Sea to Sky is the penultimate round of the Hard Enduro World Championship. Heading into this race would determine what both the premier and junior championship would look like heading to Hispanic and buy did it change up the game and make things interesting! This event consists of 3 race days consisting of the Beach race, forest race and mountain race. Many riders and fans shared that this is not only one of the most enjoyable events on the calendar but this year organization was a step up from previous years with 350 riders lining up along with family and friends.

The beach race started the weekend off with a bang. A knockout format saw the top 12 riders making it to the final round with a new leader in almost every lap. It was a day of not only technical ups enduro style riding but intensity and action too. The Forest race was a 40km GPS race over a track that had a lot of new track this year in combination with some existing tracks. Not too fast and dangerous, but not too technical either. A sweet spot between the two. This day certain came with some surprises like Mani and Mario both receiving 10 minute penalties as well as some unexpected crashes from the top guys.

The mountain race is where riders put it all on the line. Mario starting from P15, Mani playing catchup after a penalty and some of the juniors looking to take essential points for their championship fight. Another impressive performance from James finishing in P3, Mario showing what he’s made of finishing P2 overall against all odds and Mani once again taking the top spot. A very unfortunate turn for Teo with a DSQ after the final day. What was initially given as a similar 10 minute penalty to other riders of the weekend was changed to a disqualification after a rider protest. Of course rules are there to be enforced but when it takes such an unexpected turn initiated by a fellow rider, some might see that as a bit personal?

We chat on a variety of other topics throughout the episode and are excited to see what will happen at the final round in Spain in a couple weeks.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:10 HEWC Round 7: Sea to Sky

01:54 Event format: Beach race, forest race & mountain race

02:07 The beach race

09:29 Taking a break between races

10:35 The forest race

12:54 Absent riders

14:29 Forest Race penalties

17:27 Unexpected crashed

22:44 What makes a good test rider?

24:28 Testing and prototypes

28:36 Junior championship update

29:33 Mountain race day

35:00 Coming out swinging

40:17 James in the lead again

41:27 Teo's disqualification and a protest culture debate

54:08 Race results

57:28 Junior championship going into Hixpania

01:00:17 Looking ahead to Hixpania

Teo had barbed wire caught in his wheel. No assistance received from officials but some locals offering to cut it off. Should that have been a disqualification, a time penalty, or no penalty at all? It’s a genuine grey area and we’d love to know where you stand. Let us know in the comments ↓↓↓

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