The Cannondale Alpine Bikes World Enduro will be remembered for two things – the wild weather of the Tweed Valley, Scotland and the charge of Trek.
The 600 riders faced every kind of weather imaginable in the last five days; sunshine, hail stones and even gale force winds. In the end it was only the latter that changed the state of play, with organisers TweedLove forced to cancel two of Sunday’s stages for safety reasons.
However, the shorter course and crazy weather did nothing to dampen the race, with tight times and an ever changing lead emerging in the men’s race. But it was Trek Factory Racing Enduro Team’s Justin Leov who graced the top step on the podium – claiming his first ever Enduro World Series win.
The kiwi was lying in fifth place after day one, but an incredible time in the final stage of the day pushed him into first place, with Florian Nicolai (Rocky Mountain Urge Bp Rally Team) just three seconds behind in second place. Last week’s winner Greg Callaghan (Cube Action Team) had to settle for third.
Speaking about his win he said: “It’s not really sunk in yet because I didn’t think I could bring it back as much as I did after day one. It was a big surprise when I crossed the line and saw the screen – I had to take a couple of looks. It feels amazing”
In the women’s race Trek’s Tracy Moseley once again dominated the race to ensure the team became the first in the competition’s history to take the win in both the men and women’s competition in a single race.
Tracy won all but the last stage of the day which she conceded to Anneke Beerten (Specialized). Anne Caroline Chausson (Ibis) took second after a consistent day in the saddle with Cecile Ravanel (Commencal Vallnord Enduro Team) in third.
Tracy added: “I won here last year so you always hope to come back and win again – it’s the home race and the one I wanted to win for the year. But the races are getting more and more competitive and you can never just expect to turn up and win.
“We’ve got a really good vibe going with the team now and I’m really lucky I’ve got two guys like Rene and Justin to train with and that makes a big difference – I get pulled up to speed really quickly. We’ve got a really great set-up now and I think that makes a really big difference – it’s a winning combination for sure.
Trek now head into round four in Samoans, France leading the men’s, women’s and team competitions.
In the Under 21 category it was great to see a truly international field – with no less than than nine nationalities represented. In the men’s competition it was Reece Wilson (Unior Tools Team) from Scotland who claimed the win, with Adrien Dailly (Lapierre Gravity Republic) of France in second and Daniel Schemmel (Do-Biker/Scott) of Germany in third.
Germany’s Raphaella Richter (Radon Factory Racing) won the women’s under 21 competition, with France’s Axelle Murigneux (Chamrousse Enduro Team) and local lady Lucy Grant of Peebles Cycling Club in third.
Former World Cup downhiller and local legend Crawford Carrick Anderson (Santa Cruz/Sweet Protection) cleaned up in every stage to take the Master’s win, with Woody Hole (Hope Technology) and Dan Greenwood (Orange Factory Racing) in third.
Click for all our 2015 EWS coverage
