Enduro World Series round 1 preview: Lo Barnechea, Chile
Course, Canadians, and who to watch when EWS slides into 2018
East of the Chilean capital of Santiago, riders are preparing for two big days of Enduro World Series racing in the high Andes. The courses proximity to the capital city is deceptive, as the course takes racers across an entirely unfamiliar looking barren moonscape high above the urban environment below. With the 11 kilometre stage two, one of the longest in EWS history, covering a full 1800m of descending, there should be no doubts that there’s enough elevation on hand. Conditions look fast and very loose, as one would expect from the infamous “anti-grip” of the high Chilean dirt, which should make for an exciting EWS season opener this weekend.
Who to watch – Women
On the women’s side, Cecile Ravanel (Commencal Vallnord) remains the name to beat but, having announced she will not race a full EWS calendar to try her hand at more downhill racing this year, the rest of the field will be extra motivated to try knock her off the top of rankings. Isabeau Cordurier of the newly formed Intense Mavic Collective was one of the closest to Ravanel all last year, but Katy Winton (Trek Factory Racing) and Caro and Anita Gherig of Norco Twins Racing have all announced they’re gunning for a breakout win this year.
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Israel’s Noga Korem could be the dark horse in the crowd, though, as she steps up to full factory support after a full season of impressive privateer results earned her a spot on GT Factory Racing for the 2018 season. Canadian’s Casey Brown (Trek Factory Racing) and Andréane Lanthier-Nadeau (Rocky Mountain / Race Face) will both miss racing in Chile, with Brown busy at Crankworx Rotorua and ALN recovering from injury.
Who to Watch – Men
For the men, the racer everyone will have their eyes on has to be Sam Hill. Already a legend on the downhill circuit, 2017 was Hill’s first full season of EWS racing. Hill has said that season was a constant learning process from start to finish. Considering he also finished first overall, his competitors should be concerned that Hill, notorious for running flat pedals no matter what, has had time to put that learning into practice ahead of this season. The entire Chain Reaction Cycles Mavic team has converted from World Cup downhill to an Enduro team, giving Hill even more support on the circuit, and the wild, loose conditions expected in Lo Barnachea should suit Hill’s strengths.
Behind Sam Hill, there’s a cluster of talented racers all within striking distance of the speedy Australian. Among these are two Canadians: Remi Gauvin and Jesse Melamed, both racoing for the new-look Rocky Mountain / Race Face Enduro Team with ALN. Melamed has been down in Chile since winning the Andes Pacaifico multi-day enduro there last month, so should be starting to feel like a local on the Chilean trails. Known for their notoriously unique lack of traction, this could prove to be a key advantage for the Whistler-local, who won his first EWS event at home during Crankworx last year. Gauvin finished 2017 strong, racing consistently all year to finish eighth overall in the series. After suffering an injury in training in late January, which he is still recovering from, it was was a last minute decision to even make the trip, and Gauvin will have much less time on his bike than his competitors.
Canadian’s can also look to cheer for Rhys Verner of Squamish, racing for the new Kona Global Enduro team. After strong results at Whistler, Verner showed he could be capable of much more when he won his U21 category at Finale Ligure, Italy, in a time that would have put him in the top-15 of the senior men’s race. The result was enough to convince Kona to support Verner’s switch from XC to a full EWS calendar this year. McKay Vezina will also be representing Canada in Chile, racing for the Giant Factory Off-Road Team. The whole GFORT squad has been spending plenty of time in California leading up to the EWS season, so they should be feeling comfortable in the dry conditions.
Other Canadian’s racing in Chile this weekend include Brendon Edgar of North Vancouver, who won the Big White round of Canadian National Enduro Series last year, Curtis Bennett, Vancouver Islander’s Takoda Crawford and Trevor Thew, Cody Macarthur, Levi Harapnuik and CNEC / BCES series organizer Ted Morton.
If you want to follow along with the action, Enduro World Series has a live results tracker, a live GPS tracker, and live race feed.
