[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.
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.
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.
Full results are available here.
Now that looks like a whoooole lot of fun!
Looks like one for the bucket list…