The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, presented by FACOM, brought riders to the popular terrain of the French Pyrenees - which has hosted the Enduro World Series since 2021.
Despite riders competing over 49.8 kilometres just seven tenths of a second separated the Men’s Elite competitors, as Alex Rudeau edged out fellow Frenchman Raphaël Giambi (Speed Project) into second and Ryan Gilchrist (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) finished third.
Meanwhile, Ella Conolly was a more dominant winner in the Women’s Elite category as she finished over five seconds ahead of Mélanie Pugin (Speed Project) in second and Raphaela Richter came third.
American rider Romy Williams (Speed Project) was pushed all the way for her Women’s Junior win and Hugo Marti Montessinos was fastest Men’s Junior.
RUDEAU EDGES OUT COUNTRYMAN IN CLOSE FINISH
Alex Rudeau got his campaign off the perfect start after edging out fellow Frenchman Raphaël Giambi by seven tenths of a second, following a nail-biting conclusion to the Men’s Elite category. Former UCI Pump Track World Champion Ryan Gilchrist (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) battled back from a slower start for a deserved third-place finish.
Rudeau is planning to battle for the overall series this season and the 2024 UCI Enduro World Champion got off to the perfect start.
Coming into the event all eyes were on defending overall champion Sławomir Łukasik (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team). However, the Polish rider left the course on the opening section and lost over a minute to his opponents as he continued.
Giambi came into the event looking for a first Men’s Elite podium after thriving in the Junior and Under-21 categories. The Speed Project rider showed his speed on the opening 3.68-kilometre Nabias section and pulled out a five-second lead on Jt Fisher (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) and the remainder of his rivals. Meanwhile, Gilchrist found himself in 11th position after the opening stage and lost 11 seconds on the early leader.
The Australian, who finished fifth at two UCI Enduro World Cup events last season, responded in style on the following 2.4-kilometre section and overturned his deficit and went into the lead by three seconds.
Gilchrist maintained his advantage until the penultimate 1.37-kilometre section, including 13 metres of elevation gain and 324 metres of descent. It was then that Rudeau made his winning move and led Gilchrist by seven tenths, and Giambi by 2.8 seconds going into the final stage.
Giambi gave it everything in the final 2.54 kilometres to win the last stage but fell seven tenths of a second short of overall victory.
“It feels so good,” said Rudeau. “It has been since 2022 that I haven’t won here. I wanted it. I’m really happy about this one. It’s a good start to the season and good points for the overall.”
CONOLLY SENDS MESSAGE TO RIVALS WITH DISPLAY
Privateer Ella Conolly sent a message to her rivals for this years’ Women’s Elite UCI Enduro World Cup with a dominant showing at the opening round. The 27-year-old won three UCI Enduro World Cups last year and secured three further podium finishes.
Conolly showed her form on the opening 3.68-kilometre Nabias section and used her speed to gain an advantage of 6.6 seconds over Winnifred Goldsbury in second.
After finishing third on the opening sector, home rider Mélanie Pugin (Speed Project) fought back on the following Privilege stage, which contained 83 metres of elevation gain. Conolly lost 3.5 seconds on the sector and had work to do, as Goldsbury lost vital time in the overall battle.
The duel continued on the shortest stage of the day as Pugin knocked another four tenths of a second off Conolly’s lead. The British rider responded on the technical Coumaou stage, which included tight wooded turns at high pace. Conolly won the 1.37-kilometre section and extended her lead by three seconds over Pugin, who placed third.
After seeing her winter training impacted by shoulder surgery Raphaela Richter expected a slower start to her campaign. However, she secured third place on the podium by winning the final stage - finishing less than a second ahead of Pugin and Conolly.
Conolly had done enough earlier in the day to clinch the overall victory, finishing five seconds ahead of her French opponent. “It went really well,” said Conolly. “I’ve had a bit of a rough lead-up to this race, so it wasn’t expected but I was always going to come and give it everything that I had, so I’m happy that it ended like this.
“The track was just so dry, with big piles of dust and not much support at the end of the corners. It was rough underneath all of the dust. There was a good load of sprints in there too on the fire-road and off-road, it had a bit of everything.”
WILLIAMS AND MARTI MONTESSINOS BATTLE FOR JUNIOR HONOURS
American rider Romy Williams won the Women’s Junior UCI Enduro World Cup by the closest of margins, denying home rider Bélinda Baudet victory by just two tenths of a second.
Baudet was riding just her second UCI Enduro World Cup, after finishing seventh at Aletsch Arena – Bellwald (Valais) last year. The French youngster got her early morning off to a perfect start winning the opening two sectors to lead by nine seconds. However, it was Williams who coped best with the gruelling stages and pulled six tenths ahead heading into the last stage. Despite Baudet edging the final 2.54-kilometre section it was Williams who hung on to clinch the honours.
Baudet had to settle for a career-best runner-up spot and Canadian rider Keely Bathurst finished third.
Meanwhile, Hugo Marti Montessinos clinched his first Men’s Junior UCI Enduro World Cup in commanding style. The Frenchman came into the series last year with a consistent run of results, including four top seven place finishes and a runner-up spot at Morillon, Haute-Savoie (France).
The youngster pulled out an 11-second advantage on the first stage and then won every sector of the day to triumph by 44 seconds. Australian rider Harper Nelmes was rewarded for a consistent day of riding to finish second, while Jules Janniaud placed third.
The UCI Enduro World Cup action now draws to a close in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, with attention already turning to the next round in Saalfelden Leogang in Salzburgerland.
The weekend of racing in the French Pyrenees concludes tomorrow with the UCI Downhill World Cup Finals, following a qualifying day where Jordan Williams (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) and Valentina Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) set the fastest times, while junior riders Aletha Ostgaard (Canyon DH Racing) and Jonty Williamson (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) led their respective categories.
The action gets underway with the Women’s Junior finals at 11:30 CET. Click here to find out how and where to watch all the action.
