UCI ENDURO WORLD CUP OF FINALE OUTDOOR REGION

The countdown has begun for the UCI Enduro World Cup, the first enduro race of the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series season, and today the race course has finally been unveiled. After last year's race in Pietra Ligure, the event village, paddock, and course return to Finale Ligure and, as in the past, Pro athletes and amateurs return to race on the same day, divided by discipline.

Saturday, May 11th, will be dedicated to the enduro discipline, while Sunday will be the turn of the E-EDR races for pedal-assisted bikes that find their ideal playground in the Finale Outdoor Region.

Nine special stages for the E-EDR race and five for the EDR race await the athletes who will compete on May 11th and 12th on the trails of the Finale Outdoor Region.

The course includes some classic Finale trails and some novelties. The enduro race (EDR) on Saturday starts with two downhill Special Stages, Base Nato and Ingegnere. At the same time, the third stage will be Supergroppo, a trail that celebrates ten years since its first and last use in a race, the longest of this year's race (a whopping 7 km) with a solid pedalling and physical component where athletes can play the race. As the fourth SS, Rocche Gianche , one of the most technical trail in the Region, returns with some revisions and novelties in the central part. To close in style amidst the cheers of the crowd, one of the most iconic trails of the Region also is back this year, the DH Men, also revised in its lines for greater sustainability.

Instead, there will be two race loops for the E-EDR race: the first, in addition to Base Nato, will include Cà Bianca, Ingegnere, and Supergroppo, with long singletrack transfers and interesting uphill sections. After this first loop, amateurs will return to the plaza for the finish, while Pro athletes will have five more special stages to face. The second loop opens with Legnino, a technical Power Stage, to reach the top of the San Bernardino plateau where the next stage takes place. Borderline is also revisited for e-mtb with the insertion of a long uphill section. After the climb to Orco, it will be the turn, even for the e-EDR racers, to face Rocche Gianche, with an unpublished and dedicated uphill section for this race, which will represent, in the future, a new way to reach one of the most beautiful panoramic points in the entire area, before moving on to towards the Manie plateau, where they will tackle the first section of Andrassa. A grand finale for the E-EDR race on DH Men, but not before facing a final technical uphill trail: Radici.

Francesco Gozio, Race Director, explains: "With this year's course, we have tried to give maximum prominence to the territory and the trail network of the Finale Outdoor Region, including classic trails, some that have not been used in a race for some time, and many new interpretations. The many pedalled sections bring us back to a classic enduro setting that, in recent years, had been somewhat lost in favour of more downhill-oriented SS. For the electric race, we have sought a route that can truly highlight the potential of our territory with a pedal-assisted bike: nine special stages with pedal sections, two technical Power Stages but not as extreme as those presented in the 2020/21 editions of the EWS-E and which also differs from the more trial-oriented Power Stage concept seen last year in Ranzi, variations designed specifically for e-mtb use. For both the E-EDR and the EDR race, the concept is to have physical Special stages, with sections to pedal and truly complete. We could define it as a sort of return to the roots of enduro and, certainly, an approach that better suits the conformation of our territory, the direction in which we think the sport can develop and grow, and the type of use that can be made with an enduro bike, traditional or pedal-assisted. For the latter, given how the SS and Power Stages have been designed, the riders who will prevail will be the complete ones, those who will manage to combine the physical component, the technical one, and the ability to use and dose the bike's motor and battery in the best possible way."

To attend the race and cheer on the athletes, the recommended points are on DH Men, Rocche Gianche, and Legnino. The advice is to move as much as possible on foot or by bike to avoid traffic problems and given the scarcity of parking.

For more information on how to reach the spectator points, on the race, and the fringe events of the UCI Enduro World Cup of the Finale Outdoor Region weekend, check the website https://www.finaleoutdoor.com/en/uci-mountain-bike-world-series-uci-enduro-world-cup-finale-outdoor-region