The 2019 Enduro World Series Final in Zermatt is done and dusted! With 5 tough stages over all kinds of terrain – everything from wide open rocky gnar in the high alpine, to tight steep and technical singletrack through the forest. It made for a real test of who the ultimate enduro racer would be. The weather was perfect and the location and trails were incredible. Is Zermatt Europe’s answer to Whistler??
The overall series titles were decided at this race and for the Pro Men, it was really down to either Sam Hill, or series leader Florian Nicolai with a 60 point lead. In the Pro Women, Isabeau Courdurier already had the season title secured, but that didn’t mean she would take it easy.
The drama started early for U21 Men leader Antoine Vidal – he only needed a top 5 finish here to take the overall series title ahead of Brady Stone. Things didnt look good when Vidal crashed on stage 1 and Stone won the stage. But Vidal came back to win the 4 remaining stages and took the 2019 U21 Overall title.
The U21 Women’s race had Lucy Schick leading the series, ahead of Leah Maunsell. These two had a close battle, with mid-pack stage results, perhaps riding a little safe? By the end of stage 5, Schick had done enough to take the U21 Women 2019 Series Title. But star of the day was definitely Harriet Harnden, who won 4 out of 5 stages and finished the day with a 2m47s lead!
In Masters Men, Cedric Ravanel won Stage 1 by 22sec ahead of Karim Amour. These two racers were fighting for the overall title and this gave Ravanel a solid advantage early in the day. Cedric also won stages 2 and 3, but Karim came back to win stages 4 and 5. But it wasn’t enough and Cedric took the race win and the Masters Men 2019 Overall title.
In the Masters Women race, Louise Paulin came into this race leading the series ahead of Alba Wunderlin. They traded stage wins for most of the day, but after 4 stages, Wunderlin was 45 seconds up on Paulin. Wunderlin also won stage 5 and the race win, but Paulin was 2nd and took the Masters Women 2019 Series Title.
The Pro Women’s season has been missing Cecille Ravanel, who is still recovering from injury. But today was really about Isabeau Courdurier. Even though she could have cruised in to take the overall title, she still wanted another race win. She won the first 4 stages and only Andreane Lanthier Nadeau could go faster than her on stage 5. Isabeau too the race win by 30sec, making it a perfect season and collected her trophy for the Pro Women 2019 Series.
The Pro Men’s race… the big guns were going for it, either one-race glory or an overall title. Martin Maes went into an early lead with wins on stage 1 and 2, but some problems on stage 3 put him back into 2nd. Meanwhile Sam Hill was winding things up from a slow-ish start on stage 1 and 2, he went fastest on stage 3 and went into the led by a few seconds. On stage 4, Sam had a tough time and ended up 24sec back, while Martin came back with an incredible ride, going back into the race lead.
Coming into the last stage, Florian Nicolai wasn’t having a great day so far, sitting 24sec back, but if he could win the Queen Stage and gain those extra 40 points he still had a chance. But Sam Hill had other ideas – he needed a 2nd or a win on stage 5 to be sure of the title.
Martin Maes put in a solid run, just 4sec ahead of Youn Deniaud, so it was going to be very close. Sam put down a blinding run and went almost 8sec faster. So Florian needed to win this stage by at least 30sec if he wanted to take the overall. Pretty much an impossible task, he ended up 10sec back on Martin’s time. So Martin Maes won the race and Sam Hill took the EWS overall title for the 3rd year running !
RACE RESULTS
Pro Women
1st. Isabeau Courdurier
2nd. Andreane Lanthier Nadeau
3rd. Raphaela Richter
Pro Men
1st. Martin Maes
2nd. Sam Hill
3rd. Richie Rude
EWS 2019 OVERALL RESULTS
Pro Women
1st. Isabeau Courdurier
2nd. Noga Korem
3rd. Andreane Lanthier Nadeau
Pro Men
1st. Sam Hill
2nd. Florian Nicolai
3rd. Kevin Miquel
