From cross country to downhill and even 4X, there were established pro riders from every corner of the sport doing battle in one racing format that many are labelling a ‘true’ mountain bike race and above all, every one of them seemed to be enjoying the racing and general positive atmosphere at Puntala Resort.

We’ll have a big report coming this week but for now enjoy the official highlights edit from Rockinthemiddle.

Map of the trails for the opening Enduro World Series event in Punta Ala, Italy.

Manufacturers, multiple world champions, downhillers, cross country racers – they’ll all be there. The event is part of the Italian Superenduro race series (as each event in the EWS is also part of an existing series), which has helped no end with lifting the stage race discipline into the limelight since the series’ inception only a handful of years ago.

Anne Caloline Chausson with Superenduro organiser Enrico Guala.

This is not going to be an easy event by any means, as 19 time MTB World Champion and Olympic BMX Champion Anne Caroline Chausson puts it, “This race will be particularly demanding, the transfers are long with little time available, this will favour those who are in better shape.”

Read our interview with event host Thomas Daddi here.

The five timed stages will be long and varied and the transfers between them will not leave a huge amount of breathing space for mechanical issues or slacking on the long uphills as we found out when we interviewed the event host Thomas Daddi recently. You can read his thoughts and how he has worked on making this the right level here.

Last year’s Superenduro event from Punta Ala.

The event program consists of one ‘prologue’ stage on Saturday, which is basically a showcase downtown event through the nearby town of Castiglione della Pescaia, and then five stages on Sunday with a total distance of 65km, 1780m of climbing and taking an estimated six hours for the entire day’s racing. Full details and stats can be found on the Superenduro page.

Details of the event timetable.. More can be found on the Superenduro website.

For us, the most interesting aspect of this and the rest of the Enduro World Series is that many of the sport’s top riders from all manner of disciplines are signed up and clearly taking it very seriously (as are their sponsors). Steve Peat is one example and he is signed up to almost the entire series and with his contract at Santa Cruz recently renewed for multiple years we suspect that enduro glory is in his sights. We’ve even heard that he’s stopped boozing!

Have a look at the Teams page on the World Series site to see who’s racing.

Anne Caro testing the water. But how many of the big names racing here have done one of these events before? There could be some surprises coming this weekend.

However, the interesting point is that many of the top pro riders who are taking this very seriously don’t seem to have a great deal of experience of the events or the racing format. The first Superenduro several weeks ago would have been a great testing ground for these riders but the top end of the start list was not hugely different to a regular Superenduro. Olympian and 4X Champ Jared Graves for example has been racing both DH and XC at home in Australia and talking of a full enduro season, but will he be in for a surprise at Punta Ala?

Jerome Clementz talks with organiser Enrico Guala about the coming season for the discipline, the sport and the riders taking part.

Is your money on the ‘regular’ enduro faces of Jerome Clementz, Andrea Bruno and Remy Absalon or will the race be dominated by the undeniable talents of the downhill World Cup stars? We’ve got a funny feeling that Peaty might pull one out the bag…

We’ll be at the event this weekend the 18/19 May with blow-by-blow coverage so stay tuned for more.

www.enduroworldseries.com

Click here to see the previous episode.

“12 MONTHS 12 STORIES a monthly video produce for Loizo Rider Productions by Jérémie Reuiller.

Friends & Brotherhood is the third episode filmed in april in Alsace (East of France) the native region of Jérôme Clementz. This episode is a mix between landscapes and ride with his brother Pierre Clementz and friends: Richard Delaunay, Emile Pressager, Eliott Lapotre, Guillaume Heinrich & Martin Reuiller.

It’s all about the pleasure to shred home trail and share passion with your friends.”

As far as opportunities go, an invitation to go to Italy for the first round of the Italian Superenduro Pro series was quite appealing. Three days of travelling later (sleeping in the van – foot-well, seat, or anything that availed itself), it may have seemed less glamorous, but by the time we rolled into Sestri Levante in a sleep-deprived state of happiness, I would have done another ten days in the driver’s footwell just to have stayed there. James (McKnight, Mr Bike Magic) was there to race with his team, while Ben and I were there to ride practice and report on race day.

So do I.

Having got there at six in the evening, the first thing we did after finding a good place to have a pizza was to sleep. Back in the van (but now with more space as we’d dropped bikes and kit off, and now with an amazing view over the Mediterranean ten feet away) we had the next day to practice the tracks before race day. After a decent night’s sleep (bar the unfortunately placed gearstick), it was time to hit the tracks.

There were a lot of Brits ranking highly – Mark Scott came a well deserved eleventh.

Right outside Sestri Levante were the mountains where the trails were placed, so the race started from the town centre and climbed straight up to the top to get to stage one. The first half of that stage (only a short one going half way down the hill) was a bit greasy, but listen to the Italians who are used to dust, you would have thought it was the end of the world. To the UK riders, they felt right at home, bar the temperature and the rocks. Out from the first stage and back up, we carried on riding the superb trails that were stages two and three (similar to the first but without the grease!), until we hit the last stage.

Clementz on stage 4 – impressive stuff especially having ridden the track in practice and knowing how tough it is.

