When the courses for the first ever UCI Mountain Bike E-Enduro World Cup and the third round of the Enduro World Cup were announced there was a collective sucking of air through teeth. It was chunky, but it was brilliant. A stage racers dream it featured 58/56km respectively of Finale Outdoor Region savagery in the hills above Pietra Ligure.
The racing was extremely tight with Laura Charles, Fabien Barel, Morgane Charre and Jesse Melamed all taking wins. And here’s what we learnt in the process:
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Cometh the hour, cometh Fabien Barel…
It was as if someone had casually mentioned in a cafe on the piazza that there was a page of mountain bike racing history left blank and that someone had better write their name large across it. Fabien Barel (Canyon CLLCTV), the two-time UCI DHI World Champ, the winner of the first ever Enduro World Series race in Punta Ala back in 2013, duly obliged.
A seasoned specialist on the jagged limestone that lines the Ligurian coast, Fabian won the e-bike test event in Finale Ligure back in 2018 and duly went on to win the first ever UCI Mountain Bike E-EDR World Cup. The man is like a fine wine…
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Morgane Charre is in it to win it in 2023
Pivot Factory Racing’s Morgane Charre quietly set about doing what is known in the trade as a ‘Sam Hill’ - amass a big lead early doors, then coolly manage it for the rest of the race to seal the victory.
Charre is no stranger to winning in Finale Outdoor Region having claimed two Trophy of Nations gold medals and an Enduro World Series win in recent years but the performance in 2023 will go down as her most dominant to date. Shots were fired in the overall title race.
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Canada Day was real
Part one of Canada Day was Jesse Melamed (Canyon CLLCTV) looking every inch the overall title holder. The champ rode himself into the race superbly and seemed cool, calm and brutally fast all weekend long. By contrast the rider who went into the weekend in the points leaders jersey, Richie Rude (Yeti Fox Factory Race Team) faltered. A crash early on and then losing an overall spot to the immensely impressive Tommaso Francardo represented real momentum loss to Melamed.
Part two was the continuing rise of Forbidden Synthesis’ Rhys Verner. The 26 year-old Squamish native is increasingly looking like a race winner in waiting. The team are still riding high in the Team’s championship second only to Yeti Fox Factory Race Team, one of the most experienced outfits in the business
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Finale Outdoor Region can put on a Cross-country Marathon show
The second ever UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country Marathon World Cup featured a 100km-long roller coaster ride through some of Europe’s most spellbinding trails and as a result delivered some enthralling back-and-forth races.
The whole area grows year on year and refuses to rest on its laurels due to a passion and drive that stems from a thriving community of mountain bikers, trail builders and local businesses who fundamentally get it.
Don’t forget to tune in to the next round of the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup from Leogang, Austria this week 15-18 June.