Daniel Booker triumphed in a thrilling head-to-head with Slawomir Lukasik (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) at the UCI Enduro World Cup stage in Loudenvielle – Peyragudes (France).
Conolly took his first win of the season with a crushing 40-second lead over Morgan Charre (Pivot Factory Racing), winning four out of five stages.
In the men’s elite race, however, things were tighter, with Booker leading by just a couple of seconds with two stages to go, before responding in style to take his second stage of the season.
In the meantime both Lacey Adams (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) that Melvin Almueis They extended their lead in the Junior standings with victory in Loudenvielle.
BOOKER DEFEATS LUKASIK AFTER FIVE ROUND GAME
Booker prevailed in a close battle to claim his second UCI World Cup stage just weeks after his first win at Pietra Ligure, Finale Outdoor Region (Italy).
Booker gave Nabias a tough time, as the riders began what was probably the toughest stage of the day: a 3,6km descent with 730m of elevation gain that got steeper as the trail progressed, sapping arm strength the entire way.
Booker has passed Alex Rudeau of two seconds, with the winner of the second round Slawomir Lukasik in fourth place by a similar margin, although the Pole then fought back on the Privilege stage to take the overall lead by a very narrow margin: 0,006 seconds.
So, it was all to play for on a super-steep 1.100m fourth stage that featured either no gaps or huge ones with plenty of crash potential, and it proved to be the decisive separation between the two favourites, with Łukasik in 11th place and Booker making up all the time he had lost on the Privilege stage.
This meant that, by the end of the fifth stage, the most technical of all, Booker had a seven-second lead over the rest of the field and put in a champion's ride, sealing his triumph.
In the meantime Łukasik lost some ground, losing 10 seconds (his biggest margin of the day on a single stage) and allowing Alex Rudeau to jump to second place, after having been rather calm since the first stage.
Not even the Flying Canadian Jesse Melamed (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) managed to prevent Booker from taking the third stage of the day, while Łukasik at least has the consolation of retaining the overall leader's jersey with a 310-point advantage over today's winner.
“It was very emotional to win here, I have never had an outstanding result, but I have loved the trails every year,” Booker said. “Today, even though I made some mistakes, I still managed to keep the speed, I was happy and the trails were perfect, so it was a great day, I really enjoyed riding.
ORDER OF ARRIVAL
| 1 n ° 6 | BOOKER Daniel |  | 22:20.157 - |
| 2 n ° 19 | RUDEAU Alex |  | 22:30.797 +10.640 |
| 3 n ° 1 | LUKASIK Slawomir YETI / FOX FACTORY RACE TEAM |  | 22:37.882 +17.725 |
| 4 n ° 21 | MELAMED Jesse CANYON CLLCTV FACTORY TEAM |  | 22:42.489 +22.332 |
| 5 n ° 15 | RODGERS Lief | | 22:49.484 +29.327 |
| 6 n ° 7 | BRODIE WILLIAM |  | 22:49.606 +29.449 |
| 7 n ° 14 | FISHER Jt YETI / FOX FACTORY RACE TEAM |  | 22:50.776 +30.619 |
| 8 n ° 8 | MURRAYCharles SPECIALIZED GRAVITY |  | 22:53.510 +33.353 |
| 9 n ° 126 | GIAMBI Raphaël JAN-S | | 22:53.667 +33.510 |
| 10 n ° 32 | WALLEvan | | 22:57.845 +37.688 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
CONOLLY CROWNED QUEEN OF LUDENVIELLE-PEYRAGUDES
Ella Conolly extended her lead at the top of the Women’s UCI Enduro Elite World Cup standings comfortably – or at least as comfortably as possible – over five stages featuring an average downhill gradient of 20%.
And now she has a victory to add to her overall superiority, having been the bridesmaid of Harriet Harnden (Aon Racing – Tourne Campervans) ed Elly Hoskin in Pietra Ligure and at the Enduro Trails in Bielsko-Biała (Poland).
Conolly imposed his authority from the first stage, beating Morgan Charre by 4,27 seconds over Nabias and the rest of the field by more than 20. And since the first two stages were the longest of the day, Conolly had the opportunity to practically close the heat at the end of Privilege.
He took it, hurtling down the exposed slope to finish another five seconds ahead of Charre, while Nadine Ellecosta (Abetone Ancillotti Vittoria Factory Team) was third on the stage and in the general classification, in a tight fight for the “best of the others”.
The third stage marked a clear change from the start of the day, with a short, sharp descent through the trees giving Charre the chance to react; he beat Conolly by a second, while behind, less than four seconds separated third-placed Ellecosta and Estelle Charles , tithe.
Conolly still managed to recover on the Pourticou stage, leaving all the others, except Charre and Ellecosta, more than a minute behind, while Winnifred Goldsbury he finished third in the stage.
And neither Goldsbury nor anyone else could stop her on the final stage: Charre finished fifth, still taking second place in the overall standings, while Conolly further extended his lead at the top of the standings.
“The race was fantastic, it was really nice to race here in Loudenvielle in the dry,” Conolly said at the end of the race. “It was a big contrast to last year and our previous World Cup stop in Poland.
ORDER OF ARRIVAL
| 1 n ° 1 | CONOLLY She | | 25:22.107 - |
| 2 n ° 9 | CHARRE Morgane PIVOT FACTORY RACING | | 26:02.381 +40.274 |
| 3 n ° 12 | GOLDSBURY Winnifred | | 26:40.074 + 1: 17.967 |
| 4 n ° 4 | ELLECOSTA Nadine ABETONE ANCILLOTTI VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM |  | 26:42.999 + 1: 20.892 |
| 5 n ° 6 | PLANQUART Lily | | 26:52.781 + 1: 30.674 |
| 6 n ° 22 | WEBER Helen |  | 26:59.851 + 1: 37.744 |
| 7 n ° 10 | SWIFT George YETI / FOX FACTORY RACE TEAM | | 27:25.864 + 2: 03.757 |
| 8 n ° 2 | KUCHYNKOVA Simona CUBE ACTION TEAM |  | 27:30.909 + 2: 08.802 |
| 9 n ° 13 | CHARLES Estelle | | 27:36.952 + 2: 14.845 |
| 10 n ° 21 | KING Charlotte | | 27:51.267 + 2: 29.160 |
GENERAL WORLD CUP
Conolly and Booker will return next weekend to Saalfelden Leogang-Salzburg (Austria) in a packed program of events, where for the second time ever all the disciplines of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series will be present, with the participation of athletes from cross-country e downhill.
