EWS Chile: Highlights, results, and McKay Vezina’s big run to the finish

Enduro World Series is only one race into its 2018 season, and already proving why the series has become so popular so quickly. Lo Barnechea’s stunning scenery and challenging terrain provided the backdrop for the battle for overall points that is shaping up between Richie Rude and downhill-convert Sam Hill, while Cecile Ravanel showed she is still the class of the women’s field, though a growing crowd of the world’s best are closing down her lead with every stage of racing.

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What a day! A destroyed drivetrain after a big crash on stage 4 left me chainless for the next 2 transfers and boy was it a mission. I can’t thank @yoannbarelli @joshcarlson__ @richie_rude1 @martin_maes5 @robin_wallner and everyone else who gave a helping hand to help me get to the last stage so I could get a result and not a dnf. @ballersays you’ve created something very special with this whole @world_enduro thing and I am damn proud to be a part of it! #nevergiveup

A post shared by Mckay Vezina (@mckay_vezina) on Mar 25, 2018 at 6:54pm PDT

It’s not just what happens between the tape that make EWS so attractive to fans, though, as the stories that come with the racing. Giant Factory Off-Road Team’s McKay Vezina was carrying momentum into Sunday’s racing after an impressive 7th place on Saturday’s racing when a massive drivetrain mechanical on stage 4, Sunday’s first, looked like it would end Vezina’s day early. Instead of throwing in the towel, though, the Duncan, B.C. rider decided try run – uphill, at altitude – between stages to try finish the race. In a remarkable display of community between competitors, Vezina made it under each of his liaison cutoff times with the help of his fellow racers. Several of the EWS’s top racers helped push his bike, carry his helmet and nudge him along as he hoofed it around the high Andean peaks to salvage a 36th place finish at the days end.

EWS Lo Barnechea 2018 – Women’s Race

Cecile Ravanel (Commencal Vallnord) won all but one stage, but, showing that anything could happen on race day,  her time losses to runner up Isabeau Cordurier on stage 4 were enough to bring her winning margin down to 47 seconds. Katy Winton of Trek Factory Racing was nipping at the two French women out front all weekend, finishing another minute behind Cordurier for a cumulative descending time of 1:05:57.49 after two days of racing. Bex Baraona (Ibis Cycles) was the big surprise on the weekend, finishing fourth overall, with Caroline Gehrig fifth, just 10 seconds ahead of local ripper Flow Espineira, who took full advantage of the home crowd advantage in Lo Barnechea.

EWS Lo Barnechea 2018 – Men’s Race

After two days of racing, 2018 is already shaping up to be an epic battle between last season’s overall winner, World Cup downhill racer turned enduro Sam Hill, and a resurgent Richie Rude, looking like he’s found the pace that saw him win so many rounds in 2016. Rude won two of the first three stages, but a flat tire on the 11km second stage sent the former champion sliding way down the standings. At the front of the race, Hill wasn’t slowing down at all. In wild conditions and over long stages, the Australian never finished below second on a weekend where all other racers were struggling to find consistency, and to keep their bike in one piece. GT Factory Racing’s Martin Maes was the only other man to finish inside the top-1o on every stage in Chile, putting him in second place overall, 36 seconds behind Hill after an epic 55 minutes of racing.

Whistler’s Jesse Melamed (Rocky Mountain / Race Face) showed he’s still on the pace he showed last season, finishing fifth behind Robin Wallner (Ibis Cycles) and Gustav Wildhaber (Cube Action Team). Melamed was sitting in third going into the last stage, before a flat tire dragged him out of podium position.

Melamed’s Rocky Mountain / Race Face teammate Rémi Gauvin was the next best Canadian finisher in 25th, salvaging valuable series points when a late-January wrist injury looked like it might derail his season all-together. Vezina ran his way into 36th on the weekend.  Taking his chance to race, CNEC organizer Ted Morton finished 57th, with Vancouver Island’s Trevor Thew (62nd) and Cody Macarthur (66th) finishing close behind, within a minute on the overall. Takoda Crawford landed in 110th, just ahead of Levi Harapnuik (114th) and Curtis Bennett (136th).

Rhys Verner (Kona Global Enduro), in his first race out of the U21 category, went down to a broken scaphoid and radius during stage three, ending the promising young rider’s weekend. North Vancouver’s Brendon Edgar also didn’t finish the second day of racing.

One minute highlights and full weekend highlight videos from Enduro World Series Round 1 – Lo Barnechea, Chile can be watched below.

EWS Lo Barnechea, Chile 2018 – One Minute Highlights. Full highlights below.

EWS Lo Barnechea, Chile 2018 – Full Highlights. .