Though she's probably hungry for more, Andréane Lanthier Nadeau managed a decent sixth-place result at the campaign's first Enduro World Cup (EDR) in Pietra Ligure, Italy (49:53.289). Her fellow Sea to Sky rider, Elly Hoskin, finished ninth in her maiden World Cup appearance at the elite level (50:19.044).
Harriet Harnden overcame a less-than-ideal start to grab gold (48:02.801), relegating her fellow Brit Ella Conolly to silver medal position (48:27.177). Bronze went to Morgane Charre of France (48:54.359).
"Smashed it with all I had...on the physical stages!" Nadeau wrote on social media after the first of two gruelling competition days. "Stoked to be proud of my riding and effort, these stages used to crush me."
Hoskin, meanwhile, took to Instagram to express herself after a milestone outing in her career.
"This weekend I exceeded my expectations in performance and process. I am so proud of this race not just because of results, but because of how little I let myself think about them," she said. "It’s tacky, but my goal was to do my best and I honestly did. Usually I’ve let myself point at things I could’ve done better - and there is always room for improvement, no doubt - but I think being sure that every effort and decision was the best I could’ve made in the moment makes me really proud of my race.
"A special one because I got to share this facet of my life with my mum for the first time and on Mother’s Day too! And a special shout-out to [Coach Adam Walker] always believing in me, setting me straight and providing a shoulder (even over the phone) to cry on. Feeling very grateful for the people around me. Bringing this momentum to Poland and then home into the rest of life."
Harnden told reporters: "I wasn’t expecting that result, I was just coming for some fun and downhill’s the focus next week. This was just a fun start to the season. I just enjoyed riding my bike, I wasn’t overthinking stuff. It’s nice to know I still have the feeling of how to race enduro and I’ve not lost it over the winter."
The last possible moment
Margins of victory in the enduro discipline don't normally come down to 0.37 seconds, but that's exactly what happened in the elite men's race.
Australia's Daniel Booker had led only once across the first six stages, but poured it on to establish a miniscule lead at virtually the last possible moment (43:00.767). In so doing he vanquished runner-up Slawomir Lukasik of Poland (43:01.141) and put Frenchman Alex Rudeau into third (43:05.486).
It likely wasn't the game plan Booker and his coaches had drawn up, but he'll take the victory nonetheless.
"It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I reckon later on it will, but feels pretty amazing," he said in a press release. "It was a tough race, two-day races you really had to try and conserve your energy where you could, such long physical stages as well. Maybe Saturday I felt a bit stronger, but then [on Sunday] I felt like I was holding onto it. To come from behind and win feels amazing. I’ll go for a swim, get some gelato then pack up and get to Poland. Really looking forward to it."
The EDR circuit touches down in Bielsko-Biala, Poland on May 17 and the downhill World Cup season kicks off a day later. Full results from Pietra Ligure are viewable here.
