One week after the UCI Enduro World Cup of the Finale Outdoor Region, a race that this year opens the enduro calendar of the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series circuit, the race route was revealed today. After last year's stage in Pietra Ligure, the event village, paddock and route return to Finale Ligure and, as in the past, athletes, professionals and amateurs return to race on the same day, divided by discipline.
Source: press release
In fact, Saturday 11 May will be the day dedicated to the enduro discipline, while Sunday will be the turn of the e-EDR races for pedal-assisted bikes which find their ideal playground in the Outdoor Region Final.
There will be nine special tests for the E-EDR and five for the EDR, these in common with the electric race.
The route includes some classics from Finale but also some novelties. Saturday's enduro race begins with two purely downhill stages, Base Nato and Ingegnere, while the third test will be Supergroppo, a trail that celebrates ten years since its first and last use in the race, the longest of this year's race (7 km) and with a strong pedaling and physical component where athletes will literally be able to compete in the race. As the fourth special, one of the most technical trails in the Region, Rocche Gianche, returns, with some reinterpretations and new features in the central part. To end on a high note amidst the cheering of the public, one of the most iconic trails in the Region returns again this year, DH Men, also revisited in its lines for greater sustainability.
There will be two race loops for the e-EDR race: the first, in addition to Base Nato, includes Cà Bianca, Ingegnere and Supergroppo with long transfers on singletrack and interesting uphill stretches. After this first ring, the amateurs will be able to return to the square for the finish, while the Pro athletes will have five more stages waiting for them. The second loop opens with Legnino, a Power Stage technique to reach the top of the San Bernardino plateau where the next test, Borderline, also takes place, also revisited in an e-mtb key with the inclusion of a long uphill stretch . After the climb to Orco it will be the turn, also for the electric riders, to face Rocche Gianche, with a new uphill stretch dedicated to this race and which will represent, in the future, a new way to reach one of the most beautiful panoramic points of the entire area, and then move on to the Manie, where they will tackle the first stretch of the Andrassa. Grand finale also for the e-EDR race on DH Men, but not before tackling one last technical uphill trail: Radici.
Francesco Gozio, Race Director explains: “With this year's route we tried to give maximum prominence to the territory and the trail network of the Finale Outdoor Region, inserting classic trails, some that have not been used in the race for some time and many new interpretations . The many pedaled sections take us back to a classic enduro approach which in recent years had been somewhat lost in favor of PS with a more downhill character. For the electric race, we looked for a route that can really highlight the potential of our territory with a pedal-assisted bike: nine special stages with sections to pedal, two technical but not extreme Power Stages like those presented in the 2020/21 editions of the ' EWS-E and which also differ from the more trialistic Power Stage concept seen last year at Ranzi, variants designed specifically for e-mtb use. For the electric race, but in general also for the muscular race, the concept is to have special physiques, with sections to pedal and truly complete. We could define it as a sort of return to the origins of enduro and, certainly, an approach that better adapts to the shape of our territory, to the direction in which we think the sport can develop and grow and to the type of enjoyment that can be done with a enduro bike, traditional or pedal-assisted. For the latter, as the PS and Power Stages were designed, the riders who will prevail will be the most complete ones, i.e. those who will be able to combine the physical component, the technical one and the ability to exploit and dose the engine and bike battery in the best possible way”.
To watch the race and cheer on the athletes, the recommended points are on DH Men, Rocche Gianche and Legnino. The advice is to move as much as possible on foot or by bicycle to avoid traffic problems and given the scarcity of parking.
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