Jesse Melamed wins EWS Sugarloaf

Canadians had a big day in the U.S.A. as the Enduro World Series concluded its three-weekend blitz in North America. Jesse Melamed landed the win, his second in three weeks and a big bonus in his overall series ambitions. Seth Sherlock and Emmett Hancock added a win and a silver in the under-21 men’s race.

Melamed fights back to win in Maine

After a crash on the third of six race stages at Sugarloaf, Jesse Melamed looked to be fighting for a podium position in America. Richie Rude (Yeti-Fox) looked to have a clear path to his second-straight EWS win in America, backing up his victory in Burke last weekend, only to crash on stages four and five. Rude nursed a wounded shoulder to the finish line, but the victory was gone.

Melamed pushed hard to claw back lost time, taking the Pro Men’s win in America. It’s his second win in three weeks, backing up his victory at home during EWS Whistler. With Rude and Jack Moir (Canyon Cllctv) both having bad weekends, Melamed extends his lead in the series overall points race. He now has 450 points over Rude, with Maes moving into a more distant third.

Rhys Verner (Forbidden Synthesis) started Sunday in the top 10 before a disastrous second stage dropped him to 25th overall. Remi Gauvin (Rocky Mountain Race Face) fought back from a big crash in Saturday’s Pro Stage to finish 27th. Evan Wall (Devinci Global Racing) finished 33rd, McKay Vezina (Giant Factory) 41st, Carter Krasny 45th, and Nathan Sterckx (RST) 46th.

Courdurier’s comeback

In the women’s race, Isabeau Courdurier (Lapierre Zipp Collective) completed her impressive comeback from a freak foot injury by taking the win in Sugarloaf.

Rebecca Baraona (Yeti-Fox) and Ella Conolly (Cannondale) each landed stage wins, but couldn’t rival the French woman’s consistency. Courdurier leads the women’s standings ahead of Morgane Charre (Pivot Factory Racing) and Baraona.

Andréane Lanthier Nadeau (Rocky Mountain Race Face) continues to battle through her home-continent races with an injured ankle. ALN takes ninth on the highly technical Sugarloaf weekend. Miranda Miller (Kona) followed just outside the top-10, in 12th. Julia Long (Norco) squeezed into the top 20 with a 19th place in Pro women.

Canadians top under-21 standings

Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing) continued his impressive cross-over from downhill racing, landing another win in the under-21 men’s race. The Squamish, B.C. racer’s time would have been fast enough for a staggering 11th in the elite men’s standings. Just as when he won in Whistler, Sherlock had Emmett Hancock (We Are One) beside him on the podium in second place. The two Canadians edged out U.S.A.’s Jake Keller, who finishes third at home.

Johnathan Helly (We Are One) finished fifth on another strong day for the Kamloops, B.C.-based team. Nicolas Brochet in 17th put another Canadian in the top 20.

Lily Boucher added another strong finish, narrowly missing the podium with a fourth-place finish at Sugarloaf behind u21 women’s winner Sophie Riva of Italy.

As a bonus, Canada’s Ingrid Larouche stormed to a massive 24-second win in the Master 35+ Women’s category ahead of New Zealand’s Melissa Newell and the U.S.A.’s Mary McConneloug.