Race Day Photo Epic: The Winners' Circle - EWS Zermatt 2019
Photo Epic presented by ODI
Here we are, the final race and the final day of the 2019 Enduro World Series. For every year prior, this day has taken place on the shores of the Mediterranean in Finale Ligure, but this year, we see the champions crowned under the Matterhorn towering high above Zermatt, Switzerland. A truly iconic spot. Fitting for what has been an incredibly unique season. With a pre-season injury to Cecile Ravanel and late-season injury to Eddie Masters taking their toll on top riders in both fields and the shakeup of points caused by the absence of Martin Maes and return of Richie Rude to dominance, it has been a wild ride to get here.
Isabeau Courdurier has had a perfect season thus far, and with the absence of Cecile, her main rival has become Noga Korem. While Isabeau has the series locked down, she will certainly have to dig deep to fight a charging Noga Korem who is surely hungrier than ever for her first-ever win. In the men's race, things are far from straight forward. As the day started, Florian Nicolai held a slim advantage over Sam Hill. It was so close that any mistake by either of the two on any of the days five rough and long stages would spell game over for their championship hopes. Add to the mix the wildcards of Richie Rude and Martin Maes, the two most dominant riders not in contention for the title and the fight between Nicolai and Hill is even more interesting. With Sam Hill nor Florian Nicolai winning a race this season, the big question as they took to the start was who would rise to the occasion and perform when the pressure was on with world titles on the line.
By the midpoint of the day, Isabeau would pull out a strong lead of nearly 30 seconds with Andreane Lanthier-Nadeau in 2nd and then Ines Thoma in 3rd. Sadly, Noga Korem would rip her derailleur out on stage one and lose an unrecoverable amount of time. For the men, it was all about Sam Hill stamping his authority on the Swiss mountainside and making everyone else chase. With two stages to go, he would hold a four-second lead over Martin Maes and Kevin Miquel, who was then closely followed by teammates Shawn Neer and Richie Rude. With Florian Nicolai 20 seconds back in 7th, his grip on the points lead was in serious jeopardy.
After the final two stages were done and dusted, Isabeau Courdurier would complete her perfect season - eight straight wins followed by ALN in 2nd and then Raphaela Richter in 3rd. In the overall, it would be Isabeau on top with Noga Korem second and Andreane Lanthier-Nadeau in 3rd. For the men, Martin Maes would mount a charge on the final two stages to win his 4th event of the year while Sam Hill slipped to 2nd and Richie Rude muscled his way past Kevin Miquel for 3rd. Florian Nicolai would finish 5th and in the process, watch his championship hopes slip away. For the 3rd year in a row, Sam Hill ends the EWS season as champion and in that, becomes the first man ever to win three EWS titles. Nicolai would end up 2nd with Kevin Miquel in 3rd. New this year is an award for most stages won throughout the season with that designation going to Isabeau Courdurier and Richie Rude.
What a season and we can't wait to do it all again next year in 2020.
We had to stop at the top of stage five to listen to these two.
Race day here in Zermatt.
A sweet victory in the making.
Under pressure. This one was destined to be brutal.
Final checks on Katy Winton's steed.
Tools of the trade.
Apparently, these win medals.
All chill before the big day.
Things are about to get hectic.
Keeping the mood casual on the way to the first stage of the day.
One rider drops in on the first stage as two others head up the road to the start.
While the sprint at the top of stage one was a sufferfest, at least the view was pleasant.
A beautiful day n the Swiss Alps for a bike race.
Martin Maes under the Matterhorn on stage four.
Ines Thoma on her way to 4th place here in Zermatt.
Noga Korem ripped a derailleur off on stage one and that was the end of her hopes for a good result today. She can, however, celebrate finishing the year 2nd in the overall points.
Antoine Vidal with the win in U21.
Shawn Neer ran in the top 5 until the final stage of the day. Crashes eventually pushed him back to 11th
Jesse Melamed was in the mix all day, ending up 7th.
The man on a mission. Sam Hill.
The end to a frustrating season for Katy Winton who can now set her sights on a brighter 2020.
The observatory looms in the background just above the top of stage four.
Everywhere you look, there it is. According to Wikipedia, the first ascent of the Matterhorn was in 1865, starting in Zermatt. It ended tragically.
Raphaela Richter once again on the podium in 3rd. Let's hope she does a few more races next season.
