Last year, US rider Richie Rude tested positive for two banned substances at the third race of the Enduro World Series in France. The case dragged on into the current season and Rude refrained from competing until the case was closed. The two-time overall EWS winner was able to credibly demonstrate that he had ingested the substances unintentionally. As he voluntarily refrained from riding for the past eight months, he will not have to sit out any further punishment.

The French anti-doping agency extended Rude's penalty until June 26, just before the fourth race of the World Series in Canazei in the Valle di Fassa. Rude's return caused amazement in many respects, as he won four of the five downhill stages, finishing almost 20 seconds ahead of last year's overall winner Sam Hill (AUS) and the current overall leader Florian Nicolai (FRA).

From a Swiss perspective, the performances of Gusti Wildhaber and Maxime Chapuis are very pleasing. Wildhaber posted three top-10 times and finished in tenth place, his second-best result to date.

Maxime Chapuis rides to his personal best in the Enduro World Series. The Frenchman laid the foundation for his twelfth place on the first descent, where he set the ninth-best time. After that, he didn't quite manage to match his performance, but only lost a little.Patrick Lüthi is the third Swiss to finish in 43rd place.

Gehrig catches up

Once again, Isabeau Courdurier is unbeatable in the women's race. The Frenchwoman won four of the five stages, taking a good 30 seconds off second-placed Andreane Lanthier Nadeau. The Canadian also snatched the stage win on stage four. Third place went to Noga Korem from Israel. After a good 40 minutes of racing, she was able to fend off Melanie Pugin, who was catching up strongly, by eight seconds.

Anita Gehrig is also making up a lot of ground. The currently fastest Swiss enduro racer is starting the race cautiously. Six weeks ago, she broke her little finger on a barrier fence during the race in Madeira and is not yet in full possession of her gripping power in Canazei. However, she is able to improve again on the last two runs and crack the top 10.

Swiss downhill champion Carina Cappellari is also on course for a top 10 finish. In her third foray into the Enduro World Series, she showed some strong descents and was in tenth place at one point. In the end, she loses some time but achieves a respectable result in twelfth place.

Carolin Gehrig is plagued by bad luck on the first two stages, which means she loses a lot of time. In the end, she was also able to improve a little. However, with 16th place, she was beaten below her value.www.enduroworldseries.com