Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series

Enduro World Series Preview: Aspen

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The EWS travels to Aspen, Colorado this weekend, and some of their media team have been riding the stages to put together a short preview for us. Here’s the lowdown from them:

(All photos courtesy of the Enduro World Series).

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
You might not have time to stop and appreciate them while racing, but wildflowers really add to a ride.

“The Enduro World Series crosses the Atlantic this week for round six, the Yeti Cycles Big Mountain Enduro presented by Shimano Aspen Snowmass.

It’s the second time the series has visited this iconic USA resort, and riders will once again face six stages over two days of racing. Featuring the fast, flowing singletrack that Colorado is known for, racers will get to enjoy descending an incredible 15,000 feet of it this weekend. And although much of the course will be accessed via chairlift, Aspen Snowmass sits at 10,000 feet altitude, enough to test the legs and lungs of even the fittest of athletes.

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
Apparently this stage carries on all the way to the valley bottom.

With just three races left to go this season, attentions have now turned from individual race results to the overall rankings and those all important World Champion titles.

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
Oof!

In the men’s competition the stage looks set for a showdown between young Frenchman Adrien Dailly (Lapierre), legend of the sport Sam Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles Mavic) and rising star Greg Callaghan (Cube Action Team). Dailly leads the points table after his win in France, but is just 80 points ahead of second placed Hill, while Greg trails Hill by just 20 points – expect a fierce podium battle to emerge between these three this weekend.

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
Is goggles, helmet PLUS manual full-full enduro?

Cecile Ravanel (Commencal Vallnord Enduro Team) remains the woman to beat – she leads the series by over 400 points and will be looking to be crowned World Champion for the second year in a row. Ines Thoma (Canyon Factory Enduro Team) lies in second place – but with Trek Factory Racing Enduro Team’s Katy Winton just 20 points adrift in third she can’t afford to relax this weekend.

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
Ric Mclauglin makes his way down stage 2 while filming for the course preview below.

In the U21 Men Killian Callaghan leads the rankings, followed by Vojtech Blaha and Nathan Secondi in second and third respectively. Martha Gill is out front in the U21 Women, but faces stiff competition from Estelle Charles and Abigale Lawton.

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
This really makes us want to be there.

Karim Amour (BH-Miranda Racing Team) has been unstoppable so far in the Master Men’s race – winning every race so far this season. His closest rival comes in the form of reigning World Champion Michael Broderick and Milan Cizinsky who sit in second and third. Mary Mcconelloug leads the Master Women’s race by 1500 points and just needs to finish the next three races to be sure of winning the series.

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
Suddenly that murdered out, stealth black enduro bike isn’t so stealth.

Ibis Cycles Enduro Race continue to dominate the team competition, with Rocky Mountains URGE-bp sitting second and Cube Action Team third.

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
In America, this is classed as “mud apocalypse”.
In the UK, it’s “Tuesday”.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s race, EWS Managing Director Chris Ball said: “I’m excited to see how the race plays out in Colorado this weekend. The style of trail here is so different to anything else we’ve raced so far this year and so has the potential to be a real game changer in the overall series points. The fast, open trails in Aspen couldn’t be more different to the last round in Millau and it’ll be interesting to see how that affects the results. With just three rounds left this year every point now counts, so we’re definitely in for some intense racing this weekend.”


(No video? Here’s a link).

Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
Plenty of turns…
Image Courtesy of the Enduro World Series
“From fresh cut sections to a short section of flowing jump line, there’s a lot of variety on stage 4.”

David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.

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