©Aurélien KNECHT Jerome Clementz, pinning it through trees and mud to victory.
“Axle deep” and “insane” were the words Ben Cruz used to describe the mud he and fellow teammate and WTB-sponsored athlete Jerome Clementz faced this past weekend at the Enduro des Hautes Vosges, which took place in La Bresse, France. Three straight weeks of rain leading up to the event made for trying conditions to say the least. Despite untracked trails through the woods, biting cold temps, and the onslaught of rain, Jerome and Ben took first and fourth, not bad for eight stages in two days of slop.
©Benoit Grébaux Jerome Clementz, (Team Cannondale OverMountain, WTB Volt Team Saddle, WTB Moto-X Lock-On grips) Nicolas Lau (Team Cube Action), Francois Bailly-Maitre (Team BMC), Ben Cruz (Team Cannondale OverMountain, WTB Vigilante 2.3 Team Issue, Frequency i23 Team Rims, Volt Team Saddle, Moto-X Clamp-On grips), Florian Golay (Team BMC)
Ben and Jerome will be headed next to Tui, a town in the Pontevedra province of Spain, located in Spain’s far northwest corner just above Portugal – yes, sounds terrible, doesn’t it. Tui will host the second race of the Spanish enduro series Big Ride, powered by Cannondale. Jerome is the defending champ from last year’s series; we’ll be rooting for Ben and Jerome – stay posted for updates!