Home > News

Enduro World Series shaken up in France

June 23, 2014
Share on SMS
Jared Graves on stage 3, EWS round 3 2014, Valloire. Photo by Matt Wragg
Jared Graves on stage 3, EWS round 3 2014, Valloire. Photo by Matt Wragg

The French round of the Enduro World Series served up challenges that shook up the standings after virtually every stage. Jared Graves and Tracy Moseley emerged as winners after two days of racing in the mountains surrounding Valloire, France.

Graves won the event overall thanks to consistent riding, finishing with a time of one hour, 20 minutes, 39.921 seconds after six stages of racing. Graves didn’t win a single stage, but rode hard and smart to avoid the myriad of mechanical problems that held back his rivals.

“It’s real riding. Your heart rate’s on max, you’ve got arm-pump, your legs are burning up and you’re just ploughing through rock gardens at 50 kms/hr. It’s awesome,” said Graves, about the event.

Graves was joined on the podium by French rider Damien Oton and Switzerland’s Rene Wildhaber, both newcomers to the podium at an EWS event. All three top men finished within a four second margin. Moseley blazed through the six stages, winning five on her way to a total time of 1:29:49.767, 1:36 ahead of series leader Anne Caroline Chausson. Dutch rider Anneke Beerten finished third, her first podium after many near misses.

Difficult conditions caused a number of top riders to suffer flat tires and other problems over the two days of racing. Initial race leader Francois Bailly-Maitre was leading after two stages, but dropped to 19th after mechanical problems. Kiwi racer Justin Leov was keen to improve on his second place finish at the previous event, and was leading after the first day in France. A picture on the second last stage destroyed his lead and dropped him back to 11th overall.

Series leader coming into the event, Frenchman Nico Lau dropped to fifth in the points standings after a flat tire dropped him well out of the top ten.

Josh Carlson, of Vancouver, finished inside the top 50, six minutes back of the winner.

“This was the tenth anniversary of the Valloire French Series Enduro and it went down in style, securing itself as a classic that will not be forgotten by many of the riders for a long time,” says Enduro World Series Managing Director Chris Ball. “The diversity we saw in the top 10 in the men’s and women’s, in ages, backgrounds, and nationalities, is a real testament to the demands of enduro mountain biking. It’s physically and mechanically challenging. I think this weekend was a bit of a surprise to those who expected the alpine specialists to dominate.”

The EWS continues July 13, at the La Thuile Superenduro in Italy.

Categories: News |