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