Pinkbike Primer - Everything You Need to Know Ahead of EWS Val di Fassa

Jun 26, 2019 at 12:19
by Sarah Moore  

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The
PINKBIKE PRIMER
to
EWS ROUND 4 - CANAZEI, ITALY
Words by Sarah Moore
Image Credit: Enduro World Series

Round Four, The Great Unknown
Enduro's elites head to northeastern Italy for round four


The fourth Enduro World Series of the year heads to the heart of the Dolomites. At 1,465 metres above sea level, Canazei is one of the thirty highest towns in Italy and the highest of the villages in the Val di Fassa. This jewel of a mountain town with breathtaking views no matter which way you look is making it Enduro World Series debut this year. Riders will be struck by the sheer variety of the stages on offer - from loose and open to tight, steep and technical.

This venue hosts one day of intense Enduro World Series racing with five stages across 41km and an incredible 3000 metres of descending. This weekend’s race is sure to see the action ramp up as the series reaches the midway point of the season, and riders shift their focus towards their overall series ranking. Let's refresh your memory on what happened at the last round, take a look at the course and the upcoming weather conditions and get primed and ready for the weekend.


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Image Credit: Enduro World Series


The Course


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VOLTRON: 3.82km
This stage is a bike park line that used to connect different tracks of the bike park. From the initial flow on the upper part to roots and rocks and freshly built new sections–this first stage will set the tone of the race.

CIASATES: 1.21km
Using a trail at mid height, this stage is entirely in the woods. Mastering both steep sections and pedaling will be vital.

TITANS: 1.87km
This third stage is a brand new line and untouched by mountain bikes yet. Staring with a rocky section, this trail will become really fast before the riders will have to tackle steep terrain and tight turns. Titans stage will end by an off-camber section, crossing a ski slope.

GLUEWHEIN: 2.35km
It’s the definition of a classic Enduro stage. The frequent pedaling sections cohabit with a brand new midsection, steep and fast.

TUTTI FRUTTI: 6.55km (Queen Stage)
The final stage of the day - Tutti Frutti - is the most iconic in the region and has therefore been designated as the Queen Stage for round four. Set high on the Rodella Ridge, Tutti Frutti is the longest stage in the race at over six and a half kilometres and incorporates nears 1000m of descending. As the Queen Stage, whichever riders put down the fastest times in their respective category will be handsomely rewarded with extra series points.





What Happened at the Last Round


Race settings don't come much more dramatic than EWS Madeira - and the action between the tapes at round three of the EWS more than lived up to the venue. Two huge days of racing saw riders take on eight stages and over 60km of pedalling, culminating in triumph for some, heartache for others and some fresh new faces on the podium.

Privateer Ella Conolly had a breakout event with her first Elite stage win and first Elite overall podium. In the Elite Men, a great performance by Jose Borges who put in some incredible times across the weekend would finish second when he crossed the line on stage eight. Reigning champion Sam Hill was closer to the top this weekend with a fifth-place finish.


Elite Men

1st. Martin Maes: 32:59.450
2nd. Jose Borges: +32
3rd. Jesse Melamed: +38.58
4th. Adrien Dailly: +45.08
5th. Sam Hill: +50.12

Elite Women

1st. Isabeau Courdurier: 38:35.220
2nd. Noga Korem: +53.25
3rd. Ella Conolly: +1:05.52
4th. Morgane Charre: +1:06.82
5th. Anita Gehrig+1:22.56


See the full results here.


What a day for Ella Conolly. Ella finished in second her best result to date.
A breakout race for Ella Conolly in Madeira.




The Standings

*With Martin Maes testing positive for a masking agent at EWS Rotorua and EWS Tasmania, his results there are now void and he will move out of the top spot in the leaderboard. We will update the standings once the EWS reattributes the points.

