Day one is already done here in Finale Ligure, the final round of the Superenduro powered by SRAM and the Enduro World Series. Today we’ve had three stages and three winners: Martin Maes, Nico Lau and Jared Graves. The trails, Dolmen, Caprazoppa and San Michele, which was the Red Bull Time Rush, have challenged riders throughout the field.
On stage one, Martin Maes (GT Factory Racing) schooled everyone, taking the win ahead of Fabien Barel (Canyon) and Nico Lau (Cube Action Team). Lau showed even more pace on stage two, holding off Jerome Clementz (Cannondale) and a determined Maes. At the time check Nico Lau missed his start time and picked up a one minute penalty, ending his chances of a good result this weekend.
On stage three it was Jared Graves (Yeti – Fox Factory Team) who lead the way, with Clementz right behind and Lau in third. Maes slipped on the loose ground and lost about twenty seconds, putting him back in the general classification. At the end of today, the provisional standings are Graves leading, only one tenth of a second behind is Jerome Clementz, 10.6 further back is Barel, Maes fourth 16.9 seconds back and Remy Abaslon (Commencal) fifth 19.9 seconds from the lead.
In the womens race, Anne-Caroline Chausson (Ibis) is at the top of the timing sheets this evening, 5.7 seconds ahead of Tracy Moseley (Trek), with Cecile Ravanelle (GT-Skoda) in third, but well behind the two front runners. Ines Thoma (Canyon) is fourth and Isabeu Courdurier (Santa Cruz-Maxima Team) in fifth.
There is also an interesting battle between the World Cup XC riders, with Marco Aurelo Fontana (Cannondale) ahead of Nino Schurter (Scott) who suffered mechanical problems this morning. World Cup downhiller Brendan Fairclough (Scott) was forced to retire after stage two with knee problems after competing in the Red Bull Rampage last weekend.
Alex Lupato (Lapierre-FRM) is the fastest of the Italians, finishing the day in eighteenth position. Francesco Colombo and Bruno Zanchi (Santa Cruz-Team Airoh Axo) are second and third, in 28th and 34th positions in the general classification. The two title contenders, Davide Sottocornola and Manuel Ducci are in 35th and 36th positions respectively after both suffered problems today.
There were only three stages today because the race director cancelled stage four after a serious crash on stage one. The delay in proceedings meant that if the final stage had gone ahead, the last riders would be riding in the dark, so the stage was cancelled on safety grounds.
Tomorrow racing starts at 8am, with Sundays programme unchanged. The long transfer to stages five and six. Today stage two, which will also be stage six tomorrow proved to be the toughest for riders and it may be the decider tomorrow.
Check todays results and Sunday starting list