The village of Combloux in the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps might have been making its first appearance on the UCI Enduro World Cup stage, but this corner of France’s status as the beating heart of the format makes this weekend’s racing something of a homecoming for the sport.
Its debut WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series course wasn’t welcoming riders with open arms though, providing a stern test across six stages featuring 2,530m descent, while the total course (including liaisons) would see competitors tackle a 39.2km with 1,685m elevation gain. Combined with a slick track from rain earlier this week and baking hot conditions, and the field had their work cut out for them just to make it to the finish line without succumbing to time penalties.