Jared Graves wins his third World Series race of the current enduro season in the Canadian mountain bike mecca of Whistler. With this renewed success and his consistent performances, there is hardly anything that can stop the Australian from winning the overall title. Graves only took victory on the final stage, which was the longest at around 22 minutes. A good 20 seconds faster than his direct rivals there, in the final count Graves is less than three seconds ahead of second-placed Nico Lau (FRA) - with a total riding time of around 50 minutes. Behind him, American Curtis Keene achieved his first podium finish in the Enduro World Series.

René Wildhaber was unable to get involved in the battle for the podium this time. According to his assessment, Wildhaber went into the race poorly rested due to all the training and did not get up to speed as usual. Only the last stage, on which he rides the fifth fastest time, brings him a bit ahead again. In the end, Wildhaber was five seconds off the top ten

However, Ludovic May was less fortunate. The Frenchman starts the race with the eighth-best time on the first stage. On the second stage, he was literally knocked off his feet. May loses a shoe in a fall and is unable to get it back on his foot in time, as the buckle has jammed in the fall. He then recovers and is able to make up ground. However, May doesn't manage more than 25th place instead of a possible top ten finish.

Ravanel's first victory
Former cross-country specialist Cecile Ravanel rides to her first victory in the world series in Whistler. She won the first stage, but then had to settle for second place behind her compatriot Anne Caroline Chausson. Clearly faster than the overall leader Tracy Moseley (GBR), Ravanel wins the final downhill stage. Chausson rides with a defect and has to settle for third place in the end, bitterly disappointed.

Lorraine Truong delivers a strong performance. The Romande rode stage after stage in the top five and was close to maintaining this position. On the final stage, Truong was so tired that she rode it at safety rather than at full race pace in order to avoid any nasty crashes. As a result, she loses her fifth place to New Zealander Rosara Joseph, but can still enjoy sixth place, her best result to date.

The twins Anita and Carolin Gehrig did not fare as well as they had hoped. Neither of them got up to speed, which was also reflected in their stage times. Thanks to the sixth-best time on the last downhill, Anita still manages to make it into the top ten. Carolin finishes the race in 16th place.

Exhaustion and tears
The enduro athletes' anticipation of the magnificent trails in the Whistler Bike Park is dampened a little when the stage schedule is published. The organizers expect the participants to tackle a whopping 2,400 meters of elevation gain on connecting stages under their own steam. By way of comparison, at the World Series race in La Thuile, the athletes had to climb around 1,000 meters of altitude spread over two days. The remaining climbs were completed using mountain railroads.

In Whistler, transfer times and temperatures of up to 38° degrees were added to the challenge. Some female riders are already failing due to the transfer times, but men are also affected. Many participants - both men and women - no longer talk about riding the race, but about getting through and not even having fun riding the otherwise popular routes. So the organizers, who have most likely never ridden the entire course in one day, only seem to be out to have the most extreme race of the series. Unfortunately, this is often done without consideration for the participants.In this way, this enduro race is more like a marathon competition, which is completed under difficult conditions, with heavier bikes, protectors and difficult, physically demanding descents. When several world-class athletes only talk about "fighting their way through", exposing themselves to even greater risks due to fatigue and riders burst into tears at the finish line from sheer exhaustion, the organizers should question their choice of route in future. A race between organizers is usually at the expense of the athletes. Enduro races that last eight hours are not necessary - at least not in a format like the World Series.

Now there is a break before the world's best enduro riders meet in Finale for the grand finale. The last round of the Enduro World Series will take place on October 4 and 5 on the Italian Mediterranean coast in the trail paradise of Finale Ligure.

www.enduroworldseries.com

Results 6th round Enduro World Series Whistler/CAN
Men
1.	Jared Graves (AUS)	Yeti / Fox Shox Factory Racing Team	51.11,44
2.	Nico Lau (FRA)	Cube Action Team	+00.02,50
3.	Curtis Keene (USA)	Specialized Factory Racing Team	+00.15,88
4.	Damien Oton (FRA)	Devinci/Alltricks.com Enduro Team	+00.27,93
5.	Florian Nicolai (FRA)	Team Rocky Mountain - Urge	+00.28,30
6.	Justin Leov (NZL)	Trek Factory Racing Team	+00.32,29
7.	Francois Bailly-Maitre (FRA)	BMC Enduro Racing Team	+00.37,21
8.	Yoann Barelli (FRA)	Giant Factory Racing Team	+00.43,07
9.	Joe Barnes (GBR)	Canyon Factory Racing Team	+00.45,51
10.	Martin Maes (BEL)	GT Factory Racing Team	+00.50,39
11.	René Wildhaber (SUI)	Trek Factory Racing Team	+00.55,67
25.	Ludovic May (SUI)	Canyon Factory Racing Team	+02.55,61
Women
1.	Cecile Ravanel (FRA)	GT Pulse	58.04,15
2.	Tracy Moseley (GBR)	Trek Factory Racing Team	+02.07,60
3.	Anne Caroline Chausson (FRA)	Ibis	+05.06,92
4.	Anneke Beerten (NED)	Specialized Factory Racing Team	+05.45,67
5.	Rosara Joseph (NZL)	Yeti / Fox Shox Factory Racing Team	+06.11,14
6.	Lorraine Truong (SUI)	Norco - Fox	+06.40,33
7.	Kelli Emmett (USA)	Giant Factory Racing Team	+07.14,26
8.	Meg Bichard (NZL)		+07.21,69
9.	Heather Irmiger (USA)	Trek Factory Racing Team	+08.18,40
10.	Anita Gehrig (SUI)	Twins MTB Racing - Specialized	+08.54,72
16.	Carolin Gehrig (SUI)	Twins MTB Racing - Specialized	+12.58,97