Enduro World Series #6 Whistler - Canada

Tremendous Isabeau season and there are already 6 consecutive victories!

Here we have Isabeau impressions...

Isabeau Courdurier :

Whistler is the race that everyone is waiting for each season. It is the one I marked with a red cross on my calendar at the beginning of the season. It is one of the most exciting trip of the season.

It is the first time we raced whistler over two days. On Saturday we raced the stage that needs no introduction: Top of the world.



Imagine sprinting hard, now imagine doing it for 20 minutes while trying to survive the technical parts. That's what it looks like and that's why this stage is mythical. I am very happy I won this one as it was also the Queen stage of the weekend.

It rained overnight and on Sunday morning we felt tense. We decided that the better option that day was to race it stage after stage. The only goal was to make it through while keeping some simple, fluid lines. It worked for approximately 5 minutes before I went off track. I stuck my helmet in a tree and had to walk back to where I exited the trail. After this first stage, I thought it could not get worse and that I needed to focus on finishing the race in one piece because my main goal is the overall.
As we said: if the plan doesn't work change the plan but never the goal.



I realized on my way to stage 3 that my leg was very sore. I thought at that moment: "it is going to be a long day". I was right. I kept trying to ride smooth and pushed as hard as I could in the climbs. At the lunch break, I was not sure I was able to still win this one. But I also knew there would be less pedaling sections in the afternoon stages and that was going help me gain some time back.

Before dropping in the last stage, I had no idea about what the results were. I just knew I was still leading but I had no idea of the time gap. The plan was again to make it safely down the bottom. I did make it to the bottom, was it safe? Well, not that much. My front wheel slid on a wooden bridge and I first hit the wood before falling off it. It was a painful one and I was upset. I wanted to finish this day as fast as I could and jumped back on the bike.

With no doubt, it was my hardest day of the season so far and I am over the moon I still won this one.

We are now in Sedona to explore and ride. My body is healing and I am now looking forward to Northstar.