[Racing] Day 1 – Enduro World Series – Valdivia, Corral

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Welcome to the first race of the Enduro World Series in 2016, this year just like the 2014 season, Chile finds itself hosting the first round.  Unlike last time, this event took place further south in one of the most remote areas of Chile which also happened to be one of the oldest and rainiest.

325A8555 To cross from Valdivia to Corral, you need to take a ferry that takes about 25 minutes.325A8552 Corral village has a population of 5,700 inhabitants.. 325A8595Bienvenidos a Corral.

Valdivia and Corral are characterized by the history that’s behind them.  In this place there are a number of strongholds which for many years were intended to fight the invading troops coming from the Pacific Ocean. 325A8843325A8797 copy-2325A8824

These places were guarded by armed soldiers which kept an eye on the bay for 24 hours.

To start the Enduro World Series in Chile, local people offered a re-creation of a sliver of their history.

325A9214Cedric Gracia getting the most important details dialed.

325A9224 Matteo Nati installing a GPS system in Marco Osborne’s bike.  It will be used for the first time in an EWS. The idea is to calculate the speed, location and time. 325A9218  A toolbox complete with a clock.   Imagine that… 325A9219325A9223 Some riders like Iago Garay, Lewis Buchanan and Francoise Bailly-Maitre, are able to train until the last minute.  Here they are reviewing videos…

325A9268 Sunn’s newest racer : Isabeau Courdurier is all smiles and happy to be in Chile.

325A9269Cecile Ravanel with the full pre race focus and course visualization.

325A9303Last year’s overall winner Richie Rude is the last rider to set off…

325A9309 The road to the first stage lasted approximately one hour and took place in a public dirt road

325A9353Cody Kelley ripping a nice natural line in the woods325A9317Slippery mud is sprinkled throughout and can definitely catch you off guard.325A9323The lushness of Corral is amazing, it  never cease to amaze us… Antonio Leiva loving it.

325A9421 Ladies first. Cecile Ravanel kicking things off early today.

325A9476Francoise Bailly-Maitre – razor focus.

325A9511 Jerome Clementz is very much ready to sprint out of these large rocks…

325A9579 Anneke Beerten fell less than two meters from the finish line, I’m sure this will be one of the most frustrating stages for her but she’s looking fast.  She’ll find her limit and make up some of the time.

325A9556Cody Kelley is absolutely loving the loamy sections.

325A9486Yoann Barelli – determined. 325A9585Sam Blenkinsop – you knew he’d have the best style of anyone on the track.

325A9602Jared Graves wrapping up the first stage of his first season on Specialized by heading down towards the finish(and the Pacific Ocean).325A9649Remy Absalon takes some time to cool off.325A9688Mark Scott with a pretty unfortunate crash just 10 meters from the finish line.

325A9708Nicolas Vouilloz’s elusive sillhouette.325A9720  Richie Rude, always carries impressive speed, and that resulted in first place on this first stage of EWS in Chile.  Looks like he’s picking up right where he left off…

325A8852325A8609 Fortunately the weather and temperature cooperated in every way in this first race day. Hopefully the winds brought from the ocean don’t change things and everything stays consistent next stage of the race.

Results

Pro Women’s  1.Cecile Ravanel 2. Anneke Beerten 3. Isabeau Courdurier

Pro Men’s 1. Richie Rude 2. Martin Maes 3. Nico Vouilloz

Results U21 1. Sebastien Claquin 2. Pedro Burns 3. Adrien Dailly

Results EWS Corral Day 1

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