Giambi Wins His First Enduro World Cup Race; Conolly Extends His Lead
Raphaël Giambi celebrated his first World Cup victory at the fourth round of the UCI Enduro World Cup in La Thuile. After four challenging stages, the Frenchman prevailed with a five-second lead over his Speed Project teammate Adrien Dailly. Alex Rudeau rounded out the podium and extended his lead in the overall standings to 85 points.
The race on the border between Italy and France covered a total of 28.4 kilometers and nearly 3,000 units of elevation loss. It concluded with a 600-meter-long night stage, illuminated by 23 floodlights and winding through the rock garden—a favorite spot among spectators.
Dailly set the fastest time on the first stage. Giambi was initially about four seconds behind but took the lead by riding strong on the steep and technically demanding Belface course. Dailly lost 19 seconds there due to a flat tire and fell back in the overall standings.
On the long and difficult Cambogia stage, Dailly bounced back with a clear fastest time. He was eight seconds faster than his closest rival. Giambi limited the gap to ten seconds with the third-fastest time, thereby maintaining his lead. With his victory on the final night stage, he sealed the first World Cup win of his career. Dailly also finished second there, securing a one-two finish for Speed Project.
In the women’s race, Ella Conolly dominated from the start. The British rider won the 4.42-kilometer opening stage by 13 seconds, laying the groundwork for her second victory of the season. World champion Elly Hoskins struck back on the Belface course, winning the short but intense stage one second ahead of Conolly.
Mélanie Pugin posted the fastest time on the Cambogia stage but was only able to make up four seconds on the leader. Hoskins, on the other hand, lost 26 seconds and had to let Raphaela Richter pass her again in the battle for third place overall.
Hoskins won the night stage once again. Given her lead, Conolly took a slightly more cautious approach but successfully defended her lead. She won the overall classification with a seven-second lead over Pugin. Richter secured third place with a lead of just one-tenth of a second over Hoskins. Conolly thus extended her lead in the overall standings to 70 points.
The overall leaders also prevailed in the junior categories. Nežka Libnik won the junior women’s race with a 1-minute, 48-second lead over Bélinda Baudet. Hugo Marti Montessinos won the junior men’s race with a 15-second lead over Jules Janniaud. For the Speed Project, this was already their fourth consecutive victory in the team standings.
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