Hello,

We’re here in the French Alps for the Haute-Savoie enduro (EDR) and downhill (DH) World Cup rounds.

Enduro kicks things off with round four of the series in Combloux, an all-new venue an hour from the better-known MTB destination of Les Gets.

Read on for some pre-notes from Combloux, including images from practice day by our yearbook photographers Boris, Seb and Sven.

We’ll be in touch after the race with our full notes, ponderings and photo newsletter.

If you are in the area, make sure to drop into our pop-up store and exhibition, open daily next week 1-7 July at 449 Rue du Centre, Les Gets. There’s a bit more info lower down this email.

Hope to see you here!

Cheers,

James
+the Misspent Summers team

PRODUCT: ENDURO YEARBOOK ’23

WARM UP TO THE POP-UP: Combloux, France, EDR Enduro World Cup R4

• Where to watch: the EDR and E-EDR recaps will be published on the MTB World Series YouTube following the races. It’s worth following and checking the MTB WS Instagram Stories too as, mountain internet permitting, they post plenty of on-the-fly videos during the race
• Alternative angle: for another point of view, Charlie Murray has been uploading a lot of interesting stuff to his IG and YouTube during the races this year. Hats off to him for taking things into his own hands and providing another level of insight that might otherwise be lacking. Charlie traipsed the pits this week interviewing other riders and the media mafia, including a session with Richie Rude. Watch it here
• Bible read: weed through the info and jargon and find the fine details of the race in the official Combloux Race Book here
• What goes when: full Combloux schedule and start lists here
• Live: follow the EDR racing on the live timing here
• Standings: going into round four of the series in Combloux, Richie Rude leads elite men’s standings with 1,355 points followed by Charlie Murray in second with 1,159 points and Slawomir Lukasik 1,111 points. Isabeau Courdurier leads the elite women with 1,405 points followed by Harriet Harnden (1,332) and Ella Conolly (1,024). Wei Tien Ho leads Under-21 men and Simona Kuchyňková leads U21 women. Read the full standings after R3 here
• Fantasy: join the Race Companion fantasy enduro league here
• Bit of backstory: when the World Cup organiser announced Combloux as the Haute-Savoie EDR venue back in March, we were surprised – we’d never heard of any mountain biking there. But we phoned around and Graham from Chamonix Bike Blog assured us there’d be a lot of decent terrain and trails. Read the news from 30 March here and carry on reading below to find out about the race stages
• Vibe: stoked
• Course: the Combloux crew has built a brilliant set of stages that all the riders seem to be loving. Almost entirely in the forest, the tracks take in existing paths and add in freshly cut earthy goodness with an abundance of tree roots and a splattering of muddy water to spice things up. It’s basically a dreamy day out on testing but fun trails. Course preview video here
• Skillset: corners, roots, braking
• Schedule: EDR race day is today, Friday 28 June, with XC Marathon World Cup on Saturday and the E-EDR on Sunday. The World Cup races are running as part of the MB Race in nearby Megève, an annual festival since 2010 that is basically a celebration of mountain biking that doesn’t mind calling itself ‘the toughest MTB race in the world’ (the longest MB Ultra event has 140km with 7,000m of climbing and plenty of technical terrain – shorter versions available). It’s a bit of a shame the EDR is on a weekday, but there’s clearly a lot to pack in for the organisers
• Cringe: we recently joined Chris Hall on the Downtime Podcast to ponder the future of enduro and downhill racing, including opinions, facts and rumours. Listen at your peril here
• Stats: there are six stages for today’s EDR race, ranging in length from stage three’s 1.7km and 319m of descending to stage six’s 4.24km and 522m. The total day including transfers is just under 40km with about 1,700m climbing and 2,500m descending (racers use the ski lift network in addition to pedalling between stages)
• Word: loamer
• Crystal ball: this is round four of six. In 2023 with two rounds to go (after five races as there were seven EDR World Cups last year), Richie Rude and Isabeau Courdurier were leading the standings, and both went on to win the overall titles at the end of the series
• Survey: 10/10 presenters choose Canyon
• Weather check: if you’ve had an eye on anyone who’s in Morzine’s social media this week, you might’ve seen flash flooding, mudsliding MTB trails and submerged bikes. Although it has rained in nearby Combloux too, thankfully the storms were fairly localised and, while ground conditions are damp-to-boggy, sunshine in the last day or two has dried things out a touch and the dirt should be prime for racing. There’s a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon
• Buffering: this week we’ve been flat out setting up our pop-up store in Les Gets ready for the DH World Cup week next week. If you’re in the area and have managed to read this far through the newsletter, come and see us at 449 Rue du Centre Les Gets any day next week and use the codeword ‘FREEBIE WEEBIE’ to get a free and tasty beer from the kind folk at Outer Range brewery or something from the Misspent Summers archives. Our 2024 pop-up is supported by Santa Cruz Bicycles and Fox Racing, with early morning coffee by Satellite Coffee courtesy of the event sponsors. Hope to see you there!
• Cheers: big thank you to everyone contributing to and reading these things – hopefully you enjoy them! We’ve got loads of stuff coming up so stay tuned

LEOGANG R3 RECAP
It’s been a few weeks since the last EDR, so here’s a quick reminder what happened in Leogang, Austria, at the third round there:

There were lots of leg danglers, off-track excursions and upside-down moments. By the end of racing the sun had come out but riders really fought the elements and the course all day, including a proper downpour before stage three leaving everyone soaked and the track even greasier.
It was a big course with a total of over 70km covered during the day and 5,000m of descending (2,500 of it in race stages, the rest in transfers between them); riders were out for nearly seven hours.
Tough, unpredictable conditions can mean opportunities for opening up big gaps in the times. Isabeau Courdurier did just that, leading the race from start to finish and ending the day with the win, 37 seconds clear of Hattie Harnden in second and Morgane Charre in third.
Meanwhile in the elite men’s, Richie Rude held strong all day and crossed the line victorious, seven seconds clear of Alex Rudeau in second after nearly 25 minutes of racing. Slawomir Lukasik rounded off the podium in third.
Notable mention for Charlie Murray who took two stage wins and looked set to battle for the podium until disaster struck and he crashed hard on stage six, then went down again in one of the very last turns, then OTB again just after. (He still finished eighth.)
But enduro of the day went to U21 women’s winner Winni Goldsbury of New Zealand who suffered just about everything in her race – course blocked, chain off, etc – but still took the win despite the woes. Canada’s Wei Tien Ho took the U21 men’s win by a solid margin of 17 seconds. Full Leogang results here