Ibis Cycles Enduro Race Team EWS Millau Report
If it’s June, this must be…France! The fifth stop of the Enduro World Series (EWS) took place in the Midi-Pyrennes, Southern France, where it’s always sunny.
Based in a town called Millau (pronounced me-oh), the race was part of the “Natural Games” that included music (until 3am each night), slack lining, jump lining, rock climbing, beer drinking, paragliding, kayaking, paddle boarding and the EWS. An estimated 100,000 people were going to descend on town for the four days of festivities.
The team was stoked to come together for this race following a one month break after the round in Ireland. Southern France beckoned, home of St. Tropez, sun, impressionists, sun, beaches, sun, Provence, the French Riviera, sun, Côte d'Azur, the warm blue waters of the Mediterranean and, well, you get the picture. The racers were all looking forward to this race, as the first four rounds took place in rainy conditions, some torrential (talking to you Tasmania!).
The race was a two-day affair of nine stages, typically French on ancient limestone trails with lots of rocks and switchbacks,switchbacks, switchbacks. The Friday/Saturday race was preceded by two days of rocky switchback practice (embrace the tripod) that took place with the backdrop of Millau’s famous viaduct, which if you believe Wikipedia is the tallest bridge in the world (1125 feet tall!). You can see its stunning form in the background of a few of the photos.
Remember that sun we mentioned? Well, it didn’t show up. It was vacationing, clearly not in southern France. Therefore the 2017 EWS season has maintained its perfect record, 5 for 5 rainy events, 5 in a row making our mechanics’ lives miserable. We’ll spare you yet more pictures of muddy bikes, we’ve seen enough of that this year.
While the racers were allowed to get a lift to the start of the first stage on each of the two days, this event ranked right up there with one of the toughest EWS races of the year. The liaison stages (getting from the finish of one to the start of the next) were grueling affairs, some strictly a mandatory hike-a-bike, and some just plain long and brutal involving lots of vertical. Over the two days, the racers climbed just under 11,000 feet (3300m) and the pedaling, or should we call it free falling on the steeper sections, totaled 54 miles (88km). There wasn’t a lot of spare time for the racers between stages, so it was "full gaz" all day, both days.
First the video recap and then a few nice photos.
 | Like everyone, I was expecting sunshine and heat when traveling to the south of France. But I think the weather may have played a bit to my favor with me being able to just have a steady pace all weekend in the tricky conditions. I do love riding the French technical and tight style of trails and really had fun practicing. However, already after the first stage, I felt that I wasn't physically on top and that I just had to back it off a bit more than I would have liked to be able to get around all stages in one piece. I am absolutely stoked to see that I was able to finish inside the top 10 on an "off weekend" and that we were able to take our lead in the team overall standings! And of course, a big congrats to Anita for getting on the podium! And again, thanks to everyone that's supporting us in all different ways to be out there every weekend. Now please bring us some sunshine for the rest of the season. We are so ready for it! |
| The race in France was the hardest EWS riding-wise I have done so far. It was hard to know how hard you could really push in every section without sliding out. It was super slippery and the gravel was so hard that ruts didn't really appear. After a few crashes, I lost a bit of confidence and had a hard time committing to my lines. I'm happy with how I rode on some of the stages but overall I could feel I was out of place. Super happy to still be in the top 20 overall and super motivated to keep working hard towards Aspen and Whistler. I learned a lot this weekend and will take the positives with me. |
| I am super relieved to score a top five result in Millau. Heading into the week of the race I wasn’t feeling good, as I had to take antibiotics to cure an infected tooth. Therefore I wasn’t even sure I would be able to finish the race, stoked I was still able to push through and still go fast! |
| I am so stoked to bag another podium in the Enduro World Series! Seeing the tracks here for the first time I knew I could do well at this place no matter wet or dry. Having the podium together with Caro in front of over 10'000 spectators of the "Natural Games" was a highlight! Now, I am already looking forward to Aspen and hopefully a dry race. |
By the end of the weekend, we had some exhausted racers, with Robin Wallner in 9th overall, Zakarias in 32nd, FBM in 19th, and on the women's side Anita had another podium in 3rd, and Caro finishing a strong 4th.
The team ended up second on the weekend, and maintains a strong lead in the overall team classification. We are super proud of our little team and would also like to give a huge shoutout to our mechanics; Mats and Kili, who kept the new Mojo HD4 bikes humming all weekend long, despite the miserable conditions.
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4 Comments
- 8 0
Crossmaxx
(Jul 5, 2017 at 12:44)
Has an off-weekend - finishes 9th. Fantastic performance! Too bad Robin had a DNF in the opening round, without it he would be really high up in the overall.
- 4 0
bishopsmike
(Jul 5, 2017 at 14:31)
Them HD4's sure is sexy!
- 1 0
Trudeez
(Jul 11, 2017 at 1:59)
Where can I submit my entry for the beer drinking portion of these "Natural Games." Cuz, you know, it comes naturally to me.
- 1 0
Maverickdh00
(Jul 5, 2017 at 19:09)
Sexy beasts!
Dem bikes I mean!
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