Source: press release
An epic race that of La Thuile, technical and spectacular, in the opinion of riders and media among the most beautiful of the season with largely unpublished trails and simply designed for enduro.
It will be The Italian Alps and La Thuile provided the perfect setting for this fourth stage of the circuit which saw over 400 competitors arrive here in the Aosta Valley in the presence of Mont Blanc and its impressive chain of peaks.
This race was a truly enormous success and in effect represents the great step forward that the La Thuile station and its Natural Trail Area have made in terms of path network and organization from the previous edition in 2014 to today.
An idea of how the race would go was already had on Saturday, with Cecile (Commencal Vallnord Enduro Team) and Richie (Yeti Fox Shox) who annihilated the competition by winning each of the 3 special stages of the day. In the men Sam Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles Paypal) was consistent, always finishing second, but never close enough to worry Rude. The battle was instead for the second position with Damien Oton, who finished the first day of the race in third position with only 15 seconds behind Hill.
Saturday was also the decisive day for Cecile. Isabeau Courdurier (SUNN) fought hard, but ended the day 1min behind. Anita Gehrig (Ibis Cycles Enduro Race) continues her strong season with a third position at the end of the day.
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With such strong dominance from Cecile and Richie, Sunday the real battle was fought for the two remaining podium places. In men the result was an intense confrontation between Sam Hill and Damien Oton. A crash for Sam Hill on the fourth special cost him 10 seconds which brought Oton to second position, but Hill is certainly not the type to go down without a fight and on the fifth special he gave his all and placed himself in the lead. In this way he managed to consolidate his second position and push the winner of the 2014 edition La Thuile, Oton into third position.
Richie said: “It was really incredible. I never thought I'd be able to have an advantage of one minute and twenty over my opponents. It's nice to be back in La Thuile and remember the 2014 edition. During this start of the season I was definitely tense but a result of this type at the halfway point of the circuit gives me the right stimulus for the last part of the season ”.
In women, the story is very similar. With a first position in all stages, Cecile's victory was never really in doubt. Isabeau put all her energies into the race but in the end she had to settle for second position with two and a half minutes behind Ravanel. Canadian Andreane Lanthier Nadeau (Rocky Mountain Urge bp) caught the eye with her performance by finishing the race in third position with a second place on special stages two and five.
Regarding his victory, Cecile declares: ”It was a great race and I'm happy. I love this type of route, so steep and technical and I enjoyed it all weekend. Now we are moving to the United States and Canada and for me this is the best part of the season ”.
The Under 21 youth categories are also growing strongly with several athletes who would have been included in the Top 20 Pro men and women. Worth highlighting is the great performance by Martina Berta from the Aosta Valley, an athlete of the Italian Junior Cross Country National Team and bronze medalist at the recent World Championship in Nove Mesto, who at her first EWS finished with an excellent second place in the Under 21 Women.
Regarding her performance Martina declares “I did not think on my first EWS outing to make such a result. I am very happy and satisfied especially for what an event of this magnitude can represent in terms of visibility for the territory of the Aosta Valley, a region that has so much to offer from the point of view of mountain bike trails ".
Now the Enduro World Series moves to the other side of the Atlantic in Colorado, precisely in Aspen, where the round 5 Yeti Cycles Big Mountain Enduro presented by Shimano will take place on 30/31 July.
La Thuile gives an appointment to all bikers who, during the summer season, intend to come here to have fun on the new paths that hosted the EWS race and that starting from tomorrow will definitively enter the path network of the Aosta Valley.
RESULTS
www.rockinthemiddle.com/uploads/LaThuile-EWS-Result-Overall-Final.pdf
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