# Jerome Clementz is the man of the hour. He is already celebrating his third victory in Val d'Isere.
After the Enduro World Series made two stops in North America, all teams and riders traveled to the French Alps last week. Val d'Isere was the venue for the penultimate race in the series and was eagerly awaited. Jared Graves (Yeti Racing) and Jerome Clementz (Cannondale Overmountain) went into the race as the big favorites. Both won one of the two races overseas and will probably decide the overall victory among themselves.
# Starting as the top favourite, Jared Graves wins the first two stages but loses a valuable 3 seconds in the rain on Stage 45.
The weather forecast, which shouldn't lie, announced rain days beforehand and so you weren't sure which tire was the best. However, the first two stages on Saturday were still held under sunshine and the best conditions. So it was not surprising that the Australian Jared Graves kept the field in check and led it. However, the announced rain was not too long in coming. It began to rain at the start of stage three and many of the riders were not prepared for such conditions - the time of Jerome Clementz. With a lead of ten seconds on Fabien Barel (Canyon Enduro Racing), he secured first place and took the lead in the race classification due to a bad run from Graves.
Tracy Moseley (Trek) led the women's standings at the end of day one, closely followed by bike legend Anne-Caroline Chausson (Ibis Bikes). Ines Thoma (Canyon Enduro Racing) and Anneke Beerten (Specialized) had a good race until the third stage. However, both got lost on the last stage and couldn't find their way back onto the track, causing them to lose touch with the rest of the field.
The second day of racing did not bring the hoped-for comeback for Jared Graves. Although the downhill-experienced Australian was able to shorten the time to just under eleven seconds, he was unable to knock Clementz off the throne. The podium was completed by Frenchman Fabien Barrel, who found himself fourth in the overall classification of the race. The reason for this was Junior Martin Maes, an incredibly talented enduro rider from Belgium, who finished just 29 seconds behind the leader. Compared to Graves, however, Anne-Caroline Chausson managed to catch up the missing seconds on the leading Tracy Moseley. She won her second Enduro World Series race in a row and made up important points in the overall standings.
# Martin Maes is only 17 years old and yet he takes several seconds off the old master Fabien Barel.
# Tracy Moseley has already won several Enduro World Series races. This time she had to admit defeat.
# Anne-Caroline Chausson won the second race in a row.
//Result men
1. Jerome Clementz (Cannondale Overmountain) 1:07:04
2. Jared Graves (Yeti Racing) 0:00:12
3. Fabien Barel (Canyon Enduro Racing) 0:00:32
4. Nicolas Lau (Cube Action Team) 0:01:08
5. Jamie Nicoll (Santa Cruz) 0:01:20
//Result women
1. Anne Caroline Chausson (Ibis Bikes) 1:17:23
2. Tracy Moseley (Trek) 0:00:18
3. Cecile Ravanel (GT Skoda Mtb) 0:02:13
4. Isabeau Courdurier (Santa Cruz) 0:08:24
5. Pauline Dieffenthaler (Cannondale) 0:09:04
Leave a Comment