Crowds cheer Enduro riders

IF LAST year’s round of the Enduro World Series was a fairytale, then this year’s event was a dream come true for Greg Callaghan of the Cube Action Team.

The Emerald Enduro presented by Biking.ie was almost a complete rerun of last year’s incredible race, with sunshine, huge crowds and Greg Callaghan and Tracy Moseley (Trek Factory Racing) cycling away with the top honours.

The Enduro World Series (EWS) was created in October 2012 with the aim of uniting the world’s mountain bike enduro racing community.

And in a race that changed direction with each of the seven stages, Wicklow once more proved that a little hill can create big dramas.

It was business as usual at the start of the day with Richie Rude (Yeti/Fox Shox) leading out Martin Maes (GT Factory Racing) until everything changed on stage two. Both Rude and Maes suffered punctures but, in one of the most stunning comebacks the series has ever seen, Rude was able to pull it back from 34th place after stage two to finish the race in third place. And in another surprise, Sam Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles Paypal) finished the day in second. 

Speaking after the race, Callaghan said: “The crowd were just pushing me on and to be honest I felt like the result almost didn’t matter because just having that level of support and having so many people willing me on was kind of a win on its own.”

In the women’s race Tracy took a clean sweep of the stages apart from the final one of the day

Tracy said: “I was excited to come back and race here after last year because it’s such a fun race with such amazing crowds and the tracks are really fun to ride.”

Chris Ball, Managing Director of the Enduro World Series, added: “There’s just something special about this venue.

“The Emerald Enduro is a real gem in the Enduro World Series calendar. Two years in a row now we’ve had a magical weekend with amazing racing and astounding crowds. Thanks to everyone for all of the support and congratulations to all the riders for a great race.”