General: The Strive Diaries #4: Enduro Quattro Stagioni

The Strive Diaries: Enduro racing consists of many parameters: The trails, then of course the rider with his fitness and mental strength, the bike including set-up, the race format and last but not least the weather. The latter is sometimes so powerful that it can significantly influence all of the aforementioned factors - and it should. The small Italian mountain village of La Thuile in the Aosta Valley in the shadow of Mont Blanc had everything to offer in terms of weather: spring, summer, autumn and winter.

For La Thuile it was the first time hosting a mountain bike race. And then a run of the Enduro World Series - respect! Three stages a day, two days of racing divided into a mix of lift assist and pedaling. The trails should have the same variety: high alpine, exposed stone passages and flowing hiking trails, laid out by miners in the last few centuries.

Already in training for Stage 1 on Thursday morning, freezing temperatures at 10 meters above sea level were the order of the day at minus 2600 degrees and driving sleet from the front. This stage in particular, which at almost ten kilometers is one of the longest of the entire season, had to be completed twice over the weekend.
In this first stage – actually one that doesn't suit him at all in terms of profile – Joe burned the fourth fastest time into the rock. He repeated his performance on Stage 2 and once again underlined his claim to the podium with 5th place after the end of the first day. For Ines things went really well on the first day despite the adverse conditions and she managed to finish fourth with a good feeling on the bike.

Ines after day 1: “Today the weather was actually quite fair for us women. In the transfer when driving up you almost sweated. But brutally bad visibility. The cloud was really hanging in there at 2600 meters. After two minutes of racing blindly, all was right with the world again. I was fourth on the stage. It can definitely go on like this.”

The second day didn't start much more relaxed. The weather forecast was mixed and should be confirmed, especially at high altitude with heavy rain. The Italian autumn came and caused quite a rain chaos on stage 4. Luckily stages 5 and 6 were a bit lower and were spared. Without a long pedal liaison, there were three more stages with lift support on the second day. Joe underscored his ambitions to be at the top of the world and slammed a near-perfect run into the slope on Stage 4, earning his second stage win of the year by more than ten seconds over second. The men's podium was within 1 seconds after 20:4,5h of racing. That's three blinks of an eye...