Victory For Marco Melandri in Finale Ligure!

Home Win For Marco

There was both triumph and disappointment for Husqvarna E-Bicycles Racing at round two of the Enduro World Series with Marco Melandri winning the Masters 35+ class while Alex Fayolle was forced to cut his day short due to injury.

With the second stop of the EWS-E class of the Enduro World Series coming hot on the heels of last week’s opener in Switzerland, Husqvarna E-Bicycles Racing fast tracked it to Finale Ligure in Italy. Long regarded as a mecca for enduro racing, the iconic venue lived up to its beautiful-but-tough reputation.

A brutally demanding day of racing was on the cards for all in Finale Ligure, with organisers laying out a 70-kilometre-long course to include 12 stages - three of which were power stages climbs - and upwards of 3000 metres of elevation to master.

Knee Injury For Alex

Eager to build on his result from Crans Montana, Mountain Cross 7 mounted Alex Fayolle felt confident of doing just that following practice. But a tough power stage put him on the back foot and when pushing hard to recover, he crashed on stage five injuring his knee.

“I’m disappointed to not finish today. I was really hoping for a good result here,” told Alex. “Rain overnight and this morning made conditions slippery early on.

“I think that’s what caught me out on the stage and I crashed hard. My knee was pretty banged up and so it was better to stop early than risk injuring it further.”

Alex now looks to recover and regroup for the final round of the series two weeks time in Scotland.

Vai Vai Marco!

Competing in the Masters 35+ category, Husqvarna E-Bicycles’ ambassador Marco Melandri was excited to deliver a strong result in his home race. After placing third last week in Switzerland, Macro felt he had more to give on trails he was comfortable and familiar with.

Second quickest on the opening power stage, Marco then won the next three stages on his Hard Cross 8 to open up an early lead. With momentum building  he won another four stages - including the second power stage - to storm home to an excellent 22-second margin of victory.

“I’m so happy, man!” said Marco. “I couldn’t have asked for a better day. A win and at my home race, it doesn’t get better than this.

“It was an amazing day. We rode for nine hours and it was so physical and exhausting towards the end. I nearly lost my lead in the final power stage, but just saved it at the end. We’ll celebrate tonight, for sure!”

The EWS-E now takes a short two week break before concluding with the third and final round at Tweed Valley in Scotland on September 30.

Results: EWS-E, Rnd2

EWS-E Pro Men

Alex Fayolle- DNF

 

EWS-E100 Men Masters 35+

  1. Marco Melandri (Husqvarna E-Bicycles Racing) 

Photos by Sebastian Schieck