"It went really well today. I never expected such a result, as there were so many fast people at the start," said the Frenchman Patrick Lüthi, delighted with his victory. "And that one week before Zermatt - so the form is there!"

The Enduro World Series kicks off in Zermatt on the last weekend in August. Unsurprisingly, many top riders use the enduro race in the Jura as a final yardstick. However, no one would have expected the 2012 Eliminator World Cup winner from La Bresse to take the honors with Jack Moir (AUS) and Eddie Masters (NZL), two of the world's best riders - and certainly not Lüthi himself. His joy is all the greater that, despite a crash, he still has a lead of just under two seconds and thus victory.Maxime Chapuis was also satisfied with eighth place: "It was a great race on great trails. But above all, it's good to be able to ride races again. At the moment I'm still feeling the fatigue from the E-Tour du Mont Blanc, but my form is good and that should be perfect for the EWS opener in Zermatt.With Tim Bratschi in seventh place, another Swiss rider rode to a strong result.

"Winning is always cool"

Carolin Gehrig would probably have imagined her preparation for the late and short racing season differently: A broken metacarpal from a fall less than two months ago is throwing her training into disarray - the gentler way is the order of the day. Not a bad way, as it turns out at the "Enduro de la pipe" in Saint Claude.

"I'm over the moon that I was able to get back into it after my hand injury. The race in Saint Claude was a great test for the big race in Zermatt, with super great and physical courses but also with lots of fast riders plus a great atmosphere among the riders."

After around 29 minutes of added race time, she is six seconds faster than her twin sister Anita - after a duel over the five downhill stages. Carolin Gehrig's last victory was some time ago, and she adds with a grin: "Coming second behind Anita is also nice, but winning is always great!"

After the Gehrig twins, the German Sofia Wiedenroth rode to third place, with the Swiss Sidonie Jolidon and Lea Rutz in fourth and fifth place respectively.

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