RECON - Enduro World Series, Les Orres, France - Mountain Biking Pictures

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Welcome to Les Orres and one of the biggest, burliest rounds of the 2019 Enduro World Series. Eight massive stages over two days of racing will take their toll on the riders, but the quality of the tracks and the stunning views will do their part to help ease the pain. Dig into the pics and audio to find out what went down during practice, and get ready for another exciting weekend of chasing the clock in the mountains.

A big thanks to Seb Schieck and Rick Schubert for delivering the EWS goods while Sven and Boris choke on dust in Andorra!

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Les Orres is a well-known ski resort but bikers are just as welcome here - there is a huge infrastructure of trails, lifts, and of course all the altitude you need to play with gravity. <b>A big thanks to Seb Schieck and Rick Schubert for delivering the EWS goods while Sven and Boris choke on dust in Andorra!</b>

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With back to back EWS rounds teams and riders left the Dolomite mountains of Canazei to set up for a new week of racing in the French Alpes of the departement of the Hautes-Alpes.

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Welcome to France, where big mountains and big weather are the local specialty.

Monday night big thunderstorms where hitting the area with a crazy amount of hail, the remnants of which remained at the sides of the trail even three days later.

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Racing in front of a home crowd is always something special. With a proper lead in the series ranking Isabeau won't need to push too hard - but we're pretty sure she only knows how to go one speed anyway, and that's flat out!

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Richie Rude has got nothing to lose and is now taking it race by race, win by win.

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ACC joined the squids on the media recce and did not stop smiling the whole day - we are stoked to see her back on a bike and back in the mountains where she belongs! #fuckcancer

T-Mo and ACC - two legends with more titles, race wins and rainbow jerseys than we can count.

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With news that Jared has successfully battled his brain tumor, we can't wait to see him back on the grind. #fuckcancer

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Two time champion, currently sitting in second overall - Sam Hill will be out there charging to get his first win of the season.

After his 4th place at the last round in Canazei, Eddie Masters decided to skip the World Cup in Andorra this week and stay on his enduro bike this week.

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Katy Winton is back between the tape and hungry as ever.

Keegan Wright took a big slam in his first run on stage one, in a tricky section that caught out more than one rider.

The start of stage two, overshadowed by the Pic Silhourais, the highest peak around the valley.

Apart from two major transfer stages, riders will be able to make use of the good lift infrastructure here in Les Orres.

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Isabeau Courdurier carving trough the woods on stage one.

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Andreane Lanthier Nadeau on top of stage five. Will she be the one to challenge Isabeau for the win here in France?

Leigh Johnson is working his way closer to the top ten in every race at the moment. Let´s see what he can do this week.

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While most of the stages are located on the mountain range that you can see on the horizon of this picture, stage four brings the riders to the complete opposite side of the valley. Miranda Miller on the final stage of the first day.

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With its tricky rocky and rooty sections the flat bottom of stage two will get quite physical in the race. Noga Korem battling through.

Where others struggled big time, Théotim Trabac railed this gnarly rock section on sight.

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Rae Morrison trying to figure out where to go - she was not alone!

Pedro Burns getting loamy with it.

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The future is bright!

Another French contender for the podium. Dimitri Tordo tackles the bottom of stage two.

Ines Thoma showed some promising speed in Canazei but a flat tire kept her off the podium. Same player, shoot again!

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Caro Gehrig in deep on stage four.

The longer and more alpine venues and stages always seem to favor Robin Wallner's riding. What will the Swede do here in Les Orres?

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Men´s U21 series leader Antoine Vidal looks more than comfortable on the alpine slopes here in France.

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Dusting the gear off from last weekend's racing in Canazei.

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If you don´t want to get slowed down, try to go faster. Vid Persak attempts to boost the strait line instead of turning through some of the off camber roots below him. A new version of foot out, flat out!

Remy Gauvin blasting through the rocks on stage seven.

Morgan Charre not having time to enjoy the views on top of stage two.

Wyn Masters sits in the top ten overall and will try to catch up to his brother Eddie - both have decided to skip this weekend's DH World Cup in Andorra in favor of going full enduro.

From rough and rocky over slow and awkward to smooth and flowy or just flat out fast. It´s tough this week to find a setup that works well on all the stages, so finding a good balance will be the key.

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All set for another weekend of racing in the Giant pits.

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Series leaders bike Florian Nicolai's Canyon Strive.

Isabeau took SRAM's wireless AXS transmission to its first win in Italy last week - will she do it again here in France?

Series leader Florian Nicolai will have his eyes on the top step this week.

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12, 8, 5, 2 - Sam Hill is picking up the pace race by race this season, climbing up on the result sheets and sitting in second overall at the moment. Looks like we could see an epic battle between him, Rude and Nicolai for the win this week.

We love mountains.

Magical woods.

Mark Scott high up on stage five, the queen stage this week. A table with a view, please.

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French lines is what suits this French man, Florian Nicolai.

Youn Deniaud sending it into the Cannonball section.

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Adrien Dailly was looking super smooth and super quick all practice.

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Ella Conolly had a heavy crash in Friday's practice session. From what we heard she sustained a broken arm and injured her leg. Healing vibes and a quick recovery.