Youn Deniaud found some late-season form to take 6th on the day.
ALN was flying today and definitely gave Isabeau a run for it on a few stages.
Isabeau Courdurier on roots and en route to winning stage two.
Stage one was brutal right out of the box. Theo Gally puts the power down.
Anita Gehrig would take 5th on home soil.
Kevin Miquel took 4th for the round and 3rd in the overall.
Top ten for Dimitri Tordo.
Richie Rude started the day slowly but turned it over in the final two stages to take 3rd on the day. He also ends the season with the most stage wins of any riders despite being suspended for the first three rounds.
Florian Nicolai struggled to run up front and as a result, his hopes of a world title were dashed,
Rae Morrison drifting around the final corner of the 2019 season.
Happy to be back where he left off, Martin Maes was dominant once again today.
It's never easy out there.
Bex Bararona takes a moment at the finish line.
ALN grimaces after what may have been the toughest day of the season.
Isabeau doing it for Chad from Intense who played a big role in helping to develop the bike she won on today.
Post race hydration, Swiss style.
Sam Hill chugs a cold one at the finish.
Isabeau Courdurier, ALN, and Raphaela Richter, your Zermatt winners.
Matin Maes, Sam Hill, and Richie Rude, your Zermatt winners.
Lucy Schick, Leah Maunsell, and not pictured, Fenella Harris. U21 women overall winners.
Antoine Vidal, Brady Stone, and Tiago Ladeira. Top three for the EWS U21 men overall.
The top three women in the Series standings - Isabeau Courdurier, Noga Korem, and Andreane Lanthier-Nadeau.
Florian Nicolai and Kevin Miquel help Sam Hill get the party started as the fastest three men in the EWS.
Isabeau Courdurier had the perfect golden season winning all eight rounds along with the overall title.
Enduro World Series Champ three years in a row, Sam Hill
So long EWS 2019. It's been an amazing year.
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Mairiporã XC World Cup 2024
42359 views
42359 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
www.pinkbike.com/news/results-enduro-world-series-round-8-finale-ligure-2015.html
or am I just not giving people on the internet as much benefit of doubt as I would to Richie...
The paragraph we're talking about discussed the women's results then just a few sentences later said that Hill was the first "person" to win three in a row. Moseley's last title was 4 years ago not exactly esoteric ancient history. How could noting that possibly get your panties in a bunch?
That being said, given that davetrumpore was commenting, I do think it would make sense to just change the phrasing to avoid confusion, though I'm not sure he has that power once it's up.
@MarcusBrody : I don’t know editorial policy here, but to me as long as @davetrumpore recognized the error, it seems fine to let it go and move on. Just wanted to be sure T-MO wasn’t being overlooked.
So well, I sympathize with Dave and other media squids.
I just don't understand why would this post get so many props if people giving them wouldn't be exercising recreational righteousness. I feel sorry for people who do, it's a sign of lack of respect to our community on Earth. I also have big respect to photographers and find it appaling how misguided is focus of people coming here, looking for the negative. Shich is ironic since positive props are used to achieve this. I did not criticize the comment istelf.
Since so people get butthurt over a caption, I reserve my right to get butthurt about them getting butthurt over a stupid thing. Are we fine?
www.pinkbike.com/news/5-things-we-learned-at-ews-rotorua-2019.html
I'll bet Nukeproof is more popular within the UK, owned as it is by Chain Reaction.
I guess they are not that popular around the world being a small brand in the global sense and also having their own distribution channels including worldwide shipping. Not great if you want to test ride though. I’m 6’0” or 183cm tall and the large is a very nice fit for me with the stock stem, which looks like a 50mm unit. The long back end takes a bit of getting used to though. Fast as fook in rough straight stuff but needs a lot of tucking in on jump lines. Excellent on steep short climbs. It just sticks to the ground like glue. Considering I’ve got the cheapest “Comp” spec and it’s a 2018 model, it’s no less fun than the £5000 Nomad C I most recently owned. A bit rough around the edges, but that’s more down to the spec . The geometry is much better on the Mega.
I agree there are definitely a lot less people running then these days.
Mavic is pretty common in Europe but mostly on the road. I own a bunch of Mavic clothing which is all pretty good. The fit is great for slim people, which is ironic considering how Sam is built.
Came third, not second.
looks like a Megatower