- Have you ever wondered just how fast the pros are?
Could you be fast enough?
And how do they compare to a fast local racer
or even the amateurs?
Let's take a look at the results of the Enduro World Series
in Finale Ligure and see how the pros won the race
and how an ex-pro and various other normals riders
compare to the Richie Rude's
and Cecile Ravanels of this world.
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Okay, there were four stages at Finale.
A 50 kilometer day with four relatively short,
by EWS standards, stages.
So you'd expect the times to be tighter at the top.
But I'm not only going to look at the winners times,
let's take a look a ex-pro, myself, compared,
but also, I'm going to pick a couple of other riders.
I'm gonna study the stage times and the race progression
using an excellent website, routesandrate.
So start with myself,
I'm an ex-pro downhill and enduro racer.
I've been the UK Enduro Champ twice,
had top 10s at World Cup Downhill
and a best of 23rd at an EWS.
But that was back in 2014.
So now I have a proper job
making mountain bike videos for GMB,
which of course I love,
but from riding and training five days a week,
I now ride a couple of times a week,
have a busy family and work life,
much like many real grown ups, I suppose.
So how much has that slowed me down?
The next rider I've picked is Nigel Page,
an old friend of mine.
He's the team manager for the Chain Reaction Nukeproof team.
The main man himself, Sam Hill's team.
Pagey, if you don't know, is an old pro himself,
slightly more vetter than myself.
He's 46 years old,
one of the most stylish riders I've ever witnessed,
he's an ex-pro BMXer turned downhill racer.
He's got skills, but he's got a normal job
that must limit his time to ride,
and a few more years under the belt.
So, I'm gonna take a look at the two winners times,
my times, Pagey's times,
and also going to look at some amateur racers later on.
Right, let's get to it and start with the big guns,
the race winners, Richie Rude and Cecile Ravanel.
So using the race progression,
unsurprisingly, the best finishes were
the most consistent riders.
Richie Rude set a new first by winning all the stages.
That's never happened at an Enduro World Series.
Obviously flying high at the end of season
after his win the previous weekend at Ainsa.
He actually won the first stage
by less than a second from Martin Maes.
However, Maes did smash his hand in to a tree.
He would struggle on but drop into 179th, 178th, and 119th
on the last three stages with a busted up hand.
I put in a 5:15 on stage one.
Rude beat me by 48 seconds on just a 4.5 minute stage.
He's just faster everywhere.
His fitness would have made
a big difference to average speeds.
Stage one had some punchy little climbs and flatter sections
but likewise, his skill level
would have upped the difference even more.
Ravanel set a 5:18, just three seconds behind me,
but eight seconds slower than the fastest woman,
Isabeau Courdurier, who set a 5 minutes 10.
Nigel Page, 5:22.
On stage two and after a massive liaison,
we had already pedaled 10 kilometers
and 370 meters of climbing on stage one.
A five minute sprint of course on stage one.
Then it was eight kilometers
and another 500 meters climb up to stage two.
Richie Rude set a 4 minutes 15,
2.5 seconds clear of the nearest rider, Damien Oton.
It was a 4:55 for myself.
A 5:10 from Ravanel.
Again, eight seconds slower than Courdurier,
who did a 5:02.
However, Ravanel did have a crash at the top of the stage
in a really tricky section.
So she did well to get back up and not lose too much time
and still be in the with the chance for the overall win.
A 5 minutes 14 for Nigel Page.
On stage three, another eight kilometers in this liaison,
which adds a chunk of fatigue with repeated sprints
and high heart rates on stages taken its toll.
Rude put in a 5 minutes 24.
A 6:22 for myself.
Fatigue had definitely taken its toll
and my riding was getting really scrappy.
A silly mistake going through the tapes
and this was where I was really losing time rapidly.
A 6 minutes 10 from Ravanel,
now clawing almost 10 seconds back on Courdurier.
A 6:18 for Nigel Page in the masters plus 40 men.
Now on stage four, the final.
Almost a 400 meter climb back up to the ridge
for the final stage in super hot conditions
and now with almost 40 kilometers under our belts.
The classic men's downhill at the finale.
It's flat and physical at the top,
mega rough, wild, and a massive spectator presence
at the bottom.
Richie Rude finished the race perfectly,
with a scorching 4 minutes 23.
Myself, I was 40 seconds back with a 5:03.
Ravanel, again, with a 5:03,
which put her 14 seconds ahead on Courdurier
and what a way to win the race.
Untouchable on that last stage.
