After a six week break, the Enduro World Series is back and this time it’s heading to Ireland for the Emerald Enduro.
Photos: Seb Schiek
Ireland first hosted an Enduro World Series last year and it was successful enough to be brought back for a second year. There were initial fears that the modest slopes of Carrick Mountain would be overshadowed the big mountain rounds that pepper the rest of the calendar, but the compact nature of the venue led to an event like no other with the famed Irish hospitality on full display all weekend.
The atmosphere is currently building in Wicklow with the teams piling into the village of Glenealy. The trails are all on strict lockdown until the race event to prevent any cheeky practicing, so, until it kicks off on Friday, here’s our preview:
2015 recap
The men’s race was won by local lad Greg Callaghan who was treated to a rockstar’s reception by the crowd wherever he rode. Local knowledge clearly paid dividends as he grabbed three out of seven stage wins.
Second place went to Justin Leov, who will be unfortunately missing from this round as he is out with glandualar fever, and Richie Rude came third.
The women’s race was won by Tracy Moseley who put nearly 30 seconds into Anne Caroline Chausson (who we know now was unfortunately very ill at the time). Third place went to Cecile Ravanel who currently leads the women’s field. The good news is that Tracy Moseley is down as a registered rider for this round and, if her scintillating form in the British Enduro Series is anything to go by, you can fully expect her to be right on pace to defend her crown.
