Race Report, SCOTT Enduro Cup in Sun Valley

The SCOTT Enduro Cup presented by Vittoria hosted its third race of the season in beautiful, Sun Valley, ID, in collaboration with the Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival. The two-day race drew more than 250 athletes for a weekend of five stages. Results are in as Stan Jorgensen, 26 of Santa Barbara, CA, and Joanna Petterson, 36 of Santa Cruz, CA, claimed the fastest times overall for the men and women’s pro/open category.

On race day one, riders duked it out at Sun Valley Resort on three timed stages. Racers got a lift on the Gondola and Christmas Chairlift to the summit of Bald Mountain. Stage one descent began on Bald Mountain Trail to Roundhouse Lane. On stage two, riders descended Broadway Trail and a portion of Warms Springs Trail. Stage three wrapped things up on Warm Springs Trail, finishing day one’s final stage at Warm Springs Base.

At the conclusion of day one, Mason Bond, 23 of Grass Valley, CA finished first in the men's pro/open category sitting at 29:29.162. Lia Westermann, 17 of Salt Lake City, UT who has been a solid competitor at the Enduro Cup this season landed in first place for women’s pro/open at 33:12.496.

Race day two was fast and rugged as riders charged down stage four and five on raw Sun Valley backcountry trail. Stage four descended Curly’s Trail where spectacular views of the Sawtooth Range and high speed flow set the stage for the first set of the day. Stage five tied things off on Upper Oregon Gulch, aka Edge of the World, a favorite trail of Sun Valley locals.

Huge disappointment for Bond who held onto his positioning, taking first in stage four, but suffered mechanical issues on stage 5, finishing the day in 13th place for the men’s pro/open.

SCOTT athlete Jorgensen who has been fighting for the podium this season, stayed solid moving from fifth place to first with an overall time of 47:59.991. Jubal Davis, 25 of Waverly, OH, who has been racing enduro for one year, used his Midwest motocross experience to move from sixth place into second with a final time of 48:00.004. Aaron Bradford, 31 of Auburn, WA, finished the weekend with an overall time of 48:08.150.

1. STAN JORGENSEN (47:59.991)

   
   

2. JUBALDAVIS(48:00.004)

   
   

3. AARON BRADFORD(48:08.150)

   
   

4. CHRISBOICE (48:13.708)

   
   

5. MACKY FRANKLIN (48:16.425)

   
   

“Going into today, the times between third and eighth place was only a few seconds, so [it] was really anyone’s race,” Jorgensen explained. “Aaron Bradford and Mason Bond had about 30 second gap on everyone else so it was definitely a fight for third but somehow I managed to pull it all together and take the overall, so it is really awesome, feels good.”

“All season I have been pretty close to the podium,” he continued. “I have had a few mechanicals and small, stupid crashes that have kept me off so this race, my main focus was to keep it smooth and finish without crashing so it feels good to have a smooth race and it goes to show, you keep it smooth and you end up on the box, it’s pretty awesome.”

Petterson, who is a former World Cup downhill racer took home the cake at 55:05.108. Porsha Murdock, 24 of Bend, OR, who finished in second place at the Angel Fire stop, once again finished in second at 55:12.260. Westermann, who entered day two sitting in first place finished in third at 55:29.384.

1. JOANNA PETTERSON (55:05.108)

   
   

2. PORSHA MURDOCK (55:12.260)

   
   

3. LIA WESTERMANN (55:29.384)

   
   

4. ALISON KINSLER (56:01.147)

   
   

5. ILEANA ANDERSON(56:03.895)

   
   

“I raced the resort day blind which I think a lot of people did,” Petterson said. “You know you’re going as hard as you can, going to the edge, and you have to be really careful not to push it too hard and even on the trails that are more physical, you can still overshoot turns, so the resort day was definitely challenging in that way.”

“The backcountry day was pretty dreamy,” she continued. “I am riding and just wishing I could live up there. The terrain was great. I thought it was challenging and technical, good transitions and high speed stages and the views were amazing. “

New this year, the Vittoria Bolt awarded the fastest downhill time on stage one, day one. Teddy Hayden, 17 of San Rafael, CA, blew everyone off the trail finishing stage one at 03:14.521. Lia Westermann slid in at 03:43.922 beating women’s expert day one winner, Angelica Ramirez (03:43.959), 30 of Snowbird, UT, by milliseconds. Westermann and Hayden were awarded $100 each by Vittoria. This award will be featured at each 2016 race.

A full list of results from the Sun Valley race can be found here.

The SCOTT Enduro Cup presented by Vittoria will conclude the 2016 season at new location, Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT. The Sun Valley race was a part of the North American Enduro Tour (NAET), making it an Enduro World Series qualifier race.

Racers of varying ability level are organized into five categories for both men and women, including pro/open, expert, vet expert (35+), amateurs and juniors (13-18) giving first time racers the opportunity to share the course with veteran competitors.