In the fifth race of the Enduro World Series, it is once again two "well-known" athletes who are in the lead on the first day of racing. But nothing is certain. Australian Sam Hill wins all three stages of the first race day. His lead seems relatively large at just under 24 seconds. On the second day, the Belgian Martin Maes wins all the main stages. The ultra-short descent through the village park, which the organizers could have saved themselves, hardly matters.

Hill stays close to Maes on the second day of the race. His lead shrinks and he can no longer afford to make any major mistakes. In the end, however, the Australian still manages to hold on to a 13-second cushion. Eddie Masters from New Zealand finished in third place, having to surrender his second place from Saturday to Maes.

Wildhaber makes a comeback

For Gusti Wildhaber, his time away from racing due to injury is over. His comeback is all the more impressive, as the Swiss rider performs well on the first day of the race. On the second day of the race, Wildhaber resumes the race with a 19th place on the stage and even improves to 17th intermediate place. He then made a major riding error on the final stage and fell back a little as a result. Nevertheless, he still finished a good 24th
. "Getting back into the world series with a top 25 result after ten weeks off the bike is a great start - I'm very happy," says Wildhaber.

Maxime Chapuis from western Switzerland does not have his best race in La Thuile. Nevertheless, his tenth place in the second stage shows that it wasn't down to skill. As the second-best Swiss rider, he finished in 33rd place.

Another Swiss rider, Stefan Peter, makes it into the top 50 with two top 20 stages.

One canceled stage

In the women's race, serial winner Cecile Ravanel set the first two fastest times on Italian soil, always followed by her French compatriot Isabeau Courdurier. However, there was to be no third stage on the first day of the race, not for the three best women in the overall classification. While still in the men's race, a participant was injured shortly before the stage finish and had to be rescued first. But this takes a long time and the communication between rescuers, marshals and race control does not work.

As the accident happened around ten minutes before the start of the first woman and the injured participant is still in the danger zone, the timekeeping is quickly moved up 100 meters. Almost all of the women would have been able to finish the stage as normal if a marshal had not instructed them to stop the race in the meantime. The last three women, Cecile Ravanel, Isabeau Courdurier and Katy Winton, are denied the start and the second and third stage for the women are therefore canceled. A circumstance that annoys the participants.

The second day of the race can then be carried out according to plan, but there is no change at the top. Ravanel extends her lead and wins the race ahead of Courdurier. However, there is a change for third place. Melanie Pugin, another Frenchwoman, holds this position, but she is "overtaken" by Ines Thoma on the first stage of Sunday and Anita Gehrig is only two seconds behind her.

Pugin then had an unfortunate crash and had to abandon the race. Gehrig, on the other hand, was able to hold on and finish fourth. After finishing fourth four times last year and not being very happy about it, she sees things differently this time: "Last year, fourth place was always a defeat - the first rider not to make it onto the podium. Today, fourth place feels like a small victory!"
This is not the first race Anita Gehrig has competed in after her hand injury. But the confidence and, above all, the strength in her left arm took time to return. But now the basis for a successful second half of the season is back in place.

In addition to Gehrig, only two other Swiss women will be competing in La Thuile: Alba Wunderlin and Daniela Michel. Wunderlin finished 18th in the elite category, while Michel won the women's masters race with four stage wins.

Chaos at the classic

La Thuile, one of the most popular races in the Enduro World Series, is not at its best for once. Where normally the most beautiful trails are designated for the race, the organizers are offering freshly cut routes. So fresh, in fact, that they change too quickly and have no weather resistance whatsoever, and are sometimes even dangerous. Furthermore, there are sections in the downhill stages that are barely rideable. Especially not if it is still raining.

The displeasure among the world's best enduro athletes is therefore great and the mood of the organizers is strained. As the weather forecast is still predicting heavy rain, the route plans will be changed on both Saturday and Sunday. The order of the stages was changed, one controversial descent was canceled and another good one was ridden twice. The organizers reacted to the fierce criticism of many top riders and tried to keep the damage to their image as low as possible - at least. However, the consequences of this will be a learning experience at best.

Results EWS #5, La Thuile / ITA