To say Emmy Lan is on a roll would be to understate things drastically. The Comox Valley racer dominated the under-21 women’s Enduro World Series (now Enduro World Cup) in 2022, winning every individual race she entered. A brief injury stopped her from going for a perfect sweep, but she easily won the under-21 women’s overall title.
In 2023, Lan is off to a similar start. She’s won four of five rounds of the Enduro World Cup, despite changing teams late in 2022, as well as the under-21 women’s enduro national title at Crankworx. With a long break in the ERD calendar, Lan occupied her summer by racing downhill at the Dunbar Summer Series, Canada Cups, in the opening of Whistler’s Stevie Smith dedicated 1199 track and, oh yeah, at world championships in Fort William.
Lan’s now back in Europe getting ready for this weekend’s EDR in Loudenvielle, France. We caught up to Lan at Canada Cup downhill finals at Sun Peaks, where she was piloting a prototype Forbidden downhill rig. The Vancouver Island racer talks about dirt-bagging world championships out of a van with her team mechanic, gets really stoked on the level of riding she sees from younger girls at her local trailhead, shouts out her local trail organization, UROC, and explains why she spent her summer racing downhill bikes.
Read our interview with Emmy Lan below, then follow her racing at the Loudenvielle World Cup. The enduro is now scheduled for Friday, Sept. 1.
Canadian MTB: You’ve been focusing on enduro the last year, what brings you back to the Dunbar Summer Series?
Emmy Lan: I’d say a big part of bringing me back to downhill is the community. The downhill community is insane, its one of the best communities I think there is. It gets me quite stoked on racing. Sometimes the pressure of high-level enduro can be a lot, but doing these local DH races is so much fun, so it gets me stoked on racing, which I love.
With the enduro focus, there’s been a long break in the EDR calendar this year all the way from June to September. Does that make it different for you trying to manage a divided season?
Yeah, I’d say the biggest thing is getting tired. Like you get quite burnt out when the season’s that long. But it is really nice having breaks in between. Going back and forth is a lot, but it’s definitely nice getting to come home for a bit between races.
One thing…
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