Last year in Lenzerheide Aaron Gwin came within 96/100ths of a second of winning his first World Cup on Swiss soil, and was highly motivated to take the victory this weekend at Round 5 of the World Cup series. A last minute crash on Thursday saw Aaron in the doctor’s surgery requiring 4 stitches to his right knee yet despite this injury, he went on to win the qualifying race and set the tone for the weekend. Mr Gwin meant business. On finals day, as the last man down, Aaron turned the interval clocks green from the outset, up at sector 1 and 2, and then impressively up by 1.5secs at sector four before a puncture brought his run to an end
Immediately following Vallnord, Andorra World Cup, the team packed up and headed for Lenzerheide, Switzerland for World Cup #5.
This would be the second double event (DH and XC), so once again, added spectators and action for everyone!
As most World Cup riders would agree, it would not be fair to label Lenzerheide’s purpose built World Cup track as very ‘bike park’. It may have multiple berms and man-made features, but it’s a very technical and demanding track as well. Due to the high speeds, loose terrain, and top rock garden alone, it test both rider and bike at peak levels. You do not hear many comments about the track being simple or easy. The word wild and sketchy are more often shared amongst the top downhiller’s on the planet.
This year, each round of the Enduro World Series has been flipped on its head by extreme weather and round five in Millau, France was no exception. Ines, Joe and Justin battled through cold temperatures, wind, rain and mud, to make it to the finish of one of the most difficult rounds in series history and keep the team sitting in third overall