The enduro of enduros concluded today. Why do I say enduro of enduros? Simple. Most enduros are a two day event, perhaps a feisty one may spread the suffering out to three days. Trans-Provence, however, whew, Trans-Provence laughs in the face of menacing, three day drawn out enduros. Trans-Provence is six entire days of enduro – four stages per day, group camping at night, and systematically traversing Provence, south-central France for 292km (175 miles) with a grand descent of 48,330 feet. So, how many times can I say enduro, potentially the most overused word in mountain bike marketing these days? Well, looking above, I count seven in one paragraph, good form.
Mark Weir and Ben Cruz finished 10th and 11th today after a little bit of a rough start at the beginning of the event. Weir’s bike didn’t show up for the opening prologue, then as if that weren’t bad enough, Mr. Tough Guy (Weir) broke his hand during Day 1. Makes 10th place even more impressive – can’t say these enduro dudes aren’t tough. Jerome Clementz finished 2nd, a mere four seconds behind Nicolas Lau at the start of today’s racing – think about that, 5 days of racing four stages per day, 40,000 feet already descended, and only four seconds separating first from second come the last day.
Tucked, sooo tucked. Weir ran Vigilante 2.3 26" Team Issue TCS tires, Frequency i23 26" Team TCS rims, a Volt SLT, and Moto-X Clamp-on grips.
Enjoy the following video, Jerome Clementz is amazing, an incredible sportsman and ambassador of enduro. Mark Weir is… well… Mark Weir, watch out skinny-legged XC types!
MAVIC® TRANS-PROVENCE 2013 /// DAY 6 from Trans-Provence on Vimeo.
