Home > MTB

Canadians poised for another big EWS weekend after Val di Fassa Pro Stage

Enduro World Series returns to Italy and the Canucks return to top of leader boards

Canadian’s are off to another fast start at the Enduro World Series third round. Several finished in the top ranks of their category on Saturday’s Pro Stage at Val di Fassa in Italy.

Pro men and women: Rocky Mountain Race Face to the front

Jesse Melamed (Rocky Mountain Race Face), winner last week in Petzen-Jamnica, leads the pack. He sits second behind the U.S.’s Richie Rude (Yeti-Fox) in the Pro Men’s category. Jack Menzies, riding for Kamloops, B.C. brand We Are One, is 14th. Melamed’s teammate, Remi Gauvin, is 22nd, 10.88 seconds behind Rude’s winning time. McKay Vezina (Giant Factory) and Rhys Verner (Forbidden Synthesis) are 25th and 26th going into Sunday’s racing.

AndrĂ©ane Lanthier-Nadeau (Rocky Mountain Race Face) is also off to a fast start. ALN placed third in Saturday’s Pro Stage. The women’s race is led by Isabeau Courdurier (Lapierre Zipp), with Germany’s Raphaela Richter (Ibis) trailing the French star by just 0.83 seconds. ALN is 3.36 seconds behind Courdurier. Lucy Schick (Norco) is 27th in the women’s race, Julia Long 39th. Angeline McKirdy rounds out the Canadian pro women’s results with 42nd going into Sunday.

Under-21 and under pressure

After winning the first two EWS rounds of 2022, in Tweed Valley and Petzen-Jamnica, Vancouver Island’s Emmy Lan (Norco Factory Team) sits second after Saturday’s Pro Stage. The Canadian will have to make up the 1.26-second advantage held by Italy’s Sophie Riva if she wants a third-straight win. Lily Boucher is currently fourth, but also less than two seconds off of a podium finish.

The Canadian u21 men have a bit more work to do if they want to match last week’s results. Emmett Hancock (We Are One) currently leads the Canadians in seventh. Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing) is eighth. Johnathan Helly (We Are One) is 18th, 11.69 seconds back from race leader Luke Meier-Smith (Propain Factory Racing).

There’s still plenty of racing to go in Italy, though. Sunday is a big day, with the majority of the weekend’s stages.