The UCI Enduro World Cup final has been billed as a battle royale with the men’s and women’s titles still to be decided. The battle will take place between Loudenvielle and Peyragudes, presented by Facom, in France.
Source: press release
The trails of the Louron bike park are considered the jewel of the French Pyrenees, but the difficult conditions and ever-changing terrain made this one of the toughest Enduro races of the season.
Before the race even started, the weather began to take a turn for the worse with strong winds in the high mountains that led to the cancellation of the third stage. And once the first riders started to descend, it was clear that the results would be even harder to predict.
Speaking after the race, Morgane Charre said: “I really like these conditions, it’s really fun. I’ve been getting better and better in the rain, I’m so happy to have won. I was eight seconds behind Melanie [Pugin] before the last [stage], but I love this stage and I usually do pretty well.”
The 2024 UCI Enduro World Cup overall series winner, Harriet Harnden, said: “I feel like I’ve finally done it. To beat Isabeau [Courdurier] is insane. She’s unstoppable, so it’s really special. I just wanted to ride myself, be myself, if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. It went pretty well. I still can’t believe it. I don’t know what 2025 will bring, but hopefully it will be something similar to this. It doesn’t happen often and I’m just going to enjoy the moment.” While the women’s overall was up for grabs until the final stage, the men’s was more of a given.
Speaking after the race, Martin Maes said: “When I woke up this morning I had a strange feeling that I could do it. It’s the end of an era for Orbea and for me. Today was perfect, I didn’t touch the ground once and I just rode the best I could. I think the conditions were incredibly tough, with really deep ruts and super wet ground. It was a tough race, but I think the flat pedals helped me today.”
Richie Rude (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) said: “Slawomir [Lukasik] and Charlie [Murray] have been there all season. It’s been a good battle. It’s amazing. I’ve had a really good season this year, it’s been one of my best so far. I haven’t been off the podium all year, which is pretty crazy. I’m so excited and it feels good to go back to last season and give it my all this season. Starting the season off strong reassures you that everything you put in in the off-season is paying off. Winning in Finale, being strong in Poland and doing well in Leogang, carrying that momentum forward. Some days where I wasn’t feeling that strong, I was still there fighting for it. The race in Switzerland, I put a lot of pressure on myself and wanted to do well there and have that little bit of wiggle room here. It was a tough course, so many rocks, so many things could have gone wrong. I just stayed consistent and had no issues.”
UNDER21
Emily Carrick-Anderson (Trek Factory Racing Gravity) proved the future is bright for British Enduro, taking victory in her second UCI Enduro World Cup U21 all season. Simona Kuchynkova was second, with the Slovakian taking the overall title.
In the Under-21 men’s race, Czech Jakub Pivnicka confirmed a podium finish last time out with a fairly consistent performance, winning by 1,4 seconds from Joe Millington (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team). There was a surprise in the overall standings, however, as series leader Bailey Christie (Theory Racing) almost threw it all away by finishing 25th to Loudenvielle – Peyragudes – Jt Fisher (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) three points and four seconds off the title.
MEN'S ELITE RANKING
| 1 | MAES Martin ORBEA FOX ENDURO TEAM |  | 23:29.244 - |
| 2 | RUDE JR Richard YETI / FOX FACTORY RACE TEAM |  | 23:44.687 +15.443 |
| 3 | CALLAGHAN Gregory |  | 23:46.360 +17.116 |
| 4 | RUDEAU Alex COMMENCAL ENDURO PROJECT |  | 23:56.460 +27.216 |
| 5 | PIGEON Hugo SCOTT SR SUNTOUR ENDURO TEAM | | 24:09.665 +40.421 |
| 6 | MURRAYCharles SPECIALIZED ENDURO TEAM |  | 24:11.197 +41.953 |
| 7 | JEANDEL Louis COMMENCAL ENDURO PROJECT | | 24:14.605 +45.361 |
| 8 | WOOLLEY Kasper yt MOB extension |  | 24:17.258 +48.014 |
| 9 | Menzies Jack CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY ENDURO TEAM | | 24:20.386 +51.142 |
| 10 | THRUSH Dimitri COMMENCAL ENDURO PROJECT | | 24:24.657 +55.413 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
FEMALE ELITE RANKING
| 1 | CHARRE Morgane PIVOT FACTORY RACING | | 28:45.070 - |
| 2 | PUGIN Melanie | | 28:50.490 +5.420 |
| 3 | CONOLLY She |  | 28:54.545 +9.475 |
| 4 | HARNDEN Harriet TREK FACTORY RACING GRAVITY | | 29:05.382 +20.312 |
| 5 | KOREM Noga |  | 29:56.613 + 1: 11.543 |
| 6 | CHARLES Estelle SPECIALIZED ENDURO TEAM | | 30:11.181 + 1: 26.111 |
| 7 | MORRISONRae | | 30:53.385 + 2: 08.315 |
| 8 | BARAONA Rebekah | | 31:02.403 + 2: 17.333 |
| 9 | COURDURIER Isabeau LAPIERRE ZIPP COLLECTIVE | | 31:03.894 + 2: 18.824 |
| 10 | SWIFT George YETI / FOX FACTORY RACE TEAM | | 31:58.423 + 3: 13.353 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
ENDURO GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
