What a race! Florian Nicolai took the lead in the last race of the Enduro World Series in Zermatt by a small margin – but last year’s overall winner, Sam Hill, overtook him on the final stage. We took a closer look at the second-placed Canyon Strive CFR.
Before we start with the bike check, here is a small review of the season
The Canyon Factory Racing Team achieved a masterpiece in their seventh EWS season in 2019: for the third time, they took the coveted first place in the team rankings. Of course, Flo played a key role in this success: last year, Flo placed third overall in the EWS championship. And his 2019 season got off to a very promising start. He finished second in the first race of the EWS season in Rotorua/New Zealand, thus underlining his title ambitions, which didn’t take long: in the following race in Derby/Australia Flo won his first EWS with more top 10 finishes following. Heading into the last race of the 2019 Enduro World Series in Zermatt, he was in the lead by 60 points. The race couldn’t have been more dramatic. It was not until the final stage that Sam Hill was able to claim the championship by winning the Queen Stage and thus securing vital extra points. Placing fifth at the TRAILLOVE Festival in Zermatt was enough to secure Florian second place in the overall standings – a huge achievement none the less!
Florian Nicolai’s Canyon Strive CFR in detail
For the 2019 EWS season, Canyon relied on the new Strive CFR, featuring 29″ wheels, revised geometry, and an improved Shapeshifter, which also won our high-end group test. The team bikes were specced differently from the stock models, as with almost all team bikes, but the componentry comes closest to that on the CFR 9.0 Team. With a height of 183 cm, the frame size of Florian’s Strive is an L.
Will Florian Nicolai be the overall winner of the 2020 EWS? After finishing third in 2018 and second in 2019, it’s certainly possible! We’ll keep our fingers crossed for the new season!
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As the proud father of Robin and Max-Philip, Manne has been there from the start and is the wise elder of the editorial team. He won his first cycling race in elementary school at a school sports day. After less successful attempts at football, he found his passion for cycling via endurance racing in 1989! The world of racing still consumes him and no one in the team knows the EWS pros better than Manne. As a former head analyst of a state agency, he knows how to do proper research and finds exclusive news that no one else has. He supports his sons in day-to-day business dealings as the authorised signatory for 41 Publishing – viva la familia!