WES Monaco Race 2 confirms Wiedenroth and Gilloux leadership

Monaco (P.ty) Sunday, 25 April – The second race of the first round of the UCI E-MTB XC World Cup Presented by SMEG ended today by assigning further 25 points each to the Women’s and Men’s Standings Leader.

With the athletes lined up on the grid according to their Qualification race 2 placement, racing for the second day in a row was always going to be tough and indeed, the WES Riders’ challenge for this year. The field of riders on a slightly different track managed to move to the finish with some exciting action along the way.

Both first and second places were hotly contested competitions for both men and women. The leaders in both cases pushing incredibly hard holding off the second place riders who were only a few seconds behind for much of the race.

Today was a day of mechanicals from overheating motors and possibly incorrectly configured speed sensors, to the odd broken chain, it was not easy to make the bike last the whole race on a tough course.

Tyres choice was fundamental to the outcome of the race with as fast-rolling as possible the obvious objective. However, managing the rocks and difficult sections required riders to er on the side of caution and go for a more robust setup. The downside being that they had to pedal harder to keep the bike moving.

There is no doubt that today showcased real racing and an impressive level of fitness and skill amongst the whole field.

The fastest riders at the start passing the first turn in first position were Dutchman Jaroen van Eck (CST Post NL Bafang) and German Sofia Wiedenroth (Specialized) getting today’s WES Holeshot in their respective categories.

Magneti Marelli Checkstar Power Lap trophy was awarded to Jérôme Gilloux (E-Team Moustache) and Sofia Wiedenroth, setting the fastest lap in 7:09.76 and 8:15.70 respectively.

With this impressive pace, the two riders clinched the first step of the podium. On the Women’s side, reigning World Champion Mélanie Pugin (BH E-Racing Team) got second ahead of Kathrin Stirnemann (Thömus RN Swiss Bike Team) by 3:20″.

Men’s podium was a perfect copy of yesterday’s results, with Swissman Joris Ryf (Bergstrom Werksmannshaft) in second place and Frenchman Hugo Pigeon (Scott SR Suntour Enduro Team) third.

WES looks forward to the rest of the season as the circuit moves on to Bologna-Appennino next 5-6 June.

Race 2 Results Women:
1st Sofia Wiedenroth (Specialized) GER
2nd Mélanie Pugin (BH E-Racing Team) FRA
3rd Kathrin Stirnemann (Thömus RN Swiss Bike Team) SWI

Race 2 Results Men:
1st Jérôme Gilloux (E-Team Moustache) FRA
2nd Joris Ryf (Bergstrom Werkmannshaft) SWI
3rd Hugo Pigeon (Scott SR Suntour Enduro Team) FRA

Download WES Monaco Round Full Results HERE

Check out Sunday’s photo gallery HERE