As someone who spends quite a lot of time on downhill bikes (I moonlight for Dirt Magazine, don’t tell the boss), I felt right at home… for about one minute. The ground falls away on that track, and all you’re left with is steep, rough rock that carries on and on… and on. It was a full fifteen-minute stage, more like a national downhill track than something you’d want to ride on an all-mountain bike. Battered and bruised, and barely able to hold the bars after the pummelling from the rocks all the way down, we made our way back to the van and hit the sea, much to the amusement of the coat-clad Italians.

James (Bond this time, not McKnight) was the trip mascot, faithfully accompanying us everywhere. Here he is taking in the fresh sea breeze on the morning of the race.

Come race day, James was up and out for eight to meet with the Italian Life Cycle team, who were helping him with spannering and a pit area, as we started to head up to the hills. The riders had been set off two-by-two from the coastal pit area, with a time limit to climb the roads to the start of each timed stage. It’s a hell of a climb – I felt a bit of pull in my legs just from practicing and the sleep-deprivation so I was almost glad not to be racing with James. Some of the continental riders had been there for weeks practicing, and knew the trails inside out, so it was also a big challenge to try to put in a good time. This is something that I believe will be a big point of contention when the Enduro World Series kicks off in May, as there will surely be a real advantage for those who can easily travel to the venue to train on the tracks. We’ll have to see how that pans-out.

Back to Sestri Levante and Jerome Clementz was the talk of the town, and he proved why straight away. His riding through every section was almost clinically precise – wasting no speed, pumping through sections rather than pedalling, he put in a time that was almost impossible to beat, 33 seconds up on the second place rider, Davide Sottocornola. Alex Lupato would have been right on Clementz’ tail though until he snapped one side of his bars off from the stem, riding the rest of stage two one-handed… A pretty amazing feat, the ever-humble Clementz told us that without the technical hitch for Lupato, he would have been very close to the win all the way.

Michael Prokop was the other most notable entry – his 4X career got him sponsored by Red Bull and gave him a name for being one of the best riders in the world, but Sestri wasn’t quite his day, finishing in 45th. James hit the trail at serious pace, placing thirty-fifth in a field of five hundred (a result I would have been pleased with, but that he seemed mildly disappointed with: 45km of riding two days in a row took its toll and cramp set in a few times for him). Top placed Brit abroad was James’ friend Paul Aston, who put in an inspiring performance finishing fifth.

Brit Paul Aston managed an incredible fifth in the first round. Long may the results last.

As far as races go, this one blew my mind. The atmosphere was amazing – there were mountain bikers all over the town and the trails were incredible. The views alone at every section were worth the climbs, and getting out of the British cold wasn’t bad either. In fact, it made such an impression that I’m making plans to head back out in a few months and race a round myself – something that I think every rider should do.

Full results and further information can be found over on the Superenduro website.

“12 MONTHS 12 STORIES a monthly video produce for Loizo Rider Productions by Jérémie Reuiller.
SouthBound is the second episode filmed in february around Cape Town in South Africa.”

jeromeclementz.com
Filmed and edited: reuiller.com
Slideshow of their trips: reuiller.com/slideshow

“12 MONTHS, 12 STORIES a monthly video produce for Loizo Rider Productions by Jérémie Reuiller.
GOOD TIME ON AN ISLAND is the second episode filmed in february.”

This is one series to keep an eye on as Jerome is renowned for his love of riding in remote and unfamiliar places like Iceland, Argentina and…the Costa del Sol. OK, so the first episode isn’t from anywhere a million miles from home, but at least you can rest assured that Jerome probably saw more rare breeds down in the south of Spain than he’s likely to come across anywhere else in the world…

Well it means that our man can put his huge experience in the world of bikes – which includes decades of riding, racing (as a pro), working in the industry and, not least, working in the MTB media – truly into use as he gives bikes and products a good seeing-to and reports back on his true views and opinions.

Carsick John lives in many places, rides in many events (still) and has experience of just about every bike product ever made. He knows his stuff.

For starters, John has beamed over this write-up of his findings when trying out the 2013 Cannondale Jekyll 3 – a bike that has carried Jerome Clementz to innumerable victories and podiums but a model in the range which leaves a little to be desired…

Take it away, ‘John’:

Cannondale Jekyll 3 – 2013

Words: Carsick John

Cannondale Jekyll 3 which Carsick John took to the Canary Islands for his long winter break.

The Frame

The Jekyll is Cannondale’s ‘over mountain’ range of bikes with the Jekyll 3 being their mid-range alloy offering.

It features Cannondale’s on-the-fly travel adjustment of either 90mm or 150mm, which essentially boils down to a lever on the bars which adjusts the travel from 90mm for climbing and 150mm for trail and downhill.

The frame itself is aluminium and branded as ‘smart-formed’, I’m guessing that alludes to it being cleverly hydro-formed. The frame features all the latest buzzwords currently doing the marketing cabaret circuit: BB30, ISCG, 1.5 heatube, 142×12, Syntace, etc, etc.

