Canada’s Rhys Verner stormed to an Enduro World Cup win in Leogang, Austria on Thursday. The win is Verner’s first Enduro World Cup win. It comes just weeks after finishing second to fellow Canadian Jesse Melamed in Italy, at the time a career-best result.
Verner finished first or second on the first four of six stages. A slightly slower finish on the second last stage, where the Forbidden Synthesis racer was fifth, put him just two seconds ahead of U.S. enduro powerhouse, Richie Rude (Yeti Fox) going into the final stage.
With all eyes on him as he dropped in, Verner rose to the occasion. He won the final race stage and, with that, claimed his first Enduro World Cup victory.
The win came just hours after Emmy Lan, Verner’s Forbidden Synthesis, won the under-21 women’s World Cup in Leogang.
Richie Rude would hold on for second while Alex Rudeau (Commencal Enduro Project) would finish third.
Elite Women
Andréane Lanthier Nadeau (Rocky Mountain Race Face) led the Canadian elite women, placing 10th in Leogang. She was followed by the Gravity Academy’s Chloe McKenzie in 22nd.
The race was won by Isabeau Courdurier (Lapierre Zipp), pushing her into second overall in the series standings. Gloria Scarsi (Canyon Cllctv Dianese) followed in second. Morgane Charre (Pivot Factory Racing) was third.
Canadians thrive in Austria
Verner wasn’t the only Canadian flying in Austria. Jack Menzied earned an impressive sixth place for the Polygon Factory Racing squad.
Jesse Melamed was riding within striking distance of a podium until the fifth stage. A mechanical cost Canyon Cllctv’s reigning EWS (now EDR) champion more than 20 seconds on the stage and pushed him out of the running for Thursday’s win. Melamed still finished 10th, including a stage win on the day’s third race stage.
Remi Gauvin (Rocky Mountain Race Face) placed 14th, Elliot Jamieson (Norco) 15th and McKay Vezina (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) 16th, for an incredible five Canucks in the top 20 on a day of incredibly tight racing.
Evan Wall (Divinci Global Racing) was 23rd, just 6.3 seconds outside the top 20. Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing) was close behind in 32nd. Nick McLeod was 57th and Carter Krasny (Theory Global) 62nd.
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