After the first day of the race, after four downhill stages and a total distance of almost 70 kilometers, Australian Jared Graves (Specialized Racing) leads the race by just 32 hundredths of a second over Sam Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles Mavic). On the second day of the race, however, there was no stopping Hill. He won the last two stages and thus also the race. "It was fantastic - six great stages here in Colorado. I had a lot of fun and tried to ride as consistently as possible. As I didn't ride here last year, I didn't know what to expect. So I didn't expect to win here. My goal now is to try and win the overall lead by the end of the year."

Behind Hill, Belgian Martin Maes (GT Factory Racing) fights his way up to second place. Graves finished third in the end. With his victory, Sam Hill takes the overall lead in the world series. Former leader Adrien Dailly (Lapierre) finished a good sixth, but is now 40 points behind Hill. Greg Callaghan (Cube Action Team) has dropped back a little but is still in third place. However, his prospects of overall victory have diminished somewhat after finishing 20th.

The only Swiss rider at the start is Maxime Chapuis. With 45th place, he cannot build on the performances of his best races.

Nearly missing the podium

In the women's race, Isabeau Courdurier (SUNN) is the fastest on the first stage, but that is not enough to stop series leader Cecile Ravanel (Commencal Vallnord Enduro Team). She won three of the six stages and thus also the race with a 47-second lead over Courdurier. "I liked the trails much better than last year. They were much steeper and more natural - I enjoyed riding here. I hope I can continue like this for the rest of the year and win the overall standings again," says Ravanel.

Casey Brown (Trek Factory Enduro Racing Team) delivers a strong performance over both race days, always with Anita Gehrig (Ibis Cycles Enduro Race Team) breathing down her neck. In the end, the Canadian kept her nose ahead of the Swiss rider. Gehrig once again achieved a top result in fourth place, although expectations were lowered in the run-up to the race due to her cold.

For Carolin Gehrig (Ibis Cycles Enduro Race Team), both race days did not go to plan. Several crashes put her behind her expected places, but she still managed a respectable final result of ninth place.

Cecile Ravanel cements her lead in the overall standings, while Katie Winton (Trek Factory Racing) climbs to second place. Just ten points behind her, Ines Thoma (Canyon Factory Enduro Team) lurks in third place. Anita and Carolin Gehrig are in fifth and sixth place, also only ten points apart. Both are still around 100 points off the podium. It won't be easy to catch up, but a lot can still happen in the last two races.