EWS MADE IN SPAIN, OLE!

This weekend, the Enduro World Series landed in Spain for the penultimate round of the year. The race took place on the 800 year old trail network of Zona Zero in the beautiful Ainsa-Sobrarbe region of Northern Spain.

Rémy ABSALON and Elliot TRABAC discovered these trails during eight stages of racing over two days, taking them through abandoned villages and ancient forests against the backdrop of the stunning Pyrenees Mountains. 

Between the 16km of stages, all transitions were pedal based and challenging with spectacular singletrack climbs.

The show began with an urban prologue on Friday night in the narrow cobbled streets of the village, which is housed within the walls of the 12th Century Ainsa Castle itself. The 2 minute prologue was mandatory to ride but time did not count for the overall General Classification. A good and fun way to introduce the weekend and to meet all of the riders and their bikes.

Saturday Race - 1700m climb / descent, 43km distance to ride

Rémy had a pretty good vibe on Saturday consistently staying in top 10 all day long. Unluckily, he had a flat tire on stage 4. Despite this delay he finished Saturday in 10th.

Elliot had a very good start catching the 20th position in the first stage. In the U21 category the battle was hard but he finally went on to finishing in 3rd place just one second behind Sébastien CLAQUIN.

Sunday Race - 1,500m climb / descent, 43km distance to ride 

After the long day on Saturday, Rémy needed a little time to find the good rhythm. Stage 5 and 6 were DH oriented and very short. Fabien Barel and Josh Carlson, just behind him, were very strong on this kind of terrain and overtook him. Stage 7 was really better for Rémy because it was longer and versatile. 

Stage eight, the last of the day, was cancelled after torrential rain led to flash flooding turning the track into a river. It was a pity because this stage was perfect for the 29er SCOTT Genius LT. Riders completed the stage but without timing. They had fun starting all together in the wet and wild conditions. The results were taken from the first seven stages with Rémy keeping his 12th position.

In the Under 21 men’s category, Elliot had to fight to stay on the podium. It was finally Amaury PIERRON (Team Lac Blanc SCOTT) who won followed by Sébastien CLAQUIN and Elliot TRABAC with a very small gap between second and third place - less than a second.