October 2022

EWS Loudenvielle Race Recap

The last EWS race of the season was a complete success for the team! Both Helen and Torben were able to achieve their personal season best.

On Friday we trained the courses in dust-dry conditions - no sign of rain for the moment. The stages were in strong contrast to the ones in Crans Montana. With steep scetchy turns, fresh loam and flowy segments we liked the varied tracks much better.

As it had rained heavily in the evening and the night after the training, it was to be expected that the conditions on the Prostage must have changed a lot. Since we had already practiced the Prostage on Friday, only the race run took place on Saturday. Not knowing what to expect right away, we stood at the start.

Helen's run was unfortunately quite mixed. After a crash that cost her some time, she safely finished the stage without really getting back into the flow. A frustrating start, but it definitely made for even more motivation on Sunday.

Torben started the stage a bit more defensively due to the conditions and found the flow well. Behind a blind drop in the middle part of the track, some roots and a rut leading to nowhere were ridden out. Sliding with both wheels, it got tighter and tighter, with the maneuver ultimately ending with an impact in the tree. A bit dazed it went directly back on the bike and from there without further mistakes safely to the finish. As a result of the crash, Torben's arm swelled up quite a bit and the severe pain initially put the start on the following day in question.

Super motivated Helen started the first stage of the day on Sunday. With a breathtaking run she directly made up three places in the overall and was thus again in the mix for a podium place. Even though she had one or two crashes on the following stages, she always brought good times to the finish and another top result was getting closer and closer.

After a long day on the saddle Helen finally secured 2nd place!

Torben still had some pain in his arm and therefore started with a smooth run into the first and probably trickiest stage of the day. After that he was on fire: Stage after stage he was able to step on the gas and was already in the top 30 in the ranking before the last stage of the day. With another crash-free run he finally secured 28th place and thus achieved his most important goal of the season!