MEN
1st // Martin MAES // BEL // 1620*
2nd // Florian Nicolai // FRA // 1240
3rd // Jesse Melamed // CAN // 1180
4th // Remi Gauvin // CAN // 1090
5th // Kevin Miquel // FRA // 1080
6th // Sam Hill // AUS // 1050
7th // Edward Masters // NZL // 1040
8th // Jose Borges // POR // 1030
9th // Dimitri Tordo // FRA // 980
10th // Keegan Wright // NZL // 965


WOMEN
1st // Isabeau Courdurier // FRA // 1620
2nd // Noga Korem // ISR // 1200
3rd // Morgane Charre // FRA // 1075
4th // Bex Baraona // GBR // 1020
5th // Andreane Lanthier Nadeau // CAN // 800
6th // Becky Cook // GBR // 675
7th // Anita Gehrig // SUI // 665
8th // Ella Conolly // GBR // 645
9th // Rowena Fry // AUS // 480
10th // Rae Morrison // NZL // 475




Weather Forecast

It's a hot one in Italy for this weekend's race.

Riders make their way to the stages with quite an epic backdrop.
Ben Winder photo
Thursday, June 27 - Practice Stage 1, 2, 3, 4
Mainly sunny // 29°C // 20% precipitation // wind 12km/h

Friday, June 28 - Practice Stage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Sunny // 26°C // 0% precipitation // wind 9km/h

Saturday, June 29 - Race Day
Sunny // 25°C // 0% precipitation // wind 5km/h


Weather forecast from the Weather Network as of June 26.


The Schedule

The liaison to stage three was pretty incredible.
Ben Winder photo from Canazei Superenduro 2017

Thursday, June 27
• 9-13:00 Stage 1 & 4 Training
• 13:00-17:30 Stage 2 & 3 Training
• 19:00 Anti-Doping Education Session

Friday, June 28
• 13:30-15:30 Stage 5 Training
• 18:30 Rider Briefing

Saturday, June 29
• 8:30-17:00 Race (Stages 1-5)
• 18:00 Awards


Note: All times are local and subject to change by the event organizer.


Follow Along

Superenduro 2017 Round 2 - Canazei Race Day
Ben Winder photo from Canazei Superenduro 2017

Pinkbike will be providing you with the best daily coverage from our team in Canazei, Italy this week. Tune in to Pinkbike to catch photo epics, videos and results from practice and race day, as well as tech bits and news.

Following the Enduro World Series live can be a struggle with remote stages and hundreds of riders tackling trails at the same time. We're lucky to have Polygon rider Dan Wolfe bringing you behind the scenes action from each round LIVE through the Pinkbike Instagram stories this year. Find what's going down on course during training and race day through our Instagram. Be sure to follow @pinkbike to keep up with the action.



Pinkbike Predictions


bigquotesWith Martin Maes suspended from competing until after EWS Whistler, the top spot in the overall is far from locked up. Richie Rude is back from his suspension and while he won't be able to contend for the overall, he will be looking for the win. Will he be race ready after such a long time off the race course? That being said, Adrien Dailly spent an even longer time off the bike due to injury and was able to come back into the top five in Madeira, so I think it's more than possible for Rude to get a podium in Canazei. Florian Nicolai and Jesse Melamed look to be strong contenders for the overall at this point in the season and with Maes out of the running, but could there still be time in the second half of the season for Sam Hill to gain enough points to take the overall for the third year in a row?

On the women's side, Isabeau Courdurier has got to be thinking about holding on to the overall, but also whether or not she can make it a perfect season of wins. Ella Connoly will try to follow up her podium in Madeira with another, but Bex Baraona, Morgane Charre, and Noga Korem will also have the confidence that comes with having podiumed earlier in the season coming into this round and will be looking to earn valuable points to keep their standings in the overall. Andreane Lanthier Nadeau is one of the top women who has the speed to win, but hasn't had it come together yet this year. I'm expecting to see her turn it around in the second half of the season.

ELITE MEN
1 // Jesse MELAMED
2 // Sam HILL
3 // Richie RUDE
ELITE WOMEN
1 // Isabeau COURDURIER
2 // Morgane CHARRE
3 // Andreane LANTHIER NADEAU



Fantasy League

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Don't forget to complete your EWS Fantasy team before the race starts on Saturday. If you don't know who to pick, check the Start List . There are prizes for each round, so if you haven't already, make sure to build your team today! If you've already got a team in the mix you're in the running to win the Grand Prize, so visit the Fantasy homepage to make sure you have the fastest team possible for Round 3.



