The 2019 Bluegrass Trophy of Nations powered by SRAM went down today at the classic venue of Finale, Italy. Teams of 3 riders raced as national teams, with their combined times going towards the result. The first every UCI Enduro Trophy of Nations jerseys and medals were awarded. The weather was great, the fans turned out in bus-loads. Some of the favourite riders had bad luck, others did what it took to prove their team deserved to take the title.
Industry Trophy
The Industry Trophy teams were made up of retired pro-racers and industry staff. Ex-pros and still absolute pinners, Fabien Barel, Jerome Clementz and Francois Bailly-Maitre (Team Julbo Eyewear) started fast and went on to sweep all stages, finishing a huge 1m52sec ahead of Team IBIS.
In the women’s race, it was all about Team Trois Baguettes – made up by Estelle Charles, Julie Duvert and Morgane Jonnier – they won all 5 stages and took the title.
Nations Trophy – U21 Women
In the U21 women’s race, 3 teams lined up to take the start – USA, GB and France. But Team France retired after stage 1, where one of their riders crashed – As it’s a team event, if one rider can’t continue, the whole team gets a DNF. Which must be tough for the other riders.
The 2 remaining teams were within a few seconds until stage 4, where Harriet Harnden (GB) won the stage by unbelievable 49 seconds! That made a massive difference to their combined time, and they kept the throttle open to win the last stage and the overall title.
Nations Trophy – U21 Men
It was a tough race for many of the favourites in U21 Men – after winning Stage 1, Team France had to retire early. Then Team Switzerland went out after a shoulder injury on stage 3, along with Team USA.
Which left Team New Zealand with a solid 53sec lead going into the final stage. Only a crash or mechanical could have stopped them, so New Zealand won, followed by Italy and Canada 3rd
Nations Trophy – Women
Strong favourites in the Pro Womens field had to be Team France, with Isabeau Courdurier, Morganne Charre & Melanie Pugin. They already have a fine collection of trophies between them, but it seems a few more couldn’t hurt!
But Team GB weren’t going to let them walk away with it. After stage 3, Katy Winton, Becky Cook and Bex Baraona were riding well and led the race by 7sec
Andreane Lanthier Nadeau (CAN) went fastest on stage 4, but the overall lead went to Team France, with Team GB 6sec back in 2nd. It could have gone either way on the last stage, but Team France kept it all together and took the win ahead of Team GB and Team Canada
Nations Trophy – Men
Start order was decided by overall EWS Ranking, so Team Australia were the last team to start. Sam Hill, Conor Fearon and Josh Carlson were also high on the list for potential winners, and they put in fast times to win stage 2. But they couldn’t match the consistent flat-out speed of the others and stayed around 6th for most of the race.
It was a similar story for Team Belgium, at times they were charging hard with Martin Maes leading the way with a fastest time on stage 4. But they had some problems earlier on stage 2 and were still 1m30sec to the leaders, with just one stage to go.
People were keeping an eye on Team France in the Pro Men’s race, even though Kevin Miquel had to be replaced by Adrien Dailly following an injury in practice. But more bad luck arrived for Team France when Florian Nicolai punctured on stage 1, putting them down in 21st place. It would have been hard to come back from that, but Adrien Dailly destroyed his rear wheel on stage 5 which left them way down in 11th by the end of the day.
Up front it was Team USA, with powerhouse Richie Rude leading Cody Kelly and Shawn Neer. They didn’t win every stage, but they did manage to steadily build a solid lead of 45sec over Team Sweden before dropping into the gnarly ‘DH Men’ trail used for stage 5. Their consistency paid off, they avoided mishaps and Team USA took the win for the first UCI Enduro Trophy of Nations title! Sweden took 2nd and Canada in 3rd.
Trophy of Nations Champions:
Men
1. USA – Richie Rude, Cody Kelly, Shawn Neer
2. Sweden – Robin Wallner, Zakarias Blom Johansen, Alexander Kangas
3. Canada – Remi Gauvin, Rhys Verner, Jesse Melamed
Women
1. Team France – Isabeau
Courdurier, Morganne Charre, Melanie Pugin
2. Team GB – Becky Cook, Bex
Baraona, Ella Connolly
3. Team Canada – Andreane
Lanthier Nadeau, Miranda Miller, Jennifer McHugh
U21 Men
1. Team New Zealand – John Richardson, Nils Heiniger, Brady Stone
2. Team Italy – Hannes Alber, Simone Pelissero, Matteo Saccon
3. Team Canada – Evan Wall, Jacob, Tooke, Kasper Wolley
U21 Women
1. Team GB – Harriet Harnden, Polly Henderson, Ellen Flewitt
2. Team USA – Anne Newkirk, lauren Bingham, Isabella Naughton
What an amazing season of Enduro racing!! Who’s off to eat Gelato, drink a beer* and jump in the sea?
*responsibly, of course
