It’s the second and last day of the first big race of the year. The second stage of the Enduro World Series in Chile promised to test all of those who managed to finish the race on the first day. Broken bones, innumerable blown out tires and endless punctures were what marked the first day, and surely could also be seen in the second half of the race.
The day promised to be long and hard, but Cube team manager”Claus” was fired up from the beginning of the day. To his side is Gustav Wilhaber, who later would achieve incredible results.
Cecile Ravanel reviewing some sections of the track on her computer.
Only 59 km separate Santiago from the La Parva ski center. In the background is the capital of Chile.
From the cableway you could see the enormity and complexity of the most complicated and technical section of the first stage.
Victor Santa Maria dropping in to devil’s backbone, a section with a very well put his name.
Morning light sneaks through the rocks at the beginning of the first stage.
The dust in the first stage was something magical for the photographs but super stormy for the racers, since it complicated their vision.
Peruvian Alejandro Paz almost walked away from the race after puncturing one of his tires at the beginning of the day, but optimism led him to continue, earning him 18th place in this stage.
Duncan Nason won two stages and had the fastest time in the U21 category.
The Andean Condor circles above, looking at competitors from another perspective.
7 places difference between the first day and second for Dennis Tondin, who moved from 46th to 39th place.
Katy Winton kept her second place position just like on the first day of the race.
Anneke Beerten, new team and new bike – 11th position.
Yoann Barelli climbed from 198th to 16th, it should be noted that Yoann was penalized with 10 minutes on the first day for arriving late to his start time. Harsh!
Florencia accelerated to sixth place in the women category, being the fastest Chilean.
Martin Maes started the day with a first place in the fourth stage.
Sam Hill in full tuck mode heading to second place in the 4th stage.
Isabeau managed to win a stage over Cecile Ravanel.
From completely rocky martian terrain to nearly endless plains, the Cordillera de los Andes is a place with incredible landscapes.
The fight in the U21 category did not end until the VERY end. Elliot Heap with the first place finish in the last stage.
The fastest Chilean was Pedro Burns and he stayed in the 13th place just like he did on the first day of the race.
5 of 6 stages won by Cecile Ravanel, who in the last turns on the way to the finish, overtook Isabeau Courdurier.
Some preferred to watch the finals from a bird’s eye view.
A sea of people accompanied Robin Wallner to third place.
Martin Maes flying from the last jump to a second place finish.
The amount of people was incredible and made the side of the track a meeting place similar to a stadium.
Did you notice that Sam Hill is in one of the turns?
Upon crossing the finish line, Sam Hill looked calm as could be, it seemed that the 7.8 km track hardly affected him at all.
Flat pedals continue to win in 2018…who knew?
Sam Hill will keep his number 1 plate for the EWS round in Colombia next week.
Richie started at full speed, but his times on the second day could not claw back enough time and he finally finished in 53rd.
Adrien Dailly kept Sam Hill in his sights, but on stage 4 a crash knocked him off of the podium and even worse, left him with no option to finish the race.
The directors of the event – right to left, Matias del Solar and Ignacio Barbosa receiving recognition for making the race. I’d like to highlight the work of the organization because of the enormous stages and above all, the great commitment to maintaining a creative and open mentality to racing. Bravo!! – Claudio
It seems that Cecile Ravanel will continue to occupy the number 1 platefor a long time.
Women’s Podium:
1- Cecile Ravanel
2- Isabeau Courdurier
3- Katy Winton
Men’s Podium:
1- Sam Hill
2- Martin Maes
3- Robin Wallner
Some champagne in this kind of heat is more than welcome, and well deserved.
This is the time when the last rays of light meet the darkness of the night, it has been an incredibly hard competition, I think the hardest in my history as a photographer. – Claudio
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