no doubt that one of the top gifts of the day were the views at the top of the bike park.

Jose Borges leads the race, for both Elite Men and scratch time. Morgane Jonnier leads the women's category. Maxime Alessandroni is the first junior. Yannick Senechal was the fastest in Master One today and Gilles Doze the fastest Master Two. Sabrina Jonnier and Olivier Giordanengo are leading the e-bike race.

For Sunday the forecast announces a cloudy day and no chance of rain. We will keep you posted with the Sunday action recap.

Early in the morning for the practice ride.

The gondola and chairlift belong to La Foux, the Val d'Allos ski station.

Even behind her full face helmet, Sabrina Jonnier is all smiles.

The bike park routine.

Stage 1. The fastest section is followed by the slowest one, a rough climb that made riders to slow down from more than 60km/h to less than 10km/h.

Probably the first race for a Rocky Mountain Powerplay in Europe.

Bike Park morning view.

Riders gathering at the intermediate gondola.

Always in a good mood. Cheers Flo.

It was a long way up to the top of the mountain.

Social media tasks before the start.

Fred Glo acting as the opener rider here in Val d'Allos.

Baptiste Gaillot with no time to enjoy the views. He's 6th at the end of the day.

Fastest section we have witnessed in the series.

Climbs with a XC taste.

Fast and open sections on Stage 1.

Breaking the slope line.

Sebastien Claquin, second in the e-bike race behind the dominating Oliver Giordanengo, but only 4.7 seconds behind.

Down on stage 1.

After a solid day, Morgane Jonnier leads the women category by a huge margin of 76 seconds.

Florian Nicolai, loses almost half minute against Borges and is second in the men elite category at the end of the day.

Julie Duvert couldn't find her last race's pace and sits third by a tiny margin to Leah Mansell.

Nicolas Quere won the Stage 2 this Saturday, and for now has the third spot on the podium.

Dream trails in Val d'Allos.

Benjamin Bernardi in style.

We didn't spot too many mechanicals.

Teo Gaultier on the speed zone.

Just before the start of the Stage 2 practice, the sky got loose and a small thunderstorm with rain and hail hit the ground.

Right after the storm we rode for 500 meters to another photo spot on the high part of Stage 2 and we got a blocked wheels bike. Half an hour after the end of the rain, the trails were almost dry.

Camille Servant enjoying his practice run on Stage 2.

Jose Borges feeling comfy at Stage 2.

Cornering ability was a continuous test all the way down the Stage 2.

Stage 2. Even at the lower section, we found a few open spaces.

Karim Amour sending it with his e-bike.

Theo Bertarini is 5th in the Master 2 category.

Pierre Real just going real!

Seb Claquin showing that he pushed hard on Stage 2.

Not a great day at the office for Camille Servant. A flat tire on the first ride of Stage 1 took him to the position 116th He worked hard the rest of the day and he's sitting in the 57th position. Here he's trying to reduce inflammation from a two weeks knee injury.