France’s Isabeau Courdurier (Lapierre Zipp Collective) and Canadian Rhys Verner (Forbidden Synthesis Team) emerged victorious at the fourth round of the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup in Leogang-Salzburgerland, Austria.
The pair were consistently fast on a big, burly day around Leogang which saw riders covering 55km with 1,090m of climbing and a massive 4,800m of descending over the six stages.
Leogang is no stranger to UCI World Cup racing, but it’s the first time the EDR and E-EDR racers have taken on these famous trails.
Courdurier won three stages to see her triumph by a relatively comfortable 14s from Italy’s Gloria Scarsi (Canyon CLLCTV Dainese). France’s Morgane Charre (Pivot Factory Racing) finished the day in third after taking the day’s final stage.
The win for Courdurier is her second of the season after she triumphed at the opening round in Maydena, Australia and will see her take the series leader’s jersey from compatriot Charre.
In the men’s race Verner was right up there all day - not outside the top five on any stage - and with three stage wins. But the Canadian was pushed hard by Richie Rude (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) and the pair were separated by just two seconds going into the final DH-focussed stage.
But Verner took more time on the last test of the day - winning the stage - and ending up nearly 3s ahead of the USA’s Rude. Commencal Enduro Project’s Alex Rudeau of France came out third and 8.7s back. Rude leads the series going into round five in Italy next weekend.
In the U21 Men it was a win for France’s Lisandru Bertini of Lapierre Zipp Collective and in the U21 Women was a second victory of 2023 for Canada’s Emmy Lan of Forbidden Synthesis Team.
Team of the day were Forbidden Synthesis Team and Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team are leading the series.
In round two of the UCI Mountain Bike E-Enduro World Cup, Chilean Flo Espineira (Orbea Fox Enduro Team) took her first win of the season. Espineira won by a substantial 31-second margin taking five of the 10 stages on a day when after taking the lead on S2 Pro-Line, she didn’t let it go.
In the men’s e-enduro it was a second win in a row for French DH legend Fabien Barel on the Canyon. Barel won round one in Pietra Ligure and made it two out of two in Austria. The 42-year-old two-time elite UCI World Downhill Champion won three stages on his way to victory.
Full results are here.
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