- Welcome to the Race Report Show!
Now the season is winding down to an end
across all mountain bike disciplines,
but there are a few key areas that are still kicking off.
So, without further ado, lets take a look
at the weekend's action.
(dramatic swooshing and beeping)
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It was the penultimate round of the
Enduro World Series in Spain at the weekend.
After a few weeks off to rest and recover
from Whistler last month, riders were raring to go
to ride the seven long and challenging
stages of Zona Zero Sobrarbe.
It wasn't the one, though, for Sam Hill,
who, sadly, after stage two, sat back at 128th place
after suffering from a huge front tire blowout.
Fortunately, though, Martin Maes was on hand to help him out
and to make sure he made it to the next stage in time.
Now that's what I call sportsmanship.
Now it wasn't just Sam Hill who was
having a tough time in Spain, as Scottish rocket Katy Winton
feels this round was one of her worst
performances in about three years.
Now that's definitely saying something about
the Spanish terrain out there.
In the women's field, there were no prizes
for guessing the winner, as Cecile Ravanel has been
absolutely on fire this season.
Such a strong and determined rider, she nailed the top spot,
ahead of Isabeau Courdurier, who came second,
and Andréane Nadeau in third.
For the men, we were, of course,
expecting Sam Hill up on that podium this weekend
but after a huge setback on the first day,
he was out of the running, which left the field
wide open for Yeti rider Richie Rude to claim the top spot.
Martin Maes finished a few seconds behind him,
with Damien Oton coming in third place.
Now these guys and girls have less than a week to rest up
before heading over to Finale for the EWS finals
at the weekend, where our very own GMBN Neil
will be racing.
And I cannot wait to see the action from there.
It was the final round Proffix Swiss Bike Cup
in Lugano, Switzerland at the weekend where,
for many racers, it was the last big race
of the cross-country season.
With the likes of world champion Nino Schurter
and Jolanda Neff racing, it was set to be a close one.
However, we couldn't have been more surprised
as racers made tracks between the tapes
across country course challenge riders to a good mix
of technical, flow, and grassy banks
where many areas offer mistakes and overtaking.
Despite a strong start for Jolanda Neff,
a crash in her first lap took her out of the race
and back to the hotel.
So with Neff out of the running,
the lead was picked up by Russia's Irina Kalentyeva,
who finished in a time of one hour, 33 minutes,
and 31 seconds.
Swiss racer Alessandra Keller followed just
one minute later to take the second place,
while Nicole Koller took third.
In the men's race, Nino Schurter, the world champion,
took to the start line next to
World Cup rival Gerhard Kerschbaumer.
But as the race got underway, it was apparent
that Schurter was taking it easy
before the off-season begins.
This left Kerschbaumer to take the win in one hour,
28 minutes and fifty one seconds,
followed by Mathias Flückiger 37 seconds after,
and Titouan Carod taking third place.
Now it was the penultimate round
of the UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup
in Belgium at the weekend where rainfall
seriously interfered with the time runs.
But certainly did not dampen the efforts
of every single racer there.
Making their way round a short
and extremely slippery circuit,
it was Norway's Ingrid Jacobson
who took her third World Cup win of the season,
ahead of fellow countrywoman Anna Stray Rongve,
who came in second place,
and Dutch rider Zoë Mulder taking third.
As conditions worsened, though, the men really
had to dig deep to combat the churned-up track,
but it was Dutch rider Lehvi Braam
who held his own and took his first
World Cup victory of the season.
Spain's Alberto Fernandez came in second place,
with Sweden's Anton Olstam taking third.
Now the final round of the UCI Mountain Bike
Eliminator World Cup will take place in Brazil
on November 24th.
So definitely cannot wait for that.
Now we're pretty excited about the EWS final this weekend.
As I said earlier, Neil will be racing
and capturing all the action himself.
So, we're really excited to see what he comes back with
and, of course, to see what result he gets.
So wish Neil good luck.
(air whooshing)
And if you want to see more from GMBN,
then click over here to have look
at Neil's bucket list events for mountain biking
and over here to watch Blake's backpacking trip
around the Isle of Wight.
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