Defending Enduro World Series champion Jerome Clementz put in a storming second day at the EWS opener in Chilé to take the overall win. In the women’s racing, Anne-Caroline Chausson won five of the six stages to best 2013 champ Tracy Moseley by almost two minutes!
Going into the second day, Jared Graves held the lead, but Jerome’s consistency was the key, without winning a stage but being fast all day. Wunderkind Martin Maes won four stages, and finished 4th overall. But for a bad opening day, the 19 year old Belgian may have taken his first EWS Pro win. Kiwi Justin Leov showed he’ll also be a real contender this year with a solid and consistent race, finishing 5th overall. Jamie Nicoll was a bit off the pace and will be disappointed with 23rd.
Anne-Caro was dominant, winning all the day’s stages, and while Tracy was consistent with three 2nds and a 3rd, the downhill speed of the former multi-DH World Champion was just too hot. These two should have a great battle the rest of the season. Cecile Ravanel took 3rd and Anka Martin had a good day for 8th.
Press Release:
Riders from 21 nations gathered at the ends of the earth, the Chilean Andes, this weekend, for the stage-setting opening event of the 2014 Enduro World Series.
The Santa Cruz Montenbaik Enduro by MTBLab 2014, in Nevados de Chillan, tested the world’s best mountain bikers on six stages over two days, against a backdrop of spectacular terrain to kick-start what promises to be another epic season of enduro mountain bike racing.
After two days of to-the-wall racing through the Andes, Anne-Caroline Chausson (Ibis Cycles) and Jérôme Clementz (Cannondale Overmountain) emerged victorious. Chausson dominated the women’s field from the outset, winning five of six stages, and staying ahead of rival and EWS World Champion title-holder Tracy Moseley (Trek Factory Racing Enduro Team). Cecile Ravanel (GT Pulse) overtook Anneke Beerten (Specialized Racing Team) on the final stage for the third place spot.
Although reigning EWS World Champion, Jérôme Clementz (Cannondale Overmountain) did not win a single stage, he put in an incredible second day of racing to close a 12 second gap passing Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox Factory Team) in the last stage to take the win.
The Belgian wunderkind, Martin Maes (GT Factory Racing), more than held his own in the Elite category, winning three stages, but losing his spot on the podium to Florian Nicolai (Rocky Mountain Urge BP Team) who put in a blistering final stage behind fellow Frenchman Nico Lau (Cube Action Team), to move into third place overall.
British Moseley’s strong performance was matched by fellow TREK Factory Racing Enduro riders, Kiwi Justin Leov (5th place) and Swiss Rene Wildhaber (9th place), to put them on top of the team standings, closely followed by the Rocky Mountain Urge BP Team (France’s Isabeau Courdurier (5th), Florian Nicolai (3rd) and Alexandre Cure (7th).) Clementz’s Cannondale OverMountain team, including Pauline Dieffenthaler and Marco Osborne, are in third.
Said EWS Managing Director Chris Ball, “It was an amazing race on wild terrain – a true test of everything from high alpine style racing to high-speed volcanic ash and forested singletrack.”
First time Enduro World Series hosts, Montenbaik Enduro got the Series off to a powerful start, and showcased the strength and importance of the South American mountain bike community to the global scene. “We are really stoked to have been able to show the real Chilean singletrack and the potential the Andes has for the mountain biking” says Media Director Eduardo de Solminihac.
Chris Ball says, “The community is incredible here and the people and the trails are simply amazing. As far as adventure goes, they don’t get better than this.”
Results are available, in addition to a new Rider Results Analyser tool that allows various racers and stages to be compared, at http://www.enduroworldseries.com/results.php
Dirt TV’s race coverage can be viewed at enduroworldseries.com. The full race highlights edit will be released on Wednesday.