The Fantasy Enduro League is Presented by Shimano.

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MENTIONS: @shimano


Author Info:
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Member since Mar 30, 2011
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51 Comments
  • 53 5
 Martin Maes is out because he didn´t want to lose his leg.

I think the EWS drug policy needs an overhaul.
  • 8 1
 @garydonosti He made the right choice. FUCI. The Dolomites are pretty awesome. however!
  • 4 2
 All That Mattered... Means almost NOTHING now.. Bad Timing UCI & EWS!!! SHAME.. This season is like any great Season with REF’s getting in the way of Modern Day Sports Teams, Sad is a Gross Understatement for this “Everthing you need to know ahead of the EWS”.. Shut up kuz the season DIED! It’s now all about who will be the winner of (Second Place)
  • 1 0
 ::,"""", DON'T STOP AND SEE DR. FEEL GOOD!:"""
  • 1 0
 I’m just glad he’s young. He’s not even in his prime so this will be just a small bump in the road for him. Either way, they need to reconsider the way they look into these cases.
  • 1 0
 @Dnik: I'd hardly call watching the overall EWS title and a shot at an undefeated season vanish, a 'small bump in the road'...

I think he's going to come back even more determined, which should scary for the competition.
  • 1 0
 @MTBrent: Totally agree. Just making light of a shitty ordeal.
  • 32 4
 The destruction of World War I overwhelms. Nine million dead. Twenty-one million wounded. The massive frontal assaults, the anonymous soldier, faceless death—against this backdrop, the mountain war in Italy was a battle of small units, of individuals. In subzero temperatures men dug miles of tunnels and caverns through glacial ice. They strung cableways up mountainsides and stitched rock faces with rope ladders to move soldiers onto the high peaks, then hauled up an arsenal of industrial warfare: heavy artillery and mortars, machine guns, poison gas and flamethrowers. And they used the terrain itself as a weapon, rolling boulders to crush attackers and sawing through snow cornices with ropes to trigger avalanches. Storms, rock slides and natural avalanches—the “white death”—killed plenty more. After heavy snowfalls in December of 1916, avalanches buried 10,000 Italian and Austrian troops over just two days.

Yet the Italian mountain war remains today one of the least-known battlefields of the Great War.
  • 4 1
 Battles of Isonzo - although not located in mountains around Canazei, was one of the brutal Alpine battlefields.
  • 2 0
 @DuelingBanjos Isonzo is one of the most beautiful rivers in this area.
  • 2 0
 @endlessblockades Really well said, as a local to the mentioned area of Soča/Isonzo front, the unprecedented alpine warefare of this front is so often overlooked by history, sure the casualties were lower and this conflict had smaller impact on the outcome of the war but the complete picture of this front is still hardly believable... Everytime I'm hiking/riding in the area I try to imagine what it took for them to build all of the roads and fortifications up in the mountains and then daily carry/transport all of the supplies. Many of which has been done by underfeed prisoners, lives and memories of whom have been long lost... Frown
  • 2 2
 Maes is missing in action.
  • 18 3
 Gotta say that after this whole Maes debacle I'm not too psyched about EWS right now. No disrespect to the other riders, but with Maes out and Rude coming back I just feel deflated about the whole sport.
  • 13 1
 I won't be following. UCI punishing Martin has completely turned me off of all EWS races.
  • 8 0
 Has the UCI actually benefitted Enduro (or MTB racing as a whole) in any way. Real question... What have they constructively added to the sport...?
  • 1 0
 Probably more spending, but not on their side.
  • 4 1
 Nah, UCI will ruin it just like it did bmx. Half the UCI tracks are paved and bmx bikes are pretty close to road bikes & track bikes these days.

