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[youtube width=”640″ height=”390″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y94HADbWYM4[/youtube]
The first Les Arcs Enduro2 is in the books. The race took the celebrated format of blind stage racing and added a zesty twist by making participants race in teams of two. This made for a strong social atmosphere as friends chased each other down 16 varied stages over 3 dry dusty days in the Savoie region of the French Alps. Despite the relaxed vibe the stages were tightly contested. Pairs strategy played a big part in posting good times as teams could give one rider an untimed head start of up to 30 seconds, adding a whole new element to successful racing.

New Zealand had a strong presence with five riders from Nelson competing at the sharp end of the field. As the only all female team, The Full Nelson (Raewyn Morrison/Meg Bichard) were thrown into the mixed category. The girls stepped up, riding their way to the top step in their class and an impressive 12th overall.

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Nelson’s Mark Dunlop found himself in a blind date situation, racing with an unknown Swiss shredder named Urs Pargmann. The pair hit it off, riding strongly together all weekend to come away with a sixth place overall.

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Rounding out the NZ troops was Wood Duck Racing (Ian Phillipps/Michael Hayward). The boys took a relaxed approach to racing, aiming to maximise the drifts and hucks. Despite the casual outlook and a last day puncture, Wood Duck Racking managed to sneak into 9th overall.

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Full results are available here.

Mixed pairs podium: 1st -The Full Nelson (Meg Bichard/Raewyn Morrison), 2nd - Pivot Specialized Mixed Enduro, 3rd - Team Howard.

Mens podium. 1st - World of MTB, 2nd - 5 a day (already flying home when prizegiving started), 3rd - ADS

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While not racing, Jamie Nicoll popped by to help out with the timing and course marking.

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