Canadians dominant as Enduro World Cup moves to Italy

Enduro racing returned to Italy over the weekend and the Canadians were ready. Jesse Melamed and Rhys Verner landed a huge 1-2 finish in the pro men’s race. Emmy Lan and Elly Hoskin added two more podiums, finishing 1-3 in the under-21 women’s race.

Elite Men – Melamed and Verner put Canada on top

In the elite men’s race, 2022 EWS champion Jesse Melamed earned his first ERD win of the season. The Canyon Cllctv racer built pace all the way through the Petra Ligure race. Melamed won the second and fourth of six race stages, winning the third Enduro World Cup of 2023 by 5.38 seconds.

Pushing the reigning champ was Squamish’s Rhys Verner (Forbidden Synthesis). After several strong finishes in 2022, Verner was primed for success in 2023. In Petra Ligure, the Canadian delivered. Verner narrowly edged out France’s Alex Rudeau (Commencal Enduro Project) to take a career-best second place in the elite men’s race.

Jack Menzies (Polygon Factory Racing) was the next Canadian on the results sheet, placing a very solid 14th.

Elite Women – Charre soars to win in Italy

In the elite women’s race, Morgane Charre (Pivot Factory Racing) improved on her second place in Derby, Tasmania at round two to win in Pietra Ligure. Pivot’s French racer took a solid win over local racer Gloria Scarsi (Canyon Cllctv-Dianese). Defending champ Isabeau Courdurier (Lapierre Zipp) stayed on the podium, in third.

Andréanne Lanthier-Nadeau (Rocky Mountain Race Face) was the top Canadian woman in 11th. Miranda Miller followed in 23rd with Chloe McKenzie (Gravity Academy) rounding out the Canadian results in 30th.

Under-21 men and women: Lan adds another win

Vancouver Island’s Emmy Lan (Forbidden Synthesis) added yet another Enduro World Cup win to her long list of EWS and EDR victories. She was joined on the podium by Elly Hoskin, who continued her excellent season in third. Lily Boucher (Rocky Mountain Race Face) followed close behind in sixth.

Johnathan Helly (We Are One) led the Canadian U21 men, placing 9th, including a win on Stage 4. Lief Rodgers (Giant Canada) placed 15th. Wei Tien Ho (Commencal Canada) ended up 16th, with a 1-minute penalty bumping him out of his original 6th place finishing time.

Full race recap: Enduro World Cup #3 – Finale Outdoor Region

What’s the UCI World Series say about Finale racing?

It was a full-throttle day of racing across the hillside above Pietra Ligure for the third round of the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup and opening round of the UCI Mountain Bike E–Enduro World Cup. The Finale Outdoor Region has a history-soaked litany of drama-filled enduro racing so it felt like a fitting place to host the first of the European legs of the Gravity season.