Settling Dust: Enduro World Series, Round 1 - Nevados de Chillan
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If there's one thing the Andes aren't short of, it's dust. So there's plenty to settle tonight after the first weekend of racing for the EWS in 2014 wraps up here in Nevados de Chillan. One thing that is clear is how much fun this weekend has been - there's barely a person in the pits with a bad word to say about the race. The trails have been amazing, the landscape beautiful and the people more than welcoming. Seeing fans run round the pits, just happy to meet the riders they only ever seen on a screen until now left many of us realising how jaded we have become. While Chile may have adopted our mountain bike culture, many of us could learn from the enthusiasm they bring to the sport. It's also a great sign for the future of the EWS, that it could be a series looking to reach out beyond the safe confines of Europe and North America pushing mountain bike racing as a truly global sport.
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 As one of these locals said - it's only right that we carry our crosses at Easter. The hike up to stage four this morning was pretty tough going, it certainly had you awake for the start of the stage. |
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| Bad news for Fab. Latest news from the doctors isn't good, it looks like he's broken something in his back. The very fact that he carried on and raced for two more stages with a broken back says everything we ever could about how tough the man is. |
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| Anne-Caroline Chausson was dominant this weekend, winning all but the third stage. |
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| Ben Cruz wasn't running as far forwards as he'd like to have been this weekend, but after coming down with Lyme disease this winter, he's lucky to even be here to huck to flat. |
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| Despite all of her efforts Anneke Beerten couldn't hold on to third place in the overall. She would be bested by Ravanel and slide back to fourth place. |
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| Tracy Moseley just hasn't looked comfortable all weekend, yet despite not having the race she wanted, she was still comfortably second come this evening. |
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| Florian Nicolai struggled on stage four this morning, take a slam, but still coming home 9th. |
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| This was supposed to be a photo of Nico Lau railing a corner, but it didn't go to plan as he got fired out of the top of it, nearly taking me out with his bike. In his own words, he said he went too slow yesterday, and too fast this morning. It didn't seem to phase Nico too much though, as he re-grouped to win the sixth and final stage this afternoon - arguably the most demanding of the whole race. |
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| Cecile Ravanel came out firing today, making up twenty five seconds on Anneke Beerten and solidifying a third place overall for the weekend. |
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| Stage five played to Jerome's strengths and he clawed back more ground on Graves - his experience riding the blind, French enduros and his agility meant he could dive through the twists, while the bigger Aussie struggled somewhat more. |
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| The woods of Nevados de Chillan are a mesmerizing place to be in the fall glow of amber and gold. |
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| Jerome charging hard on stage four. He dug deep and attacked the course like an animal today. |
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| Alexandre Cure rode solid all weekend, taking seventh in the overall. He will certainly be one to watch as the season progresses. |
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| Jerome Clementz had what it took today. |
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| What can you say about Martin Maes other than he is destined to be a power house? Maes bombing down the open slope of Stage six, which is still holding on to a bit of last winters snow. |
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| Justin Leov had a smashing start to the season, finishing fifth in the overall. The kiwi trained hard in the off season, and it is showing in the results. |
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| Jared Graves had an incredible day one, but just couldn't keep up with Jerome when all the dust had settled. Second overall for the weekend. Graves wants the win and it will come soon. |
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| Yoann Barelli pushing through the dinner plate rock section on the top of stage six. |
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| Curtis Keene struggled with an illness all weekend and found himself a long way away from where he'd want to be in the standings this evening. |
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| Despite fighting off a bout of stomach illness on day one, Cedric managed to ride strong and push through it. He finished 10th in the overall. |
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| Only two men broke the sub eight barrier on stage six today: Nico Lau and Florian Nicolai. The next closest to either of them was Clementz coming in at 8:01.83. |
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| Today didn't go to plan for Graves. On the top of stage six he straight-lined a couple of corners, and by the time he reached the finish you could see it in his eyes, he knew that he hadn't quite done enough this time. |
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| Meet the real Jerome Clementz. He really is as relaxed as he appears away from the races, but he doesn't usually let people see the other side, the side we saw on the finish line today. He wasn't leaving a single tenth of a second on the table for Graves; he wanted it bad. He admits that it's going to be a tough season of racing if he wants to hold onto his title. |
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| Nothing left. Jerome emptied the tank on that last sprint, leaving him bent double trying to get his breathing back under control. |
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| Waiting for the times, Jared admitted to Jerome that he knew he'd blown it, conceding defeat quietly before the times were even called. Tomorrow he's going back to stage five to ride it again and try and work out how he can beat Jerome on that kind of trail... |
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| After winning four of the previous five stages, Anne-Caroline Chausson and Tracy Moseley both knew how this dance ended, but that doesn't mean hearing it didn't bring a smile to ACC's face, or leave Tracy wondering where it went wrong. |
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| Lars Sternberg's face on the finish line shows just how much pain he was riding with this weekend. |
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| This was a real breakthrough ride for Florian Nicolai, third this weekend and his fellow countrymen were so excited they picked him up and carried him all the way to the podium. The French domination of enduro doesn't look set to let up any time soon with such talented young riders coming through. |
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| Nothing looks more sinister than a man with a mustache in smoky back light waiting for a Chilean hot dog. |
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| Celebrating the Gracia way. The wild man enjoying a couple of vices after long hard weekend on the bike. In his words, "F*ck it. This is Enduro." |
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| Good night, Chillan. Sad to leave so soon. We will miss your incredible vistas and amazing dirt. Thanks for having us, we will return. |
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I'm amazed Jerome pulled out the win, I predicted Jared would take it considering his fitness. The competition is just insanely fierce.
EWS - we need a live race feed, twitter ain't cutting it!