Jesse Melamed out of EWS Val di Fassa with broken leg

Jesse Melamed is frustrated, but still smiling after breaking his leg early in the fourth round of the Enduro World Series.

Before the rest of the field was finished racing, the Rocky Mountain RaceFace rider posted an update from the hospital in Italy. Shown smiling with a doctor, Jesse Melamed announced he was forced out of the race with a broken ankle and injured finger.

The Whistler rider was on the first of five stages in Saturday’s race in Val di Fassa when the crash occurred. Melamed, who had a string of injuries last season, but says he wasn’t pushing it at the time, and was riding “within himself” at the time of the crash. Even the best in the world have bad luck sometimes, though. Melamed says he slowed for a corner when a rock rolled out from under his front tire, sending him “careening off the side” of the trail, and landing on his ankle.

You can see the crash in Melamed’s Stories on Instagram, if you want. The Canadian rolled out to finish the stage, still placing 34th with a crash and broken ankle.

View this post on Instagram

Well that's that. But what I really want is for people to believe me when I say I was racing smart. I wasn't taking chances and I was riding happy and within myself. I knew exactly the section I was in, I slowed up to make the corner like I wanted, and then a rock rolled on me and it sent me careening off the side. I managed to avoid the trees but my ankle took the brunt of the impact when I did hit the ground. I'm pretty pissed off. I was putting together a consistent season and I was fully confident I could keep it going. So I don't know what else I can do but heal up and try again. Thanks to this doctor for the pain and the laughs. 5 star rating on Google for sure.

A post shared by Jesse Melamed (@jessemelamed) on Jun 29, 2019 at 6:50am PDT

A wild week in the Enduro World Series

Going into the Italian EWS round, Melamed was sitting second overall in the series behind France’s Florian Nicolai (Canyon Factory Racing).

Melamed’s injury throws the series standings into upheaval for the second time in less than a week. It comes just days after Belgium’s Martin Maes (GT Factory Racing) was suspended for 90 days by the UCI for a non-intentional anti-doping infraction. Maes had been leading the EWS overall before his suspension.

Squamish’s Remi Gauvin, also on Rocky Mountain RaceFace moved into third in the series mid-week, following Maes announcement. Gauvin is still on course in Italy at the time of writing, but could move up to second overall by the days end.

This week also sees the return of Richie Rude to the EWS. Rude is making his return to the series in Val di Fassa after serving an eight month suspension. The American tested positive for two substances at the EWS Montagne du Caroux in 2018.

Jesse Melamed will miss the fifth round of racing in Les Orres, France with his broken leg. That takes place on July 6-7. There’s then a break until the series returns to Canada for the Whistler EWS, which kicks off Crankworx festival. The injury mean’s it could be the second straight year Melamed misses his hometown EWS due to injury, after winning his first ever EWS there in 2017.

On Friday, Melamed posted a full stage preview of him practicing on Voltron, the same Stage where he crashed in the race on Saturday. You can watch that below: