Race Report | 7th Enduro De Le Semoy, Northern France
The seventh edition of the Enduro De Le Semoy took place in North France on 13th and 14th June, covering 2000 meters of fast, flowing trails and hosted 400 riders, with some of the best big hitting competitors this side of the EWS.
This weekend, the highly anticipates Enduro De Le Semoy took place in Northern France. Locals rider were at the clutch to give it their best, but there was also an EWS perfume with some famous name on the start list. After 2 days of fierce battle and 2000m drop, Remy Absalon took the win ahead of Jeremy Arnould who managed to keep a second spot a hair off Pierre Luc Vaxelaire, with less than a second between second and third.
For the seventh edition, the Enduro de la Semoy kept all its promises. The quality of the singletrack offered by the local pro active ‘Semoy vtt club’, provided several brand new technical stages, which was a shame for the level of spectators attending as a truly great race provided serious suspense right up until the last stage.
Several riders usually on the forefront of the EWS scene were there: Rémy Absalon (Scott- Sr Suntour), Jérémy Arnould ( Commençal-Irwego) and Pierre-Luc Vaxelaire ( Team Giromagny ) with all three freshly back from EWS stage in Tweedlove. But locals like Thomas Harstern, Jordan Bauman and the belgium riders Nicolas Casteels also gave their best to swipe a few seconds off the leaders. The promising Ludovic Oget was down due to an injury resulting from a heavy fall in Tweedlove EWS. Under beautiful sunshine, Rémy Absalon was the fastest on the first all brand new stage. In the second stage, Pierre Luc Vaxelaire confirmed the good result of the past weeks (finished 47 in EWS Ireland) sending a message that he would be part of the game for the win behind the bar of his Transition Patrol. The answer from Jeremy Arnould was the fastest time in stage three.
Remy Absalon won the fourth stage and last years winner Jérémy Arnould finished the first day dead last on stage 5. General ranking after day one shows a surprising (but promising) lead of Pierre Luc Vaxelaire. There was a butter knife cutting amount of suspense during day 2, with more DH style stages at the program which seemed to play in favor of Remy Absalon, with a solid win in the 2 first stages with a jeering crowd by the side of the track reminiscent of his more at home, EWS atmosphere.
Arnould kept in touch with the lead winning the third stage, but not enough to discourage Vaxelaire whose use of the brake in stage 4, was, well, non-existent. The last stage of the race included 2 steep short climbs where Jeremy Arnould pushed hard to steal the lead from Remy Absalon but struggled to get the first spot for 4 seconds after 2 days, 60 kms and 2000 m drop.
Beyond the athletic result, this 2015 edition has been tremendous in term of ambiance and single tracks on offer. Each year, more fun and technical trails for the pleasure of the 400 riders are on offer, among them a third from across the border (Belgium, Netherlands, German, Luxembourg and even a Czech Republic).
Results
Mens
1. Remy Absalon
2. Jeremy Arnould
3. Pierre-Luc Vaxelaire
4. Steve Pechet
5. Olivier Bruwiere
For more info and full results, visit: ris-timing.be
Words: Enduro De Le Semoy Photos: Maxime Morette
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