Cycling: With the first Crankworx event of the year, the racing season is in full swing. The Enduro World Series kicks off this weekend as part of the festival, hitting the trails around and in Rotorua. Who to look out for and who will take the first important win of the season?
Last year, the Enduro World Series celebrated its start in Chile, South America. Almost exactly one year later, the starting field is back in New Zealand for the first race of the 2015 season. In Rotorua, as part of the Crankworx event, there are a total of seven stages to master.
The terrain in Rotorua is new territory for most EWS riders. For this reason many traveled to the island in the offseason and thanks to the mild weather had perfect conditions to prepare for the season. The New Zealand jungle is particularly unique. In the past few days, the ground has been softened by the rain in many places and the trails in the thicket are still very slippery.
Adjectives such as technical, tight, slippery but above all fun are heard more and more frequently from the paddock. A total of 60 kilometers with 1800 meters of altitude difference have to be conquered in two days. For the most part, the riders will cover the route under their own steam, but will also have shuttles and lifts to help them on a few stages.
Who will have the front wheel in front? Before every season opener, that's the big question that plagues fans, drivers, companies and the media. Last year, Australia's Jared Graves clearly came out on top. However, Jerome Clementz and Fabien Barel were injured and both races in which they competed were won by one of them.
This year they are back in full swing and this time Graves is injured before the first race. A few days ago he announced that he injured both shoulders and would not be able to start Rotorua. Clementz and Barel will thus have a free rein, one would think. But who else belongs to the big group of favorites in the Enduro World Series?
The favorites
Jared Graves - Yeti Cycles
As already mentioned, Graves will miss the start of the series. He will be sidelined for a few weeks with a shoulder injury, which will cost him valuable, if not crucial, points in the title fight. Last year he was able to secure the title of Enduro World Champion and will certainly be seen on the podium one or the other time this year.
Nico Lau – Cube Action Team
One of the many French. Lau has always ridden enduro and has been in the top 10 ever since. In Scotland 2014 he finally got his first major EWS win ahead of Graves and Joe Barnes. Earlier this year he was in Chile for the Andes Pacifico and secured victory after a tough battle with Fabien Barel.
Richie Rude - Yeti Cycles
The Junior DH World Champion from 2013 is slowly but surely fighting his way to the top of the Enduro world. He spent most of the winter in Australia and had the perfect training partner there in teammate Jared Graves. In 2014 he was able to win a few stages and celebrated a second place in Colorado. In the offseason he showed himself fast, very fast. It doesn't matter whether it's downhill or enduro racing, if he's been beaten it's only by Graves.
Fabien Barel - Canyon Factory Enduro Team
Barel is a legend in MTB sports. He has secured several DH World Cup victories and world championship titles in his long career and is now leaving his mark in Enduro. Barel won the first race at Punta Ala in 2013 and has been a contender ever since. In Chile last year he injured his back and had to sit out the entire season. At the last race of the season in Finale Ligure, he made one of the most impressive comebacks in MTB history and clinched victory.
Jerome Clementz - Cannondale Overmountain
Clementz won the inaugural Enduro World Series season in a dominant fashion. Before he injured his shoulder in early summer 2014 and also had to take a break, he won the opening race of the EWS 2014 in Chile. He spent the winter in New Zealand and is quite familiar with the terrain. He must always be on the list of favourites.
Among the women, Tracy Moseley and Anne-Caroline Chausson are particularly noteworthy. While Moseley is the undisputed EWS queen with two overall wins, Chausson has been hot on her heels at all times. But Anneke Beerten and Cecile Ravanel are also continuously closing the gap to the two top riders.