The Enduro World Series Wraps Up with a Bang - Finale Ligure Day 2 of 2 Action - Mountain Biking Pictures

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Martin Maes was simply on another level all week. From the first practice session on Thursday it was apparent to many that he would be the man to beat this weekend. Handling the pressure and taking his first win, it's hard to believe he is still only 19 years old! -Lee Trumpore

Martin Maes has finally done it. His first event win after so many close calls. He must also be right up there with most stage wins, too. When his head is right, his heart and body follows and he can do great things. -Sven Martin

These two have been together since day one. The Belgium Boys Mark and Martin. They take turns looking after each other depending on the occasion. Great job team. -Sven Martin

Cecile Ravanel has been in a league of her own this year, winning 7 of 8 rounds and handily taking the overall EWS title (she also beat Steve Peat this weekend by 5 seconds). -Lee Trumpore

This is all the rest of the Junior field saw of Adrien all weekend. Winning all seven stages, with a time that would have put him in 5th in the GC. -Sven Martin

Richie Rude rode fast but smart this week, braking for rock gardens and taking safe lines through the more technical sections of the track. When it came to destroying corners, however, it was business as usual. -Lee Trumpore

Nico Vouilloz on his last descent as regular EWS competitor, bringing to close a 25-year career as one of the greatest competitors the sport has ever seen. -Lee Trumpore

Thirty EWS events now held in the last four years and these seven riders have finished every single round. Anita, Cecile, Florian, Nico, Remy, Barnes, Ines, (Chris Ball) and Mark Scott. -Sven Martin

Jared Graves, silent somber times this morning. A tough year for Graves but not without some highlights. He was shedding a few tears for Richie come podium time. -Sven Martin

Damien Oton 2nd in the overall and 4th this weekend. Some consistent riding all year in all conditions for Oton. Well done. -Sven Martin

Sebastien Claquin knew he had to win this weekend if he wanted the Under 21 title. He pushed a bit too hard with flats and mechanicals in several stages but held on to 2nd place overall for the year. -Lee Trumpore

Casey Brown 6th place. An amazing result for this great all-around rider. -Sven Martin

This is what keeps Cecile rolling. Insurance policy for your tubeless. #hucknorris -Sven Martin

Mark Scott charged hard on the second day of racing, making up incremental time each stage to finish with his best-ever result in 5th. -Lee Trumpore

Caro Gehrig had a stormer of a day jumping up a bunch of positions into 4th today and 5th in the overall. The Swiss Twins really stepped it up this year. -Sven Martin

Anita Gehrig on the final stretch of track for the year. Varigotti-bound it is with spectators lining both sides for most of the final stage seven. 3rd today and 3rd in the overall. -Sven Martin

Martha Gill did enough today to secure her second place overall for the series in the Junior Women's category! Great year for the young British rider. -Sven Martin

Nico Lau banking wide and winning the final iconic "DH Men" stage into Varigotti! 3rd today and 5th in the overall - that's not a bad way to end the season. -Sven Martin

Theo Galy had a great ride for 6th today. He loves the dry conditions and now just needs to find the consistency for the middle part of the year. -Sven Martin

Pack-up time and homeward bound for the CRC crew. Hill continues to learn and you can bet he will be up there next year. 10th this weekend and not too far off the top guys. -Sven Martin

Cecile cutting the champion's cake provided by SRAM, who hosted an impromptu party! -Sven Martin

Flowy, fast turns with some big pedal sections up top of stage four this morning after a two and a half hour pedal. -Sven Martin

Julie Kuvert 2nd today and 3rd in the series in the Junior Women's category. Stage four. -Sven Martin

Sam Hill said he maybe took it a little too easy. Hard to judge the pace on his first visit here when most of the riders have been coming here for years now. -Sven Martin

Remi Gauvin had bit of nightmare day today and dropped a bunch of places from yesterday's great ride. He still looked magic at times though. Flat out, foot in. -Sven Martin

Jerome ends up 3rd overall for the series. A huge accomplishment with the level and depth of the field right now. A flat tire today saw him loose reach of the podium this weekend. -Sven Martin

Thomas Lapeyrie 14th this weekend and fourth here on stage four. You can see he knows the technique to taming stage seven. Light and loose, floating not fighting. -Sven Martin

