There was a consensus that nothing works in enduro racing without clipless pedals. Even in downhill, only a few exotic riders still swear off the "fixed binding" and thunder down the valley on the so-called bear paws. One of these exotic riders is Australian Sam Hill, who has already shown twice with his second places in the Enduro World Series races in Ireland and Italy that it is possible without clipless pedals. At the seventh race in Valberg, France, Hill finally struck: he took his first victory in the world series nine seconds ahead of ten-time downhill world champion Nicolas Vouilloz and 17 seconds ahead of the up-and-coming Canadian Jesse Melamed. "I'm super happy with my victory here. I had a lot of fun on the stages, especially as I had an exciting duel with Nico Vouilloz, my childhood idol," says Sam Hill.

Ludo May had a good race, but not yet with full consistency. He finished in 30th place and was able to ride top 25 times on three stages. Right behind him, René and Gusti Wildhaber finish in 31st and 32nd place. René Wildhaber doesn't really get going and only partially finds the flow on the seven downhill stages. Already on the first stage, the Trek rider is unsettled by an incident - where he tears his short. Wildhaber continues the race wearing only tight cycling shorts - but does not benefit from the advantage of better aerodynamics. Gusti Wildhaber, on the other hand, is delighted with his regularly good riding times and achieves his best result of the season.

Ravanel in sixth - close decision for third place

Frenchwoman Cecile Ravanel is once again the fastest in the women's race. But no longer by the skin of her teeth. Her compatriot Isabeau Courdurier also put her local knowledge to good use and rode the best time on three stages. However, Ravanel rides faster than Courdurier, who is 30 seconds behind at the end - not a big gap with around 55 minutes of added riding time.

A fierce battle developed for third place. Anita Gehrig rides the third-fastest time on each stage on the first day of the race and is in the same intermediate position afterwards. On the second day of the race, however, things don't quite go to plan and Ines Thoma, who is in fourth place up to that point, slowly closes in. The second last downhill stage does not go well at all - Anita Gehrig falls behind Thoma. On the last short downhill, however, the Swiss racer turns up the heat again and, despite a few mistakes, takes almost five seconds off the German. But that's not all: Ines Thoma also crashes just before the finish line, but manages to save just over three seconds and thus third place. Joy on the one hand and disappointment on the other: "Even though I'm happy for Ines, I would have preferred it if she had beaten me by a clear margin," says Gehrig, adding: "But maybe I needed this defeat to do better in the last race in Finale Ligure!"

Carolin Gehrig is not satisfied with her result. On the longest stage of all, she lost a lot of time, which is difficult to make up on the shorter stages. But she does not give up and shows with two fifth-best times that she could be further ahead than seventh place. After the race, she also stated that she would be even more focused at the finale of the Enduro World Series.The race went well for cross-country specialist Nathalie Schneitter. After a cautious first downhill stage, she regularly posted top 10 times and finished in a good ninth place, ahead of some established enduro riders.

Camille Balanche's first race in the Enduro World Series was both good and bad at the same time. She finished the first day of the race in an extremely strong seventh place. On the transfer stage up to the sixth stage, she has to retire. Severe knee pain makes it impossible for her to continue the race - the strong intermediate result is therefore lost. Balanche is now hoping for a quick recovery so that she can make another attempt at the final race in Finale Ligure.

No changes at the top

Everything remains the same in the overall standings after the race in Valberg. Richie Rude remains well ahead of Damien Oton and Jérôme Clementz even after his seventh place. René Wildhaber is currently in 31st place, Ludo May is working his way back up to 37th place and Gusti Wildhaber is in 74th place with two countable results.

In the women's race, Cecile Ravanel wins the overall standings early. Isabeau Courdurier and Anita Gehrig are in second and third place. Close behind is Ines Thoma and also not far behind is Carolin Gehrig in fifth place. Nathalie Schneitter is in 27th place with just two races out of seven.

The final in Finale

On October 1st and 2nd, the final stop of the Enduro World Series will take place around the Italian coastal town of Finale Ligure. Two tough days of racing await the enduro riders there, but after that it's time for the athletes to enjoy la dolce vita.

Results EWS #7, Valberg/France

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