Emmy Lan back from injury to win u21 EWS Crans Montana
Rhys Verner leads Canadian pros in Switzerland
Emmy Lan returned from injury and launched right back into her winning ways over the weekend in Crans Montana, Switzerland. At the penultimate round of ENduro World Series racing, the Vancouver Island racer landed another win in the under-21 women’s race.
Rhys Verner led the Canadian men, after a huge crash derailed Jesse Melamed’s weekend on the final stage.
Pro Men – Moir on form
Jesse Melamed (Rocky Mountain Race Face) led the EWS standings coming into Crans Montana but it was last year’s winner, Jack Moir (Canyon Cllctv) dominating the day. Moir won every stage, sweeping to a clean victory in Switzerland.
Jesse Melamed managed to steal one second place away from resurgent Belgian rider, Martin Maes, but the Canadian’s weekend came unglued on the final race run. A missed line led to a scary moment as, flying at high speed along a cliff edge, Melamed lost is balance and went over the bars. Melamed held on long enough to avert real disaster, but his race run was over. He crossed the line well back of the leaders, fading to eighth on the day.
Rhys Verner (Forbidden Synthesis) had a much better weekend, surging to sixth at the finish line with a string of fast stage results. Remi Gauvin (Rocky Mountain Race Face) followed in 18th with McKay Vezina (Giant Factory Off Road Team) in 20th.
Under-21
Emmy Lan (Norco Factory Racing) returned from injury, which caused her to sit out three rounds in North America, to step back into racing right where she left off: on the podium’s top step. The Norco racer stormed to another win in Crans Montana, beating her rival for the overall, Italy’s Sophie Riva, on the final stage to take the win. Fellow Canadian Lily Boucher joined Lan with a fifth-place finish.
The under-21 Canadian men put three riders in the top 10 but, for the first time in a while, no riders on the podium. Emmett Hancock (We Are One) led the Canucks in seventh. Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing) followed in eighth. Johnathan Helly added a 10th place for We Are One.
