Val d'Allos is the historic cradle of enduro mountain biking with the birth of the TRIBE 10000 near than 20 years ago. This year is the 19th edition. And everybody in the organization was pleased to run the chairlifts as they were not used for the whole winter. With this pandemic situation, it is the opener for the resort and for French Enduro Cup.
Even though no World Cup riders were present because of the EWS in Val Di Fassa next Tuesday and Wednesday, this first weekend of racing has cracked its registrations. No more places were available.
That being said, some names are known from the EWS family as many riders from e-EWS were present. Indeed, This week-end should have been the e-EWS race in Valberg. This one being canceled Yannick PONTAL, Nico QUERE, Levy BATISTA, Ludovic OGET, Matthieu RUFFRAY, and others decided to take their normal bike to race in Allos as there were no eBike category.
This edition was also the first time that the French Enduro Series included the Minime category. 30 young riders aged from 12 to 14 did the same specials as their elders on Saturday. They had a blast, and this motivated the organizers to officially open this category on others races with 2 days races.
At the end of the first day, under a bright sun, Ludo OGET took the lead with 21'02 of time. Levy BATISTA following closely behind at 4 seconds and Yannick PONTAL 9 seconds back.
Glenn MACARTHUR with the number 1 plate was fourth. But the real sensation came from Raphael GIAMBI. For many of us, we were discovering this new name in the field as he is only 15 year old. He finish 5th from day one, wining 3 stages over 5.
Enzo PEREZ, Nans ARNAUD, Alexandre VANDELET were 3 juniors integrating the top 20 with respectively the 16th, 17th and 18th place. Siméon PLEINDOUX was 21th scratch and this revealed to be best spot to have for Sunday. Because the top 20 starts last on the second day, Siméon with the other junior rode the stages 1 hour before his competitors. And when the rain came down, he makes almost 50 seconds back in the race with only one stage. He rides the 9th run of the week-end on a dry terrain, while other had nightmarish conditions. Like him many where able to make time, and the results were a little bit blend by the weather. That is part of the racing.
Finally, in the men field, Ludo OGET was able to catch back the first place on the last stage, since Yannick PONTAL, who had an amazing pace on Sunday, made a little mistake in this last run, and loose the lead for only 1 second. Levy Batista finished 3rd at 24 seconds. Raphael GIAMBI continues to impress finishing 4th. Just in front on Nico QUERE, coming back from his 12th place from Saturday.
Among the women, we saw an incredible performance from Charlotte REY. With a cumulative time of 55'31, she takes 15 seconds to Morgane SUCH. Axelle Murigneux finished 3rd.
Next Enduro Series is on July 3 and 4 in Risoul.
Results
Pro Men
1st. OGET Ludovic (FRA) — 47'21
2nd. PONTAL Yannick (FRA) — 47'22
3rd. BATISTA Levy (FRA) — 47'45
4th. GIAMBI Raphael (FRA) — 48'13
5th. QUERE Nicolas (FRA) — 48'14
Pro Women
1st. REY Charlotte (FRA) — 55'31
2nd. SUCH Morgane (FRA) — 55'46
3rd. MURIGNEUX Axelle (FRA) — 58'09