The geometry is what you would expect; 67 degree head tube, 73 degree seat tube, a relatively short 16.9” chainstay and pretty stable wheelbase of 1131mm.

Weight wise at around 13.5kgs the Jekyll 3 is also in the right ballpark to make a great starter enduro race/weekend-in-the-mountains bike.

Incidentally, in John’s words, “The WTB Volt Saddle is one of, if not THE most uncomfortable saddles ever.”

The Kit

At £3199 the Jekyll 3 is not exactly cheap, but on paper for a Cannondale alloy ‘smart-formed’ frame with some nice bits of kit hanging off it, the price starts to look more reasonable.

The components; Fox 32 Float 150 CTD forks (not Kashima), SRAM X7/Shimano XT pick ‘n’ mix gearing with an XT clutch rear derailleur, Magura MT2 brakes, Shimano MT68 tubeless ready wheelset all finished off with the usual higher margin own brand seatpost, stem, grips and bar combo. However, even though own brand parts tend to suck Cannondale have managed to do a very decent job on their parts with the bars even being a reasonable 740mm wide.

The Ride

Shamefully my last ride on a Cannondale was in 1990 at the UK National MTB series. So 12 years later [Editor's note: John, did you take maths at school?], I’m more than ready to get re-acquainted with a Cannondale and especially as it’s on Gran Canaria, the only place in January where you can find lobster red Brits, fish ‘n’ chips and sunshine.

Putting the tagline to the test…OVER – MOUNTAIN:

OVER…Going up with the travel locked down to 90mm and the CTD forks set to ‘climb’ the Jekyll was like an overweight XC bike, but it was much more nimble than it looked and much better at climbing than some 150mm bikes in this category. The travel was firm but still soaked up the smaller bumps and never became too harsh. The front wheel stayed planted and on the steeper sections the gearing/suspension made it easy to spin without shifting to the granny(ish) smaller front ring. So my first move would be to shed some weight and go with a 1×10 set up.

After the up comes the fun, and into some flowy rock strewn singletrack. Flip the switch on the bars, extend the travel to 150mm and you can feel the bike physically change underneath you. Followed by an annoying quick stop to change the fork’s profile from ‘climb’ to ‘trail’ to mirror the rear and the change was easy to feel, much more supple over the trail debris and rock mayhem, yet very stable and planted, which immediately instils the confidence to start hammering.

MOUNTAIN…or down as I’m interpreting the tagline. Yet another stop to change the forks from ‘trail’ to ‘downhill’ and I’m starting to get a bit bored with the concept now.

Then a quick lowering of the saddle, (a dropper seat post would be an essential on a bike with an OVER MOUNTAIN nomenclature like this – thankfully it does appear on higher-spec models) and it’s on.

From the onset of gravity-induced speed came the Jekyll’s first real test: a rock drop into a tight right-handed bermed corner.

A whole lot of linkage and shock, but it does work well. The bike is simply let down by the choice of fork though. Higher priced models in the range, however, do come with Fox 34 or 36 forks as standard and a dropper post.

After the large landing the Fox 32 Floats showed their true colours by soaking up most of the front travel in an instant and then wallowing in their own moment of inadequacy before entering the corner where any line choice was surrendered by the total lack of tracking from the under-gunned forks.

The rest of downhill trail was more of the same with the rear travel begging to go faster, its 150mm plushness soaking up everything, whilst the forks whimpered to slow down.

Over the course of the next few days it was more of the same. Riding up and over, anywhere the forks didn’t need to be put to the test, the ride was great, but point the Jekyll down and say hello to man vs. bike.

It’s pretty hard to get a realistic picture of the Jekyll 3 as the mismatched forks let this bike down so badly. The Jekyll’s frame and suspension platform clearly have a lot to offer but without the right forks the Jekyll 3 can never achieve its potential, although I have to add that I’ve ridden a lot of very competent bikes in this category that have a much simpler suspension platform that works just as well, albeit not with the adjustability of the Jekyll.

It’s hard to understand why you would part with £3199 for the Jekyll 3 in this configuration. It’s too much bike to be used just as a trail bike and it’s a pretty bad move to buy a bike that needs a fork upgrade immediately as the forks alone can easily be the second most expensive part of your bike.

If you really want a Jekyll 3, I guess at time of purchase if you could persuade the bike shop to upgrade the forks to either a Fox 34 or Fox 36 fork (the more expensive models in the range are, indeed, sold stock with them) then bingo you’d have a much better bike.

Verdict

In short, as this bike fits into the All Mountain category I can’t understand why it was specified with a Fox 32, as these forks really have no place on a frame like this.

Pros

Stable and confident ride; climbing and trails
Quality constructed frame
Reasonable weight and some reasonable components

Cons

Component mismatched shocker – fork
The WTB Volt Saddle, a seriously painful saddle

Cannondale Jeykll 3

Price: £3199
For more information and spec, click here: Cannondale Jekyll 3

He’s a nice guy who we chatted to in 2012, you can read the interview here.

For now, here’s  a great edit from one of Jérôme’s sponsors, Mavic, in which he chats enduro and explores the Italian island of Sicily.

Ever ridden in Sicily?