FINAL RESULTS: Martin Maes and Isabeau Courdurier Win EWS Zermatt, Sam Hill Crowned Series Champion 11

With young guns Richie Rude and Martin Maes both out for parts of the season due to suspensions for doping rule infractions, the hunt for the 2019 overall championship turned into a tale of two halves. Florian Nicolai was on a charge earlier in the season, while Sam Hill started slower only to build towards the end - leaving the two protagonists separated by only 60 points heading into the final round here in Zermatt, Switzerland. With 15000 feet of descending in extremely demanding terrain on the menu of this one-day race, it's hard to imagine a more fitting conclusion to a year of pushing the limits on single-crown bikes. Sam Hill won the EWS series overall for the last two years, but this year would be a bit different as instead of nursing a fairly comfortable lead going into the final round, he would have to come from behind if he was to snatch victory from Florian and prevent the French from achieving hegemony over the 2019 gravity world. 

As the competitors reached the 5th and final stage of the day, Martin Maes had rebounded from an earlier mishap to regain the race lead held earlier by Sam Hill. Florian Nicolai sat in 7th, which would not be enough to see him hold onto the overall - but the gaps were not big and the stages here in Zermatt were all long and particularly challenging, so anything could still happen. Florian did indeed put up a good fight, clawing himself back up to 5th overall with a solid final stage, but Sam Hill is a wily competitor and he made sure he came away with the stage win on this the all-important queen stage, snagging 40 bonus points and sealing his third overall title in as many seasons. What an incredible feat, and one that we are not likely to see again so soon. Congrats Sam! And congrats to Martin Maes, closing out the season with a great win here in Switzerland, which should enable him to put his 2019 mishaps in the rear view mirror for good and focus on 2020. What a season that is shaping up to be...

In the women's race, Isabeau Courdurier had already wrapped up the overall so she was here racing for fun aboard a prototype bike (in honor of the late Chad Peterson). That didn't stop her from winning 4 out of 5 stages and thereby ensuring another perfect season of all race wins. Massive congratulations on such a dominant performance.

Men's Race Results, 2019 Enduro World Series Zermatt, Switzerland (full results)

Women's Race Results, 2019 Enduro World Series Zermatt, Switzerland (full results)

Men's Overall Final Standings, 2019 Enduro World Series

Women's Overall Final Standings, 2019 Enduro World Series