Enduro will be mellowed out in a few years and boring and safe.
  • 10 2
 All we need to know is don't get injured, go to a doctor, or put safety first.
  • 10 6
 “If Martin wore shin pads this would never be the case” Some of my friends on Pinkbike might have said... they are safety first kind of guys and feel very proud of themselves right now. I’d suggest them use ear plugs though as their rotors squealing at melting temperatures may give them tinnitus.
  • 2 4
 @WAKIdesigns: Pointless again WAKATTACK
  • 1 1
 @Jaybirdy: Safety First Legion would like to make an announcement: if Martin rode in these:

www.mtbr.com/product/mtb-apparel-and-protection/armor-and-pads/sixsixone/4x4-knee-shin-guards.html

...none of it would happen.

Was it worth it to try to look cool in knee-only protection?
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Gwin does that, although he said he does it because he doesn't want to get distracted. Conspiracy?
  • 2 1
 @Muckal: my daughter just broke her forearm while wearing Fox launch pads. I must check with Safety Legion which sort of protection could have saved her.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: my friends old Session just cracked on the big jump in Supermorzine. He rode with all protection a single Person can wear, including wrist pads. Didn't help though since he didn't even crash, but needs a good lawyer for the case.
Anyway, i guess your daughter should wear bamboo sticks tied to here forearms next time. And eat some Fruchtzwerge, strong bones are everything!
  • 1 0
 @Muckal: people with healthy wrists riding with wrist guards are a gift to themselves.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: afaik he had some problems before. I'm all for protection but sometimes it's a bit much.
  • 1 0
 @Muckal: wrist braces make it MUCH more likely for you to break your fingers.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: well...
  • 1 0
 And carry the most recent WADA list of banned substances on your phone. Oh, don't drink from random water bottles too.
  • 16 7
 Watch a cheater comeback while a champion gets cheated? no thanks
  • 3 2
 Correct and right!
  • 4 0
 Was a massive fan if the EWS. Totally turned off now because of what happened to Maes. The EWS race has changed forever...RIP
  • 2 0
 What gets me is with any organization, politics, boards... whatever is they always forget they are placed their to serve those under them, who should have been the ones who placed them there in the first place. They should be our voice. In cycling I have no problems playing subs if I know our contributions are being used to grow and been put directly into the sports development. Sadly getting bound in red tape, corruption and having a dogmatic attitude of entitlement always seems to be the case. Shame on you UCI, shame on the lack of transparency, poor communication and forcing riders to fit into your mould and rigid structure. Deliberate continued breaking of the anti doping rules does need to applied, but an attitude of logic and working with riders instead of being an outside authority should be the only way to go. There's just not enough evidence here to nail a world cup leaders year, if he is guilty, sure, but no evidence that allows for any conclusive judgement or opinions yet. Ex world cup riders should head up the mtb division of the world cup, not the current idiots.
  • 5 0
 Couldn't care less about an EWS Race right now
  • 4 0
 Maes got fucked over. That's all you need to know.
  • 4 1
 The UCI is farked up, all you need to know.
  • 4 1
 UCI - Undisputed Craptastic Institution
  • 2 0
 Correct does it matter why you need to know? Don’t share water bottles ????????
  • 4 1
 A Chris Ball view on the case would be appreciated.
  • 5 3
 He doesn’t want to rock the boat. All he wants the EWS to be seen as is a squeaky clean sponsors dream that can make him loads of money.
  • 5 1
 @jclnv: he's probably enjoying his payraise and biding his time. I'm sure he'll comment in very neutral tones on it (also praising UCI to high heaven) when the outrage dies down, but not soon and on his terms. He is too much experienced as a politician to know better.
  • 1 0
 He already spoke saying he kowtows to the UCI ruling and will update the EWS points to reflect their ruling.
  • 1 0
 "19:00 Anti-Doping Education Session" ----coincidence given the recent events?? I think not!
  • 1 0
 All of us knew these sort of things would appear more frequently as UCI joined up.
  • 2 0
 How does the standings look now after Maes suspension ??
  • 2 0
 Unfair Corrupt Imbeciles
  • 1 0
 Is there a starters list somewhere?
Is Jill Kintner racing this EWS?
Below threshold threads are hidden







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