Andréane Lanthier Nadeau was actually the closest,
but still 11 seconds slower than Ravanel.
Nigel Page put in a 5 minute 16.
So, just how fast are the pros?
Well, on stage four, if you look at the percentages,
myself and Ravanel were 15% slower than Richie Rude.
Pagey, 20%, and the amateur was 21% slower.
In the overall race, again, it's very similar.
I was 16% slower overall.
Cecile Ravanel, 17%, and Pagey, 19%.
Now personally, how much have I slowed down?
So, in 2014, I beat 90% of the racers
at the Enduro World Series in Scotland,
where I came 23rd.
Now in 2018, where I don't train
or ride half as much as a pro,
plus a few more years under the belt of course,
and a few more injuries.
There's my excuse is out of the way,
I only beat 44% of the racers.
So back in Scotland 2014,
I was only 5% slower than the winning time of Nicolai.
But this was a much longer race actually.
That's quite important to note.
It's 43 minutes of racing
compared to the one day event this year.
Just 18.5 minutes from Richie Rude.
Cecile Ravanel's time would have put her
132nd in the men's race,
with a crash, don't forget.
But time for another comparison.
On the Saturday before the EWS,
there's a challenger race,
open to anyone to enter.
So amateurs, anyone.
Still a big challenge, it's a 52 kilometer loop.
Stages one to three were different to EWS,
but they did finish on the men's downhill.
So how did the amateurs compare?
Frenchman Greg Pottier won the race
and put in the fastest challenger time on the men's downhill
a 5 minutes 20, which was 17 seconds slower
than Cecile Ravanel
and almost a minute slower than Richie Rude.
That is 23% slower.
But where would that put him in the main race?
Well even the fastest amateur
would have been 170th in the EWS on stage four.
But still given enough to beat
the others by 40 seconds in the challenger race overall.
Something interesting to study is this race progression
using routesandrates.
So Richie Rude took all the number ones.
Damien Oton comes back from a fifth on stage one
to run in second for the rest of the day.
Sam Hill's consistency was order of the day,
as was the season in fact,
as he brought home the championship.
He sat in 10th after the first stage
and kept is steady to finish ninth.
Of course, his only tire rival, Martin Maes,
was already out of the running.
But don't for one second think that
Sam Hill's consistent and safe is slow.
The closest I got to Sam in any stage was 23 seconds slower
and that was the last stage
where obviously he battled to make sure he got home safe
and still 40 seconds faster
than the fastest amateur in cruise mode.
And it is important to note that Sam Hill
did have to finish that stage safely
because any problem like a puncture
still has to be fixed
and you have to ride back to town to finish the race off.
And that is one of the other most remarkable things
about how good the pros are.
The terrain's gnarly, going as fast as they do is gnarly,
they have to make their bikes last,
not just to get through the stage as fast,
but also to last a day, which is gnarly.
Let's study a couple of other rides
to show just how hard it is
to be consistently at the top end of pro racing.
So although Greg Callaghan had a good first couple of stages
with third and fourth,
he then had a ninth, and finished eighth overall.
Mark Scott had a nightmare on the final stage,
so after 6.5 hours of riding,
he dropped from 20th in overall to 36th
with that last stage mistake.
Finish spread shows just how far Richie Rude was ahead
and then there's a small group of people close together,
Oton, Miquel, Nicolai, Borges, Cure,
Melamed, Callaghan, Hill, Lapeyrie
and then things got much tighter.
Other notables were the young guns,
Youn Deniaud and Leigh Johnson, both 22 years old,
with a notable fast, young riders finishing 12th and 13th,
showing there's plenty of promise
for those young guns just yet.
Elliott Heap, the under 21 winner,
would have finished 23rd in the main race.
Now onto the overall race times
which obviously determines your race position.
So Richie Rude took the win with an 18 minutes 31.
Myself, I was three minutes back with a 21:36
and that would good enough for 125th in the overall.
Cecile Ravanel took the win with a 21:43.
So just seven seconds slower than myself.
Nigel Page put in a 22:12
and he finished 10th in the masters 40 plus me.
So, it just goes to show how fast the pros are
and it is super fast.
It takes a lot of dedication, a lot of work,
good bike, good handling skills,
and you've also got to be able to look after your bike
to be fast at Enduro World Series.
So get to it if you want to do it.
If you want to see a couple more videos,
click up there for my diary from that race.
Tells you how I got on.
And down there for how to corner like Sam Hill,
with the very man himself.
So hopefully you can get out there
and try winning races like the man himself.
Thumbs up if you liked watching the racing coverage
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