Aussie flag on top of the podium in Finale Outdoor Region

Two Australians would feature on the top of the podium for the opening round of the UCI Whoop Enduro World Cup season.

Ryan Gilchrist (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) and Bailey Christie (Theory Racing) would claim their maiden World Cup win at the famous venue.

Gilchrist in the E-Enduro while Christie win came in the Enduro Men U21.

E-Enduro Men Elite

The nine stages consisted of 84km of trail with 3600m of descending, on some of Europe’s most scenic and challenging trails overlooking the Ligurian sea.

Sunday’s racing began on Base Nato, a fast and physically demanding trail. Dropping almost 400m over just 2.6km, there’s no easing into the racing on a course like this.

That tightness at the top set the tone of the racing over the first loop, with the first four stages producing three different winners. Only Ryan Gilchrist (Yet / Fox Factory Race Team) managed to double up, with his wins on Stages 3 and 4.

The Australian’s 11 second margin of victory across the 7km Supergroppo trail put him in a particularly strong position with five stages still to race.

Gilchrist returned to winning ways on the fast forest descents of Rocche Gianche before going into the DH Men with an almost 30 second buffer and the New South Welshman could afford to take it easy, and he cruised to victory on the legendary course.

Ryan Gilchrist won the opening round of the Enduro World Cup

Gilchrist was pleased to get off to such a strong start.

“The whole day I felt like I was just riding my bike and having fun. It’s what I’m all about, it’s what the sport’s all about.

“Being able to take stage win after stage win, and win the day, is a testament to the work that I’ve put in and my sponsors have put in.”

Enduro Men U21

Meanwhile in the Men U21 it would be a performance to remember from Bailey Christie (Theory Racing) as he put down a solid set of results across the five stages.

That included a stage win on the Insegnere trail and finishes inside the top four on each one.

The West Australian would finish more than 10 seconds ahead of second place.

Sacha Kim (Giant Factory Off-Road Team EDR) and Bow Habermann also would finish inside the top 10 in the opening round.

Full results.

Photo Credit: UCI Whoop Mountain Bike Series/Innes Graham