The first enduro World Cup (EDR) of 2024 kicked off in a classic venue: Finale Ligure, Italy. From sandy beaches to sweet trails, the venue frequently served as the last venue of the year. For this season, organizers decided not to wait and served the seaside venue up first.
Elly Hoskin proved to be the fastest Canadian on the day, earning a big podium in the under-21 women’s race. Several other top 10s signal the start of another great season of enduro for Canadian riders.
Under-21 women
Elly Hoskin had a strong season in 2023, finishing second overall behind fellow B.C. racer Emmy Lan. For 2024, Hoskin and her Devinci started off on the same spot on the podium. While she couldn’t quite beat a dominant Lily Planquart (Lapierre Zipp), Hoskin finished second on the day. That included second place on two of the four race stages.
Lan started strong, with a solid result on stage 1. By the end of the day the Canadian under-21 women would finish eight, nine and 10th behind Planquard and Hoskin. Lily Boucher (Rocky Mountain Gravity Racing) in eighth, Geza Rodgers in ninth and Emmy Lan (Forbidden Synthesis) in 10th.
Under-21 men
Wei Tien Ho (Commencal 7Mesh) was just 12 seconds away from earning a second Canadian podium in Finale Ligure. The dual sport athlete finished fourth at the first World Cup of the year after a big winter skiing on the Freeride World Tour. That included a win on the fourth and fifth and final U21 men’s stage.
Bailey Christie (Theory Racing) took the U21 men’s win. The u21 men were the only category that would race all five stages after a mid-day cancellation of one stage by organizers.
Elite women
Andréane Lanthier-Nadeau was the lone Canadian in the elite women’s field. ALN starts the season at the helm of the new Commencal 7Mesh trio, along with Wei Tien Ho and Elliot Jamieson. Lanthier-Nadeau showed strong consistency, never finishing outside of the top 10 on her way to ninth overall.
In the fight for the win, Harriet Harnden (Trek Factory Racing) and Isabeau Courdurier (Lapierre Zipp) traded stage wins all day. Courdurier, the defending champion who announced Friday she would be stepping back from full time racing in 2025, opened and closed with stage wins. It would be Harnden’s massive, 20-second winning margin on stage 3, down Supergroppo, that would be decisive, though. The brutal, 15-minute stage delivers Harnden to the first World Cup win of 2024.
Elite men
In the elite men’s race, defending EDR champion…
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