On Saturday, after just three races, the 2020 Enduro World Series wrapped up. No individual overall racers were crowned, the stages lacked the usual crazy Italian spectators and many of the world’s fastest racers opted not to risk international travel. Like everything this year, it just wasn’t what we’ve come to expect from the EWS. But for the racers in attendance and the race fans following along at home, it was just a taste of what might have been.
Saturday’s race marked the 15th race in just two months for Kona Gravity Team riders Miranda Miller and Rhys Verner, both riders took part in the Crankworx Summer Series in BC shortly before departing for Europe. It’s crazy to think that all of Mirandas 2020 Race Season has been crammed into just two months. The last three races have thrown all kinds of weather at riders, from snow in Zermatt to rain in Pietra, this weekend was again no exception, with hail and even more rain hitting the Hills of Finale as riders rolled into town.
This season has been pretty damn crazy… Now that it’s over is there anything that you would have done differently if you could do it again?
This year has been so weird. 11 months of training is maybe actually too much! It’s crazy to think that Rhys and I have competed in 15 races in exactly 2 months- more than an entire season of racing condensed into an 8 week block.
Obviously the gold ole’ Enduro Wet Series lived up to its name. How were the Finale tracks, did moisture, and the weather play a role?
In Finale the weather didn’t shake things up as much as it did in Zermatt or Pietra. We had a crazy storm for the last stage during practice but honestly, the rain made that specific track better; it just created more work for afterward! Race day was almost perfect, warm but not as hot as it had been and a bit windy so the tracks had dried out nicely and were running even better. Stages one and two were some of the best stages we’ve raced in Finale. Stage three was nightmarishly janky both up and down, and we finished with an XC race for Stage four.
I was frustrated with myself for making a couple of mistakes on stage one and two, although nothing massive, I think I missed a good opportunity to make up some time on S2. S3 I honestly was just happy that I was moving forward and down the track at any point! S4 I hit the technical sections (maybe a total of 30 seconds) faster and better than in practice so I was proud of that, but I felt like I was crawling up the climbs and along the flats.
I trained consistently both on the bike and in the gym the entire time through Covid so I think I need to make sure I’ve given myself enough downtime before I start again. I do think that I’ve noticed massive improvements in my overall ability to do these race days (2000m of climbing and over 50km of riding) with better recoveries and more energy for the stages. There are some holes in my fitness still for sure but I’m happy with the work I’ve put in.
I look forward to testing the X more. Mullet, full 29”, coil/air, Zeb/Lyrik…I have so much to do! I going to try to document my progress to share.
What would be a highlight from this Euro trip?
Ripping dirt bikes in Dorno land and doing like 70km of the tiny B track. Going on a massive adventure ride in Finale with the Rocky team trying to ride Karma trail, one we raced a few years ago that drops from the highest point in Finale only to find out that nobody has ridden that trail since we raced it. So we decided to try and cut across on a hiking trail that was pretty full on and when everyone was getting a bit worn thin, we popped out to a refuggio in the middle of no where and got plates of meat and cheese. We then finished the ride with a super sick trail that almost made up for the hours and hours of hike a bike to nowhere that we had just done, haha. Solid six hours of mostly hiking and some biking. We also had a really fun team dinner the last night in Finale. Lots of laughs, a little bit of gin and a burger! I also loved seeing Rhys take the S3 win in Pietra. Squid can rip.
Coming off a queens stage win in Pietra Ligure last week, Rhys had high hopes for Finale. He’s won here before as a junior and had some amazing stage results as an elite rider. He kicked the day of right with a 18th on stage one, slipping a little to 23rd on the second stage. The level of riding is so damn high in the whole EWS field these days that any mistake made is costly, on stage three Rhys found that out the hard way. A small mistake that almost became an over the bars moved Rhys back to 68th on the stage. He fought back on stage four and finished in 24th, securing a 23rd overall finish for the weekend.
We had a chance to ask Rhys a few questions before he boarded a plane bound for Vancouver, and two weeks of quarantine.
This season has been pretty damn crazy… Now that it’s over is there anything that you would have done differently if you could do it again?
Honestly, for me, I think everything went pretty good and I don’t think I would really change anything up. Possibly in Pietra after stage 3 I could have pushed a bit harder instead of going a bit conservative, but at the moment I just really didn’t want to crash and blow my best result. In the end, though I was only a second off top 10 so that would have been nice to get.
Obviously the gold ole’ Enduro Wet Series lived up to its name. How were the Finale tracks, did moisture, and the weather play a role?
The tracks actually dried out a ton for the race and they weren’t really wet at all. The tracks they had chosen were vastly different from one another though. Stage one and two were super sick, and high speed with lots of descending. Stage three and four were much slower and a ton more pedaling. Pretty good mix but I think everyone preferred stages one and two over three and four.
What will the rest of the year look like for you?
After the two-week quarantine is up I’m hoping to get back into training for next year. I have always wanted the opportunity to have a full winter to train so now that I have it I will definitely take advantage of it. I enjoy lots of cross-training so I will probably do a lot of running and skiing also.
What would be a highlight from this Euro trip?
My on the bike highlight would have to be winning the queen stage in Pietra. I didn’t really expect it but it was a huge confidence boost, and something I’m super proud of. Off the bike highlight would just be the general team atmosphere. I think we all got along really well for the whole 5 weeks and it really was a lot of fun!
Finale also marks the end of Spanish Kona Ambassador Carlos Langelaan’s EWS campaign. After crashing in Pietra and hurting his scaphoid he hat resolved not to take any big risks in Finale and just gain more valuable EWS experience, but another knock to his wrist meant taking things even more conservatively. Carlos would finish the day in 8oth place.
“I hurt my scaphoid again this weekend, nothing too serious but it looks like it needs still a bit more of rest to be 100% ready for racing. It’s been two amazing weeks having the opportunity to race some EWS events. Thank you to Kona Bikes and especially Team Manager Mathieu Dupelle for making things easier, I really appreciate all the help.”