Nico Lau same corner different angle. Stage seven victory in sight just a few hundred meters of rock to go. -Sven Martin

Graves tearing up. -Sven Martin

Adrien Dailly tearing up stage four. A clean sweep of stage wins for him today. -Sven Martin

Rene Wildhaber might be one of the oldest men in the field but he's still one of the fastest. Wildman. -Lee Trumpore

Francois Bailly-Maitre had a rough weekend with flats and mechanicals, but managed a 2nd on Stage 4 and 8th overall for the year. -Lee Trumpore

Maes Dog with reason to celebrate. His first event win after so many stage wins and coming close so many times and still as a 19-year-old. Younger than the top two Juniors if you can believe it. Bravo! -Sven Martin

Matti Lehikoinen took another Top 20 this weekend with an 18th. -Lee Trumpore

Cheers guys, we don't know what we'd do without you. -Lee Trumpore

Find Wildhaber. -Damian Breach

Isabeau Courdurier seems to be getting more aggressive with each round. After yet another 2nd place finish, you can bet she'll be gunning for the top spot next season. -Lee Trumpore

Miranda Miller has only entered a handful of EWS rounds but she's learning quick. 5th place for the Canadian downhiller. -Lee Trumpore

Loic Bruni rounded out the three-blind-mice trio along with Minnaar and Peaty, who opted for later nights and easier days rather than practicing the stages. -Lee Trumpore

Raphaela Ricter of Germany took the Under 21 Women's race and the overall EWS series title. -Lee Trumpore

Marco Osborne capped of a difficult season with a 9th here in Finale, for his best EWS finish to date. -Lee Trumpore

Before you shoot the final corner, first you need to make it to the bottom of the track. Some have a harder time with this than others. #hatesfrontwheel -Lee Trumpore

The always stylish Iago Garay opted for full racer mode today while he works on a new bag of tricks for 2017. -Lee Trumpore

Crowd favorite, Yoann Barelli, took 16th on the day to match his 16th overall for the season -Lee Trumpore

Jesse Melamed has been sick all weekend, but he took the win on Stage 5 and finished in 7th to secure a Top 10 overall for the season. Plenty of sickness in this shot! -Lee Trumpore

Richie's family made the trip to watch him become the first EWS champion to defend his title. -Lee Trumpore

Florian Nicolai never quite came to terms with the tricky conditions in Finale, but rode to a steady 8th place finish and 6th overall in the series. -Lee Trumpore

It's been a blur of a season. -Damian Breach

Graves was overcome with emotion for Richie during Men's podium. They are a tight bunch of friends, each feeding off the other. -Sven Martin

Junior Men's series overall podium.-Sven Martin

Hats off to Richie. What a season! -Sven Martin

Junior Women celebrating in style. -Sven Martin

Women's overall podium mirror the race podium of today -Sven Martin

Boosh! There she blows and there are all your EWS Champions for 2016. Finale and Italy really know how to put on a show. -Sven Martin

Signing out from fabulous Finale. See you next year. -Sven Martin<br><br>Vital MTB would like to thank Sven, Lee, @maddogboris, Sebastien Schiek, Dan Hearn, Fraser Britton and all the contributors who helped make the 2016 EWS season coverage on Vital second-to-none. Your work in the trenches and in-depth story telling really capture the essence of racing mountain bikes. -gordo

An incredible season of racing winds up with an incredible day of racing in Finale Ligure, Italy, where the 2016 Enduro World Series concluded. Martin Maes and Cecile Ravanel take pro wins today. Adrien Dailly took the Junior race win and sealed the 2016 Junior overall today and Richie Rude cemented his place in history as the first rider to take back-to-back overall series wins. The Finale courses were not easy on competitors and many found that playing it safe was just as detrimental to success as pushing it.

Sven Martin and Lee Trumpore provide the insightful interviews and banging photos from a fantastic weekend in Finale.

Vital MTB would like to thank Sven, Lee, @maddogboris, Sebastien Schiek, Dan Hearn, Fraser Britton and all the contributors who helped make the 2016 EWS season coverage on Vital second-to-none. Your work in the trenches and in-depth story telling really capture the essence of racing mountain bikes.

Finale Ligure Enduro World Series Results

UCI Enduro World Cup (EDR)