It was an exciting weekend of racing in the world of MTB, with not one but 3 huge events. Canada was hosting all of the action with the UCI MTB DH and XC races in Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, and round 5 of the Enduro World Series over on the other side of the country at Whistler.
1. UCI MTB XCO – round 5, Mont Sainte Anne
The cross-country course in Mont Sainte Anne has seen some changes this year. Gone is the ‘Beatrice’ rock garden descent and the long opening climb. Instead, this year the course started in the centre of town, with a man-made feature, taking riders up a flight of stairs and out into the race.
The main ascent was a gruelling 3 minute climb with steep corners, into technical, rocky single-track through the woods.
Katerina Nash rode to victory, building on her 2nd place position in rounds 3 and 4 of the series. Maja Wloszczowska came in 17 seconds back to take 2nd place, and Tanja Zakelj of Slovenia came in 3rd, but retains the overall series lead.
1. Katerina Nash
2. Maja Wloszczowska
3. Tanja Zakelj
4. Julie Bresset
5. Lea Davison
For the full results visit the UCI MTB XC website.
Missed it? Catch all the action courtesy of Red Bull TV.
2. UCI MTB DH – round 4, Mont Sainte Anne
The downhill track at Mont Sainte Anne is known as one of the most challenging on the World Cup circuit. It’s natural, rocky and long, with riders enduring an almost constant onslaught of boulders, slabs, roots and hollows.
Emiline Ragot put in an astounding performance to take a well-deserved first position. Manon Carpenter, looking smooth and controlled the whole way down, placed second. Carpenter has been riding incredibly this season; surely it’s only a matter of time until she claims the top spot. Florian Pugin wasn’t far behind, placing 3rd.
After dominating the top spot in every race so far this year, Rachel Atherton was notably absent from the podium. Qualifying first, two bad crashes in her race run set her back and she finished in 12th place, thankfully with no obvious injuries.
The British women are all riding hard this season, with Tahnee Seagrave, Fionn Griffiths and Jessica Stone also making the top ten.
1. Emiline Ragot
2. Manon Carpenter
3. Florian Pugin
4. Emilie Siegenthaler
5. Myriam Nicole
Missed it? Catch all the action courtesy of Red Bull TV.
3. Enduro World Series – Round 5, Crankworx Whistler
Each round of the Enduro World Series has seen a variation in format; for Crankworx that meant a 5-stage race in one epic day. Riders covered 51km in the 8 hour time window of the race, including over 863m of climbing. To make things extra-hard, participants weren’t allowed to return to the pits between the first four stages – so basically, they were out on their own.
Anne Caroline Chausson put in an inspired performance at Crankworx Whistler, getting the fastest times on 3 of the 5 timed stages, and ending Tracy Moseley’s Enduro World Series winning streak.
Moseley is still favourite to take the overall series win, but the women’s field is incredibly strong. With only two more rounds to go in Val d’Isere and Finale Ligure, this new race series is proving popular and gripping.
1. Anne Caroline Chausson (Ibis)
2. Tracy Moseley (TMo)
3. Cecile Ravanel (GT Skoda)
4. Anneke Beerten (Specialized)
5. Ines Thoma (Canyon)
For the full results, visit the Enduro World Series website.
