Jesse Melamed races through thunderstorms and greasy trails in Italy

How quickly can course conditions change completely? How many close calls can you have in one nine-minute race run? Jesse Melamed answers both questions, with his muddy POV from the Queen Stage of Enduro World Series Pietre Ligure.

“The thunder started as we were pedalling up to the stage and the rain started as the women were dropping” Melamed recounts in his intro to the race run replay. “By the time I dropped in as last man on track conditions were a little bit more slick than I would have liked.”

Despite greasy conditions, Melamed rode to a seventh overall in Pietre Ligure. The result comes one round after his win in EWS Zermatt, in even more unfavorable weather.

RELATED: Lanthier Nadeau sixth at EWS Pietre Ligure

Fellow Sea-to-Sky racer Rhys Verner landed his first EWS stage win in the Italian mud on the same stage Melamed shows below. Having grown up in Squamish, the slippery conditions on the Queen Stage were familiar ground for Verner.

Watch Melamed’s full race run below. And count how many times he says “woah, that was close.”

Jesse Melamed – EWS Pietre Ligure Stage 3 Race Run

What did Pietre Ligure’s Queen Stage look like before the rain arrived? Check out Melamed’s stage preview POV below:

Jesse Melamed – EWS Pietre Ligure practice POV footage

The abbreviated 2020 Enduro World Series calendar wraps up this weekend just a short hop away from Pietre Ligure. As it has many times, Finale Ligure will be the last EWS round of the year.