Since the arrival of international level enduro racing 10 years ago at the very first Enduro World Series race in Punta Ala, Italy battle has raged as to which is harder - downhill or enduro. With many top flight downhillers taking on stage racing and enduro speeds soaring year on year it’s a question which often feels like it is no closer to being answered.
Enduro is about racing multiple timed descents linked together across a day’s worth of riding whilst downhill is the classic - fastest from the top to the bottom wins. A downhill racer will know every rock and root on the track, an enduro racer gets just one practice run on each stage so relies much more heavily on cat-like reflexes and constant processing of trail conditions. Each requires nerves of steel and granular preparation.
With downhillers such as Luke Meier-Smith, Vali Höll and Conor Fearon scoring highly at the opening UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup in Maydena Bike Park in Tasmania the established enduro brigade counter punched admirably at round two in Derby one week later.
It has swung in the opposite direction too - Martin Maes, a dyed-in-the-wool enduro racer, tasted victory at the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup in La Bresse, France in 2018. With Richie Rude, Isabeau Courdurier and Jack Moir already having mooted a dabble in downhill before the season’s end, will we see the same again in 2023?
Stay tuned when we go racing again at the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup in Finale Outdoor Region, Italy 03 June.
