Race Report: French Enduro Cup 2021 #2 - Risoul

After a grey and muddy race in Val d’Allos 2 weeks ago, here we are in Risoul (1850m high) for the 1st time of the Enduro Series history. Located in the southern part of the French Alps, this small resort has a lot of natural trails to offer with a mix of rocky and dusty sections with amazing views on the mountains up at 2575m high (Pointe de Razis), and some fresh dirt and roots down in the forest.

350 riders were here this week-end to fight against the clock on the 5 stages and the E-Bike category was back for this second round. They say it’s sunny 300 days a year.... That's probably why it was sunny on Friday before the race and on Monday after the race… Let’s say we were in the 65 other days this week-end with an impressive wind storm on Sunday but not much rain (nothing to compare with Les Gets weather…).

In the women category the fight was pretty intense for the 1st spot, Morgane Such was the fastest on 4 of the 5 stages and won with a total of 50:18.20 over Charlotte Rey who was only 29 seconds behind. Axelle Murigneux took the 3rd spot at 2:44.65.

Yannick Pontal, Matthieu Ruffray and Levy Baptista were back on their E-Bikes alongside with Valentin Escriou, Olivier and Diego Giordanengo or Kevin Marry to fight during 8 stages. Yannick « Youke » Pontal suffered from an allergy on Saturday and had no breath and no power. He came back from 5th to 2nd on Sunday just behind his Peugeot Pro Racing Team mate Matthieu Ruffray who was consistent during the 2 days race. Levy Baptista took the 3rd spot of the week-end on his Rocky Mountain Powerplay. With 3 stages wins and 4 stages with the 2nd fastest time, Kevin Marry would have been on the podium for sure if he didn’t have a big crash on Saturday where he broke his handlebar literally in 2 parts!

In the Elite Category, we were surprised to see Florian Nicolai back on the French circuit for a week-end. The Trek Factory Racing rider who took the 2nd place overall behind Sam Hill in 2019 on the EWS circuit, crashed last March and suffered from a sprained shoulder. Since he didn’t come back on the international races with his good pace (24th in Val di Fassa), he came in Risoul trying to gain back mental confident and to feel better on his bike. With a 1st place on the podium and a total time of 42:05.44 after 5 stages, he will hopefully come back to La Thuile with a better feeling! Glenn Macarthur took the 2nd spot at only 14.52 seconds behind Florian, followed by Maxime Ciriego, Benoit Clement and Ludovic Oget.

Delivering the goods with a mix of different type of trails and amazing views, including a long blind stage of 17 minutes to close Saturday’s race, Risoul didn’t disappoint and everybody seemed happy with this great venue. Next stop : Thollon Les Memises / Bernex (close to Evian), on 21st/22nd of August.

Results

Full Results

Posted In:
Racing and Events Enduro Racing Race Reports French Enduro Series