- [Neil] Okay so this is the last stage of the day
at Finale Ligure Enduro World Series.
Stage Four, Men's Downhill,
probably the most videoed and photographed
of the 120 plus mountain bike trails in Finale Ligure.
So, the trail starts off kind of flat
although this first bit is quite fast.
It's kinda rough, as you can see.
Lots of stones all over the trail,
and this is where it flattens off a little bit,
so you're stood up, sprinting,
although it has been a long day already
by the time you've got here.
So Stage Four, I've already been out
for about six and a half hours of riding,
ridden over 40 kilometers
and done about 2,000 meters of climbing.
So, definitely feeling a bit fatigued
by the time you get here.
Kinda single-tracky, this bit.
So, just trying to remember the corners
and trying to get through it as fast as possible, of course.
I do know, coming up, there is one really tight 180 corner,
and I really tried to memorize where that was.
So, it's a little bit further down here
and you'll see it open up a little bit.
Some tape on the right-hand side, and then I know
there's a 180 corner coming.
I really tried to prepare early for this one
'cause it's so flat.
Here it is, coming up now, and I messed it up completely.
Big gear, you can hear me crunching through the gears
as I try and get back up to speed.
So, definitely lost a bit of time there.
If I would have been in an easier gear,
I could have come out a bit quicker.
So, I now know that the trail is heading
all this way down to the Med.
No more switch-backs to catch me out.
I've just got to get through
this fairly flat section of top,
and then it's in to the more technical stuff.
(upbeat electronic music)
You can see me chasing down this guy and his son
I was shouting at them to get out of the way.
Obviously, they're trying to watch the race
and they're trying to walk down the trail,
it's the only way down.
Luckily, it didn't hold me up.
And, also, in that section,
there's actually a few little sniper rocks to be careful of.
Definitely something you could easily puncture
and it could ruin your whole day.
Again, this bit's a bit flat.
Just heading towards the left-hand corner,
and then the trail starts ticking down a little bit.
The speed starts getting a bit faster.
(upbeat electronic music)
Heart rate is pretty maxed out by now.
All this top section has been pretty physical.
I managed trying to get into that technical section
and still trying to have a bit of energy.
Trying to ride fast is very difficult,
especially at Finale Ligure.
All these stages have mixed sections
with really pedally and then really technical stuff.
(upbeat electronic music)
It definitely looks faster on the GoPro
than it felt when doing it.
It was pretty close in between these bushes at some point,
so it definitely feels faster than it is sometimes.
You can just see the rider that I'm about to catch up.
I think I passed two riders on this stage,
and it's definitely quite hard, during the day,
to find good spots to pass the riders.
And, being in the sort of unseated riders,
I definitely think I lost a little bit
of time here and there, but it's all part of racing.
Luckily, this stage, the dust wasn't too bad.
It was kinda difficult, in some stages in the woods,
to actually see where you're going
when you're getting close to those riders.
Luckily, a good shout here, the rider pulls over
and lets me pass.
And, I do remember, actually,
I washed the front wheel pretty hard there.
I felt like I was lucky to hang onto it.
Come down quite a steep bit, I almost messed this corner
and fell off the side of the trail.
Left, there, lost a lot of time there.
Now, down some steps, down some jumps.
Nice and fast, good to see the spectators
out and about on this trail.
This is a fast section, so you're back on top of the ridge.
A little bit pedally, and actually,
this is where I was really trying to save a bit of energy,
'cause coming into the last part of Men's Downhill
it's super rough.
It's where I've talked about in the main video,
where I hit a couple of big bumps
and felt like I'm doing that massive bench-press,
and to do that at the end of the day was pretty hard work.
So, I wanted to make sure I was
a little bit fresh getting into it.
So, this is it.
Coming towards the last part of Men's Downhill,
the bit you've probably seen photos
or videos from, in the past.
So scenic! You can see that blue Med open up beneath you.
And now it gets really rough.
Loads of line choice down here.
Again, stones on top of hard stuff,
so it can be really slippy, can catch you out.
And there's another rider, just about to catch him up.
Trying to give him a shout to get past him,
but there's so noise down here
that I don't think he hears me.
Finally get over to the left, get past him.
Again, more rough stuff.
Arms are super tired by the time you get here.
They've been pounded all day long.
Now, I'm just trying to keep
my eyes looking for where's good.
Couldn't remember this trail perfectly well,
but I did have a couple of lines down here,
but it's really hard to recognize where they are
when you're super tired and it all looks quite similar.
(upbeat electronic music)
So, this is where I went right here.
In practice I'd gone left.
Now I pick up and over that stone, stick the left,
and then try and cut this corner a little bit tight.
Got the line; Didn't feel that fast though, to be honest.
Richie Rude has already finished by about 20 seconds.
So, into the final straight.
There you can see the board that says 50 meters left.
So, I know I'm not far away, but this is where I did crash
in practice, so I didn't wanna make that same mistake again.
Now a bit up-and-over and that is the finish line.
So that was the final stage of the Enduro World Series
in Finale Ligure 2018.
If you wanna see the bike that I rode that race on,
I've got that Scott bike,
check just down at the bottom of the screen,
and if you wanna see the video vlog from that race,
to see how my whole day went, catch it at the top.
Hit that thumbs-up button if you wanna ride
in blue skies at Finale Ligure, and hit that sub button.