After a very successful start of the Enduro World Series in May, the racers move to Val d’Allos for the second race. Punta Ala, the first round, was an unbelievably exciting race with a great vibe in a wonderful location next to the sea. What can we expect from the Enduro World Series #2 Val d’Allos in the southern Alps?
The pit area in Val d’Allos.
Round #2 will be a whole new experience for many riders: Different format, more racing time and less training are the french interpretation of enduro. While there was a lot of training in advance of the first round, there are no “real” training sessions for Val d’Allos. The tracks have just been released yesterday evening. Today, on friday, riders were able to walk the tracks by foot (no riding!). The event will take place during two days: Racing will begin already tomorrow (on saturday) and continue until sunday. There will be five different stages with over one hour of accumulated race-time. That is three times more than in Punta Ala! “Practice during the race” — The first run of each new stage is untimed, so it serves as a kind of live practice.
As the race is being held in a ski resort the riders will be allowed to use the lifts, that means that there won’t be much pedaling on the transfers. This is why the racers can ride with a more “downhill” focussed bike setup and probably won’t carry an additional open face helmet for the transfers. As (most of) the racers have never ridden the trails before and they have only one “training run” during the race they won’t have much time in advance to work on their setups. This fact might make it even more exciting for most of the participants. Have they chosen the right setup? Who will be strongest in racing (nearly) on sight? We will see on sunday! Stay tuned for our coverage of this thrilling weekend.
In the meantime here are some good links to discover:
Have you already placed your bets in our Enduro World Series Tipping Game? You’ll be able to win a Specialized Enduro 29 Carbon pimped with the bling SRAM Super Build Kit and a lot more prices! Entering the game is free (open until 8.00 am (UTC + 2 hours). Check it out now!
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