We could have titled this « Trabac Vs. Oget: The Battle Continues » here as Ludovic Oget won the Enduro du Lion in front of Elliot Trabac earlier this month in the Vosges area. This time, Trabac won 6 of the 7 stages during the week-end for a massive win. But it was all about Alexis Noirot’s podium here for the crowd. The local rider who finished 3rd had the full support from the public and the party was on as if he had just won the race. On the ladies side, Melanie Pugin is still impressive on a bike and finished 1st despite a broken chain and a big crash during the last stage on Saturday. But Morgane Charre, who had a crash on Sunday, was just behind the BH rider with only 8.535 seconds difference after 7 stages.
With a total of 3300m elevation over 75 kms, the first of five rounds of the French Enduro Cup delivered the goods with great trails in the always stunning Vosges forest. There were steep and rocky sections, as well as very fresh and typical Vosges loamy dirt sections. The two-day race had 4 different tracks. There were 3 stages on Saturday with recces of each stage in the morning, and 2 stages raced two times each on Sunday with course recon on Stage 4 in the morning. Hopefully, the riders loved Stage 3 as they rode it four times throughout the weekend (including one recce lap included on Saturday).
Raon l’Étape was also the very first official Enduro E-MTB Cup race recognized by the French Cycling Federation (FFC). And it was impressive to see 40 motorized riders in the starting gate here. They rode the same stages, with a variant on stage 4 on Sunday, but did a total of 14 laps including 4 recce laps, which was good enough to be exhausted at the end of the week-end I guess! Want some numbers? 56 kms and 2200m up on Saturday, and 45 Kms and 1600m up on Sunday, thanks to Remy Absalon’s GPS. The fun fact is that the 2017 overall French Enduro Cup winner, Nico Quere, won the E-MTB race with his Giant Full-E+. When you got skills on a classic bike, you got skills on an e-bike, right?
Two pictures to resume the race weekend: loam, foam, rocks and steepness. Welcome to Raon L'Etape! When you get congratulated by your close friend who just jumped in a dirty pond!Results
Men
1st. TRABAC Elliot (FRA) — 28:20.396
2nd. OGET Ludovic (FRA) — 28:38.374
3rd. NOIROT Alexis (FRA) — 28:45.850
4th.TRABAC Theotim (FRA) — 29:04.398
5th. THIEBAUT Paul (FRA) — 29:10.391
Women
1st. PUGIN Melanie (FRA) — 33:51.946
2nd. CHARRE Morgane (FRA) — 34:00.481
3rd. JONNIER Morgane (FRA) — 35:05.683
4th. CHARLES Laura (FRA) — 35:26.771
5th. CHARLES Estelle (FRA) — 35:35.410
E-MTB Trophy by Haibike1st. QUERE Nicolas (FRA) — 39:16.328
2nd. GIORDANENGO Olivier (FRA) — 40:04.479
3rd. PONS Melvin (FRA) — 40:12.821
4th. ABSALON Rémy (FRA) — 40:17.998
5th. SERVANT Camille (FRA) — 40:27.524