Ahead of a full day of racing on Sunday riders are on course for the EWS Pro Stage. Following incredible racing in Loudenvielle where Isabeau Courdurier and Jack Moir came out on top, riders now face a single-stage challenge before taking on four stages tomorrow.
The Pro stage is a new format for 2021 with the riders taking on a single stage with bonus points up for grabs. The times from today are added to riders' stage time tomorrow for the overall results.
In the U21 racing, Paz Gallo Fuentes and Noah Hoffman topped their categories with wins over five seconds. Leonie Picton and Karim Amour won the Masters racing with some sizeable wins in their races.
Melanie Pugin continued her top performance this season as she secures a lead of over four seconds into tomorrow's four stages. Morgane Charre and Estelle Charles completed a French-dominated top three.
Richie Rude went the fastest today on the Pro Stage as he secured his first win this weekend by nearly four seconds on Jesse Melamed. Martin Maes is back at the sharp end of racing this year as he finishes in third. Jack Moir didn't have the stage result he would want with 37th place, 18 seconds behind Richie.
Results
Elite Women
1st. Melanie Pugin: 4:56.26
2nd. Morgane Charre: +4.58
3rd. Estelle Charles: +5.81
4th. Katy Winton: +6.36
5th. Miranda Miller: +6.44
Elite Men
1st. Richie Rude: 4:03.18
2nd. Jesse Melamed: +3.94
3rd. Martin Maes: +4.01
4th. Kasper Woolley: +6.02
5th. Matthew Walker: +6.06
U21 Women
1st. Paz Gallo Fuentes: 5:14.67
2nd. Lisa Baumann: +5.58
3rd. Emmy Lan: +10.62
4th. Sophie Riva: +12.70
5th. Helen Weber: +20.76
U21 Men
1st. Noah Hoffman: 4:17.68
2nd. Jack Piercy: +5.61
3rd. Francescu Camoin: +7.77
4th. Alex Storr: +11.17
5th. Bradley Harris: +12.00
Master Women
1st. Leonie Picton: 5:58.87
2nd. Daniela Michel: +27.20
Master Men
1st. Karim Amour: 4:36.52
2nd. Adrian Vesenbeckh: +9.78
3rd. Claudio Negro: +21.06
4th. Ludovic Corre: +23.28
5th. Clement Magnea: +28.95
Full ResultsElite WomenTop 50 - Elite MenU21 WomenU21 MenMaster WomenMaster Men
Live Updates
4:20 am PDT
[PROVISIONAL] Richie Rude Wins the EWS Pro Stage for the Elite Men
Richie Rude takes his first stage win of the weekend as he goes fastest on the Pro Stage by nearly four seconds.
1st. Richie Rude: 4:03.18
2nd. Jesse Melamed: +3.94
3rd. Martin Maes: +4.01
4th. Kasper Woolley: +6.02
5th. Matthew Walker: +6.06
4:18 am PDT
Richie Rude now goes into the lead by nearly four seconds.
4:16 am PDT
By a tiny margin, Jesse Melamed goes into the lead by an incredible 0.07 seconds.
4:15 am PDT
Kasper Woolley is the closest rider to Martin Maes so far as he sits just over two seconds back. We still have around eight riders left, can anyone beat his time?
4:06 am PDT
Martin Maes smashes the top times as he goes over six and a half seconds faster than Mckay Vezina to go fastest so far.
4:01 am PDT
As the top Elite Men hit the Pro Stage the current top five is:
1st. Mckay Vezina: 4:13.88
2nd. Romain Paulhan: +0.72
3rd. Connor Fearon: +0.93
4th. Christian Textor: +1.50
5th. Edgar Carballo Gonzalez: +2.17
3:59 am PDT
Melanie Pugin Wins the EWS Pro Stage for the Elite Women
Melanie Pugin has an incredible ride on the Pro Stage and as the only woman to cross the line in under five minutes she takes the win and a four-second advantage into a full day of racing tomorrow.
1st. Melanie Pugin: 4:56.26
2nd. Morgane Charre: +4.58
3rd. Estelle Charles: +5.81
4th. Katy Winton: +6.36
5th. Miranda Miller: +6.44
3:54 am PDT
Morgane Charre takes the lead by over a second with six riders left.
3:52 am PDT
By just 0.63 seconds Estelle Charles takes the lead over Miranda Miller.
3:51 am PDT
The next rider to top the timing is Miranda Miller, she pulls two seconds ahead of Becky's previous fastest time.
3:48 am PDT
Becky Cook drops the top time as she completes the Pro Stage six seconds up on Laura Charles.
3:46 am PDT
EWS-E winner Laura Charles now takes the lead by 7.3 seconds.
3:44 am PDT
The top Elite Women are now hitting the Pro Stage as Isabella Naughton goes fastest by over three seconds.
2:54 am PDT
As we wait for the top Elite Women to hit the Pro Stage the current top five is:
1st. Nadine Ellecosta: 5:22.28
2nd. Sidonie Jolidon: +0.38
3rd. Lea Salome Rutz: +15.16
4th. Anja Hovorka: +25.50
5th. Anna Littorin Sandbu: +26.20
2:51 am PDT
Noah Hoffman Wins the EWS Pro Stage for the U21 Men
Noah Hoffman comes across the line on top for the U21 on the Pro Stage as he pulls 5.61 seconds ahead of Jack Piercy.
1st. Noah Hoffman: 4:17.68
2nd. Jack Piercy: +5.61
3rd. Francescu Camoin: +7.77
4th. Alex Storr: +11.17
5th. Bradley Harris: +12.00
2:37 am PDT
Paz Gallo Fuentes Wins the EWS Pro Stage for the U21 Women
Paz Gallo Fuentes wins the Pro Stage in Crans-Montana with a sizeable five-second gap back to Lisa Baumann.
1st. Paz Gallo Fuentes: 5:14.67
2nd. Lisa Baumann: +5.58
3rd. Emmy Lan: +10.62
4th. Sophie Riva: +12.70
5th. Helen Weber: +20.76
All that being said...can't say I recommend buying a carbon DH bike (especially until supply issues get sorted out)
He also had a reputation as a dirty racer in 4X.
EWS for you...
Nowadays you just say you accidentally drank the wrong water bottle and everyone forgives you.
I wasn't aware of that law but now you mentioned it,it sort of make sense.
When Rude and Graves got caught there were 3 more French riders but their names was not mentioned...
This from a PB article in 2013
“Article 45 of the French Cycling Federation (FFC) regulations state: "Toutefois, pour les personnes majeures, cette publication pourra, en cas de circonstances exceptionnelles, être effectuée sous forme anonyme par décision spécialement motivée de l'organe disciplinaire de première instance." That roughly translates to that in exceptional cases, people found guilty of using banned substances can apply to remain anonymous. Frank Filbien, the FFC's mountain bike representative, explains that, "There is a special committee, independent from the national federation. This committee can decide that the rider's name will not be published. This occurs when the rider tells the committee that such a publication will have a very negative impact on him and, for example, that he could lose his job - let's say he has a bike shop and there is a possibility that many people stop buying things in his shop if they know that he has cheated. This decision is very exceptional. That's why the rider's name has not be published."
m.pinkbike.com/news/Doping-Crime-and-Punishment-2013.html
All good, none taken.