Last weekend, high up on the alpine plateau of Crans-Montana, we saw the start of the final block of Enduro World Series racing this season. It was a race that took place very much in the bike park, not so technical with big pedalling sections. So it wasn't the most enduro-style course we’ve ever seen, but it was one that the COMMENCAL Les Orres team riders seemed to get on with!

Lisa Baumann won her very first Elite Women’s stage! She has improved race after race this season and she has showed that we can count on her next season. Lisa finished the weekend in 10th place after a fall on the last stage and said afterwards, “I worked hard for this result. Finishing 10th is a little frustrating, but now I know what I'm capable of!”Recently crowned French DH Champion, Antoine Vidal, was riding his META prototype at the EWS for the first time. A conclusive first ride, he was 7th in the standings until a crash at the last minute which also dropped him to 10th place. A good weekend nevertheless for his return to the enduro! He said afterwards,“I was distracted by overtaking a rider on the last stage. It was my own fault. I'm happy with this weekend even though I know I could have done better.”

It was also a solid weekend for Jack Piercy. He said that he felt good on the bike all weekend and it showed;3rd on the Pro Stage, 2nd on the 3rd stage… He eventually finished 4th because of a crash during the 5th stage. He was so close to the podium!

It was a mixed weekend for our Enduro Project structure. Mathieu Ruffray made his return to the E-EWS competition, and he was eager to test the new settings on his race bike that were put in place before the race in Andorra. It was also an opportunity for him to test his fitness. He has recently been away on a project with Kilian Bron and had not been able to fully carry out his testing and training duties. His objective was therefore to return to his best level towards the end of the season and that seems to have worked out so far! Mat went through the motions consistently, finishing in the top 10 on every stage. After more than 29 minutes of racing, he was only 26 seconds behind the leader, which saw him take 4th position! This is great progression for Mathieu who was 20that the first E-EWS. Hehas continued to move up in the overall standings and lands 7th place after that result. The next round for the e-biker is in two weeks in Finale Ligure.

On the day of the Pro-Stage there was a fresh dusting of snow, making the landscapes idyllic but the temperature difficult to manage... Alex Rudeau and Louis Jeandel had good runs, placing 14th and 23rdrespectively. For Guillaume Larbeyou this first stage continued to be a challenge, and he didn’t manage to repeat his success from Burke. He came hot into a corner with the aim of making up some seconds but crashed...

On the second day of racing the snow had already retreated. For Alex, the challenge was to try to up his position in the overall. It's a mental effort that he now knows how to manage well in order to get up to speed without taking too many risks. He moved up to 11th place in this 7th EWS. For Louis this race did not go as planned. A mechanical forced him to retire on the last stage. Guillaume meanwhile had pain in his foot from the day before, his objective was to complete the stages whilst trying to make up for lost seconds. He achieved that gaining more than 40 places to finish 37th.

Next EWS is this weekend in Loudenvielle, France.

Photos : Sven Martin