Race Day Photo Epic: Châtel EDR World Cup 2023
The seventh and final round of the inaugural UCI Enduro World Cup, part of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series Festival Haute-Savoie, tested riders over a mammoth seven-stage course that covered nearly 60km of trails in the famous Portes du Soleil area.
In the women’s competition, the overall series win was Isabeau Courdurier’s to lose. The Lapierre Zipp Collective racer only needed to put in a conservative effort in order to lift the new trophy, with Morgane Charre the lone rider who was theoretically capable of depriving the two-time Enduro World Series overall winner of the title. Despite Charre’s heroic efforts, the race win was not enough to stop Courdurier from securing the overall title. Charre won today’s race by six seconds ahead of Courdurier in second place, while Harriet Harnden took third place. The same three would find themselves on the overall series podium, but with Courdurier on the top step and Charre and Harnden in second and third respectively.
In the men’s race, series leader Richie Rude got off to a shaky start, with sixth place on the first stage whilst main series rival Jesse Melamed took the win. Melamed’s performance was a masterclass in consistency, with the reigning Enduro World Series overall winner taking four of the seven stages. The Canadian rider’s performance was awarded with the race win, with Alex Rudeau claiming second and Rude awarded the third step of the podium. Rude’s third place would hand him his first UCI Enduro World Cup overall trophy to sit alongside the two Enduro World Series overall ones he’s garnered in the past. Melamed would take second in the overall, whilst Alex Rudeau would claim third.
In the U21 Women, the closest race in the category to date raged all day between Slovakia’s Simona Kuchynkova and Great Britain’s Emily Carrick-Anderson - with Kuchynkova clinching the win by just one-hundredth of a second. Behind Carrick-Anderson was Switzerland’s Delia Da Mocogno. However, a strong season meant Emmy Lan won the overall title, with Elly Hoskin in second and Lily Planquart in third.
In the U21 Men, it was Raphael Giambi who was fastest on the day, with Lisandru Bertini in second and Lief Rodgers of Canada in third. Bertini’s impressive record this year secured him the overall title, with Giambi in second and Australia’s Sascha Kim in third place.
Rude’s win would secure Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team the win in the team competition.
Chatel, France
It's been raining daily here
Welcome to the Portes du Soleil
Greg Callaghan in the clouds on stage 4
Slawomir Lukasik just off the podium in 4th
Kasper Woolley is finally back after nearly two seasons of injury and would finish an amazing 11th
Rhys Verner on the hunt for the overall podium
U21 Women's overall winner Emmy Lan
Remi Gauvin dropping into Stage6
Rain, sun, rain, sun on repeat all weekend made for very changing conditions
Not a flow trail
Hugo Pigeon in 16th
Richie Rude battling the muddy off-camber roots of Stage 3
Sam Blenkinsop on Stage 3
Round 2 winner Bex Baraona would end the day in 10th
Melanie Pugin on Stage 1
Harriet Harnden getting loose on her way to 3rd in the race and in the overall
DH specialist Dylan Levesque gave enduro a go in Chatel and would end the day in a very respectable 8th
Jose Borges on Stage 5
A crash to start the day would keep Martin Maes out of contention
Charlie Murray tree dodging his way to 6th
Charlie Murray found the limit on Stage 3
Slippery when wet (or dry really)
Rae Morrison in 9th
Alex Rudeau somehow finding grip where there was no grip to find on Sage 3
Off camber rooty corner commitment with Alex Storr
Bark removal with Alex Storr
Andreane Lanthier Nadeau in 23rd after a massive crash on Stage 3 almost ended her day
Ella Conolly on Stage 5
Jack Menzies was in the top 5 for the first half of the day until some crashes pushed him out of contention
Noga Korem doing the privateer thing to take 7th
Morgane Charre on her way to victory in Chatel
Colton Peterson with a career-best on 15th
Round 3 winner Gloria Scarsi in 8th
Jesse Melamed would win 4 of the 7 stages to take the win
Jesse Melamed's only speed was full gas this weekend
Ella Conolly would end up 4th
Seth Sherlock on Stage 6
No Chain for Rhys Vernier at the end of the day's first stage. Luckily his teammate Connor Fearon would donate his to the cause so Rhys could continue on.
Rhys Verner pushing to the maximum to salvage points
Alex Rudeau was on a charge getting within 0.10 of Jesse Melamed halfway through the day
Dan Booker in 5th doing it for the flat pedal crowd (which also includes winner Morgane Charre, and runner-up Alex Rudeau)
The day would belong to Morgane Charre
Winner on the day and second overall, Morgane Charre
Another title successfully defended
Isabeau Courdurier celebrates with her mom after clinching another world title
Jesse Melamed's win or die trying pace in Chatel was incredible to watch as he truly laid it all on the line on each of the 7 stages to take the win.
Alex Rudeau pushed hard all day with nothing to lose as he brought the fight to Richie Rude and Jesse Melamed on his home soil
A stressful weekend for Richie Rude ended in Triumph. He would overcome the pressure and nerves to take home his 3rd world title ... Just down the road from Samoens, where he took his first-ever EWS win way back in 2015
Morgane Charre, ahead of Isabeau Courdurier and Harriet Harnden in Chatel
Jesse Melamed would be the only one to win two races this season in the elite men's division
Richie Rude is the 2023 Enduro World Cup Champion.
World Cup overall champion, Isabeau Courdurier, flanked by Morgane Charre, and Harriet Harnden
Emmy Lan, U21 women's Enduro Wold Cup champ
Yeti took home the Team Overall
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And to think the UCI appear to be trying to kill this sport. #saveenduro.
In my experience, those gates are often closed.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing for mtb.