Finessing Finale: Jesse Melamed wins last Enduro World Series of 2020
Rocky Mountain Race Face rider on top in two of three races this year
Photo by:
Clint Trahan / Crankworx Summer Series
Jesse Melamed stormed out to an early lead in Finale Ligure and never looked back. The Whistler rider dominated Saturday’s closing round of the 2020 Enduro World Series in the iconic Italian Riviera venue, securing his second win in three races. Melamed’s Rocky Mountain Race Face teammate, Andréane Lanthier Nadeau finished 6th, her third straight top-10 this fall.
Melamed turns early lead into a dominant day
Jesse Melamed started his day in Finale Ligure with a solid win on Stage 1. With a 10 second advantage from the first stage, the Whistler rider continued to extend his lead for much of the day. Melamed dominated the iconic Italian enduro venue, winning three of the day’s four timed stages. Only Jack Moir was able to steal a stage win from the Canadian, and not until the fourth and final stage.
Moir’s win on Stage 4, also Finale Ligure’s Queen Stage, pushed him onto the podium in third. One week after French riders controlled the race in Pietre Ligure, only Florian Nicolai flew the tricolours on the men’s podium. Nicolai finished second, just as he did in Pietre’s EWS debut last week.
Lanthier Nadeau steady in sixth
Andréane Lanthier Nadeau, Melamed’s Rocky Mountain Race Face teammate, reprised her sixth-place finish from Pietre Ligure on Saturday in Finale. The Canadian lost time on the second stage, but fought back to within striking distance of the podium over the day’s final two stages. It’s ALN’s second top-10 in as many race starts this year, after missing the first race of 2020 due to a crash in practice in Zermatt.
It was France’s Morgane Charre who finished first in Finale Ligure, though. Much like Melamed, Charre started fast and never looked back. The Pivot Factory Racing rider won both of the opening two stages and was second on Stage 3 and 4.
Melanie Pugin finished second behind Charre, one week after winning the EWS Pietre Ligure. Estelle Charles rounded out a French sweep of the pro women’s podium.
Complete Canuck results
Miranda Miller was the next-best placed Canadian after Melamed and ALN. Squamish’s world champion finished 15th in Finale Ligure.
Rhys Verner, Miller’s Kona Gravity teammate, ended his season with 23rd. The young Squamish rider landed his first EWS stage win last week in Pietre Ligure.
Carter Krasny finished 62nd in the pro men’s race. Remi Gauvin struggled on Stage One, hemorrhaging time before fighting back to finish 94th overall.
Jesse Melamed: Stage 3 practice footage – EWS Finale Ligure, Italy
The last race of the abbreviated Enduro World Series season, Finale Ligure was a proper test of athlete’s endurance and abilities. The day’s racing spanned over 60 kilometres of seaside Italian trails, with over 1,700m of elevation gain. The race stages were a mix of very awkward, technical riding and all-out pedalling sections.
Jesse Melamed shared his practice footage from the incredibly demanding Stage 3, highlighted by some of the most technical switchback sections to feature in a race.
