As Martin Maes piloted it safely down the final, treacherous stage of the race, there was a collective sigh of relief from many. Through the sharp rocks of Men's DH he kept it tied and rolled down in 33rd. By then he had such a big lead that he just needed to make it through safely. Martin has been on the circuit so long that it is easy to forget that he is still only 19 years old. His victory this weekend is all the more impressive when you put his career into perspective.
At 15 years old he rolled up to Enduro of Nations in Sauze D'Oulx and embarrassed most of the senior field - he finished in fifth, if memory serves, against the world's best enduro racers at the time. That performance brought him to the attention of the Athertons and he was signed that winter to one of the biggest racing teams in the world. With that contract came expectation. He was the child phenom, expected to go on a win races. At just 16 it must have felt like the whole world was watching, waiting... Imagine growing up with all that pressure to perform. It is the kind of pressure that has broken more than a few promising riders, but not Martin. Throughout he has shown speed, then this year he added to consistency to that, until an injury at the Fort William put him on the sidelines for the mid-part of the season. His victory here in Finale Ligure is simply the jewel on an already impressive season. Those of us who follow the series have seen him grow up in front us and this weekend was a coming of age for him, although we need to be reminded every so often how young he still is.
There was also the matter of Richie Rude wrapping up his second consecutive title this weekend in fine fashion. He needed 36th to secure his title, he did his usual trick of over-delivering to fight his way up to second on Sunday, putting himself head and shoulder clear of the competition. And while we may harp on about how young Martin is, Richie is only a couple of years older too. Nico Lau rounded out the podium for the weekend - the old man of the group at a stately 27 years old...
In the women's race, Cecile Ravanel was once more supreme, chased by Isabeau Courdurier in second. Anita Gehrig tied up her third spot in the championship with a third here in Finale. In the under-21 race, Adrien Dailly was supreme and Seb Claquin had a tough weekend. While Dailly won every stage, Claquin struggled to find his pace and finished the weekend frustrated and off the podium. Fortunately for Claquin, his second in the championship was already safely tied up and it is going to be interesting to see how the pair fare in the senior competition next year.
Bruised and battered, Jared Graves still had a positive outlook on this today and is already fired up about 2017.
This week went better for some, worse for others.
// UNDER 21 RACE
Valentin Escriou couldn't hold his pace from day one, watching third slip from his grasp.
6th today for youngster Elliot Heap in U21.
Sebastien Claquin Generally had a good weekend, finishing every stage in the top ten.... until stage six, where he plummeted to 33th place - still good enough to earn seventh overall.
Adrien Dailly added another win to his impressive resume en route to the overall U21 championship.
// WOMEN'S RACE
Casey Brown couldn't quite hold her pace from day one, dropping back to sixth.
Anka Martin raced her final EWS today in Finale Ligure, and while she will still be very active in the MTB community it sounds like her days of racing are coming to an end. Bravo Anka.
Miranda Miller took her first top five EWS finish here in Finale.
Anita Gehrig had a very strong second day and took third place.
Isabeau Courdurier attacked the rocks on the final stage, and would finish second for the weekend.
Cecile Ravanel was on fine form, looking more aggressive through the nasty rocks on stage seven than most of the male field.
// MEN'S RACE
After a strong showing on Saturday, Nico would crash twice to start the second day and eventually was forced to retire from the race. Rumor has it this may have also been one of his final EWS races as well.
Sam Hill rode to tenth this weekend - keeping his 100% record for top tens at the EWS.
McKay Vezina took a huge slam and was limping around this morning in a lot of pain. Impressively he toughed it out to finish 21st to end a stellar rookie season.
Jesse Melamed had a rollercoaster of a weekend, the high point being stage where he took the win. He finished the weekend in seventh.
Matti Lehikoinen kept his speed consistent on Sunday to end the day in 18th.
Mark Scott stormed his way to a career-best fifth overall.
Iago deals with a broken chain before heading out to stage five.
Theo Galy matched his best result of the season with a strong sixth-place finish.
Marco Osborne nailed ninth this weekend to finish his season on a high.
Curtis Keene had a tough weekend here in Finale and would unfortunately slip just outside the top ten in the overall.
The fans lined the hillside above Varigotti to cheer the riders on down stage seven. Photo - Brady Lawrence.
The penultimate corner of the race. Photo - Brady Lawrence.
Jerome Clementz was another rider who faded away on Sunday, finding himself all the way back in twelfth by the end of racing.
Damion Oton brought it back from yesterday to finish fourth.
Nico Lau pushed hard to make up time today to grab the final spot on the podium.
Yesterday, Richie Rude was somewhat tentative while he waited to see how the championship fight would play out. When it was clear that Oton was not in the fight for the win, he opened the taps and was the fastest man all day.
How else would you cool down after a 100km weekend on the bike?
Martin Maes rode out of his mind this weekend. He looked on track to take all the stages yesterday, but he dialed it back in the final stages and kept it in control for his first-overall win.
He may have won his first race, but Martin Maes still had time to stop and help a fellow rider in a fix.
There was a bit of a nervous wait for Martin and Mark (his mechanic and team manager) while the final riders checked their times.
That smile says it all.
Martin Maes had some support with him this weekend...
...Plenty of family and friends here to see his victory.
It's been a long time coming for this one.
// SERIES WINNERS
When the PA went down during the podiums, Enrico Guala went low-tech for the rest of the ceremony.
To the victors go the spoils.
The fastest man on the EWS for the second year in a row. While last year Richie was a bit of an unknown who had to come from behind to take the title, this season he led from start to finish and established himself as the man to beat at every round.
Richie's whole family (and his adopted uncle with a busted ankle) got the celebrations started prior to the podium ceremony.
The relatively small (at least in terms of budget) Rocky Mountain team showed the world how strong they could be, running away with the team title as their four senior men swapped top-ten spots all year.
The top three in the U21 overall and the future stars of the EWS.
The fastest three ladies of the 2016 Enduro World Series.
The top three men in the overall.
There we are - the 2016 season done and dusted. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we have!
MENTIONS: @mattwragg / @davetrump / @mdelorme / @EnduroWorldSeries
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So much about enduro being the old man's DH.
the spirit of enduro right there...
looks like maes vs rude next year!
In a greater extend the same kind of issue flared up in the Dakar and one can see how difficult it was to find a balanced solution.
I am in total agreement with you here, I helped a rider yesterday in the same race that was rushed to hospital with a neck injury, my point is the rule is wrong, it should be taken out, or enforced for everybody. If I was Martin I would have done exactly the same.......
www.pinkbike.com/photo/14004317
how bout asia?
I do get your point but the organisers have made a direct attempt at keeping costs reasonable for teams. How many racers could afford to race every race of they were across all the continents? There is also the fact that the vast majority of fans and teams are based in North America and Europe. I do agree that an Asian race could be incredible though - perhaps it will happen sooner rather than later?
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