The Big Picture | An Explosive Start To EWS Round 1

It was an explosive start to the 2015 Enduro World Season as Jerome Clementz (Cannondale OverMountain) and Anne Caroline Chausson (Ibis Cycles Enduro Team) were crowned the first winners of 2015 in the Giant Toa Enduro in New Zealand during Crankworx Rotorua.

The season started in style as the riders rolled off the stage at Te Puia under the spray of the world-famous Pohutu geyser exploding 30m high in the air. But the drama didn’t end there with the race throwing up its fair share of surprises throughout the day – with no less than 14 world champions from across cycling taking part.

Enrico was there from the small hours, with racers starting at 7am, it was still pretty dark as the first rolled off — Enrico was there from the small hours, with racers starting at 7am, it was still pretty dark as the first racers rolled off the line

The first riders to leave were serenaded with a mauri horn salute

Dropping in under the spray of the venting earth

The event drew riders from all over the globe, this dude from Hawaii was stoked to be racing

DH legend and Kiwi racer Sam Blenkinsop would always be a danger to the podiums

Many racers were still nursing injuries from practice

However, in the women’s race it was the same old story, with Anne Caroline Chausson and Tracy Moseley (Trek Factory Enduro Race Team) reigniting the battle that has dominated the last two seasons. In the end it was Anne who led the stage wins with five of the seven and Tracy taking only two. Cecile Ravanel’s (Commencal Vallnord Enduro Team) consistency throughout the day paid off, earning her the third step on the podium.

Cecile Ravanel looked blisteringly fast on the stages but she could not make up ground on Tracy and Anne Caro

There were some tough punchy climbs in the stages too

Anne Caro was on form and wanted the early win

Anne Caro and Cecile watch Tracy descend in the live video stream, had she done enough?

Tracy knows she is in for another fight this year

Will Tracy be able to hold on to this for another year

But whilst the old guard may have picked up the medals, some fresh faces made their way into the top ten too. Kiwi Meggie Bichard proved she was worthy of her wildcard entry taking an incredible 5th place – less than a minute back on Anneke Beerten (Specialized Racing Team) in fourth. Ines Thoma (Canyon Factory Enduro Team), Rosara Joseph, Lorraine Truong (BMC Factory Trailcrew) and local girl Sasha Smith rounded out the top ten.

Rachael Gurney dropping into Stage 3's loam — Rachael Gurney dropping into Stage 3’s loam

What a way to finish a race, flat out in front of a huge crowd

Spectators lined the stages all day, especially the final stage

Speaking about her win, Anne Caroline Chausson said: “I’m really really happy, it’s the first race of the season and it’s better to start with a win definitely so I’m stoked. “It was a long day and a hard race for everybody, the main thing was to stay on the bike as much as possible, I had some good runs, I had some not so good runs, I made some mistakes, but no big crashes.”

In the men’s competition the first big surprise actually came in practice, when reigning World Champion Jared Graves (Yeti/Fox Shox Racing Team) announced a shoulder injury picked up a couple of weeks earlier would prevent him from racing.

Meanwhile Jerome Clementz and Fabien Barel (Canyon Factory Enduro Race Team) marked their return from injuries by taking first and second place – capitalising on their strong results from Finale at the end of last year. Kiwi downhiller Wyn Masters (Team Bulls) stormed his first EWS to take third and delighting the home crowd in the process. Fellow downhiller Sam Hill (Chain Reaction/Nukeproof)) was also making his EWS debut – taking both a stage win and ninth overall – and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares at round two in Ireland in May. Home favourite Justin Leov (Trek Factory Racing Enduro Team) had to settle for fourth.

Wyn Masters was on fire, finishing 3rd overall

Amaerican Curtis Keene got his rodeo skills tested on this section — American Curtis Keene got his rodeo skills tested on this section

Rumour was that this would be the year of the young guns, but experience paid in the end. Martin Maes will have his day

Jerome looked so smooth through all the stages, taking a clear victory

Cedric Ravanelle smashing into the forest loam

New Cube signing Greg Callaghan galloped his way to 10th, just ahead of team mate Nico Lau

This root section caught everyone out, Damien Oton getting caught up

Jerome watches the timing to see if he had done enough - he killed it — Jerome watches the timing to see if he had done enough – he killed it

Special mention has to go to Florian Nicolai (Rocky Mountain URGE bp Rally Team) after an impressive first five stages he won stage six – only to get a rear flat on stage seven – although he kept pushing and it was enough to secure fifth overall.

Florian Nicolai was loose as a goose all day - amazingly fast — Florian Nicolai was loose as a goose all day – amazingly fast

But a puncture would seal his fate on the final stage

Remember this face, he will win an EWS soon

Jerome Clementz said: “I had a good day, I liked the course, it suited my kind of riding, I tried to ride smart, not pushing too hard and staying on my bike and I managed to carry speed on all the stages and finish with the win, so it was a good surprise.“It’s always good to start the series with a win, it’s good for the confidence and for the points, a little bit less pressure on me now, but I did what I wanted to do today and now for the next round I have this behind me and I can have a good season.”

Everyone was stoked that Jerome took the win, the peoples champion

In the new Under 21 category Georgia Petrie of New Zealand won the women’s race, whilst in the men’s it was France’s Adrien Dailly. Enduro World Series Managing Director Chris Ball said: “What a way to start the season! From the beginning we’ve always wanted to take the EWS to New Zealand because of it’s amazing trails and passionate riding community. The crowds on course were amazing and it was absolutely the perfect place to kick off the new season.”

A true professional fan, this guy had his heckling on lock down.

There were spills aplenty, but most came up smiling

The day was tough with long transitions in the forest heat

Media lined every corner, enduro is big business now

Even the pros were going down hard, clean kit was a rarity

This local lad was more stoked than anyone

To see the full results you can download them here

In the team competition Canyon Factory Enduro Race Team now start the year in pole position.Next up on the Enduro World Series calendar is County Wicklow in Ireland on May 24.

Words:EWS Pictures:Trev Worsey

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The Big Picture | An Explosive Start To EWS Round 1

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