Fergus Ryan and Harry Molloy jumped in at the last minute to fill the Team Wideopenmag slot at the Mondraker Enduro Team in Davos.
With restrictions coming into place for riders returning from Switzerland, Hutch and Christo opted to stay home, so it was up to Fergus Ryan and Harry Molloy to fly the Wideopenmag flag at the Mondraker Enduro Team in Davos.
With the 2020 race season suffering from covid-19 it was great to see the awesome team of the Mondraker enduro team still going ahead. Unfortunately new quarantine rules put in place a week before the race prevented team rider Hutch from getting out to Switzerland, fortunately Harry Molloy was able to fill in to join Fergus Ryan who was already out in Europe as his team mate.
Arriving in Davos they were greeted with stunning scenery and amazing green flats throughout the valley, the weather looked great for the week and with no practice we were keen to get on track for 3 days of blind racing. The format was 3 days with 3 stages on the first day followed by 4 stages on the Friday and Saturday.
Photo by Alphafoto Print.
With the pairs racing format being a new concept for both Harry and Fergus they set out on the first day to tackle the unknown.Fergus racing enduro and Harry having a wealth of DH experience they decided to lead out Harry on the fastest stages and Ferg on the more pedally ones in a tactical move.
Stage 1 featured only one stage due to some unforeseen circumstances but this acted as a great warm up for what was to come on the rest of the weekend. The trail was fast with a long fire road sprint at the beginning before descending into some tight switchbacks and rocky straights. Ferg lead out and despite a few big mistakes in the run ended up 10th after day 1.
Photo by Alphafoto Print.
Davos had such amazing terrain and view that we decided to go and check out some of the non race stages that Davos had to offer, with lifts taking you right up to 2580m on the Jakobshorn the views and trails that followed were mind blowing.
After a relaxed first day, day 2 featured 4 stages over 45km, a big day but with only 300m of climbing descents were the focus of the day. Stage 4 featured a moon like landscape with big rocks and a tight goat trail traversing the hill. This led into a long climb to really test riders fitness. Ferg lead and with consistency in mind but the relentless climb in the middle left the team in 12th for the stage.
Photo by AndoGraphie.
A change of tactics saw Harry lead out the massive 5.6km stage 5, with an ever changing terrain and flat out straights this track was the queen stage and a rider favourite. Ferg and Harry pulled their thumbs out and got 7th place on the stage with a time of 10:24.
After this the riders went up to the top of stage 6 where lunch and a drink was provided before delving into the stage. This was a highlight of the event as it allows riders to forget everything and focus solely on the riding. Stage 6 was another flat out stage and with the success of Harry leading out stage 5 Ferg followed him down. A big mistake in line choice saw the team end up in a river before climbing out to descend to the finish. Some very questionable line choices were made but there were nothing but smiles the whole way down.
Photo by AndoGraphie.
A climb back out of the valley and back into Davos saw the 4th and final stage of the day, stage 7. This was very rocky with plenty of tight turns and line choice. Ferg led out the team and they finished with their best result of the day, 6th place. After a big day, it was time for a well earned Ice cream and dinner before getting an early night ahead of the final day.
Day 3 and Finals day started early at 8am with a quick trip up to the top of the Jakobshorn for another whopper of a stage, stage 8. Featuring a nearly 6km trail and visibly flat pedal at the start, Ferg led out however a big over the bars in the rocks and descending the rest of the stage with twisted bars left them with a 9th place, disappointing on a track that was super fun and clearly a suited track for the team.
Photo by AndoGraphie.
A quick roll down the hill to the next lift headed up to the shortest stage of the weekend, stage 9. This was only 3 minutes long and more akin to a downhill track than enduro. Ferg did his best to stay on Harry’s tail and they finished out the stage in a respectable 4th place behind the locals.
Stage 10 was another long stage weighing in at 3.17km and 500m descending. The track featured some of the fastest riding of the weekend with flat out fire roads and fast off camber sections. The boys pushed on to end up 8th on the stage and 7th Overall heading into the 11th and final stage of the weekend.
Photo by Alphafoto Print.
A lift up to the top of the funicular lift followed by a stunning climb along a ridge took you to the top of stage 11. This was a 3km trail with 639m vertical drop featuring switchbacks for days with plenty of rock sections thrown in for good measure. This was both Ferg and Harry’s favourite speed due to the high speed and amazing turns. They finished out the day in 7th place just one space behind EWS pinners Joe Connel & Joe Barnes. A fresh beer was waiting at the bottom of the stage providing the perfect way to end an awesome few days of racing.
This event is truly unique, with a focus on nothing but fun times everyone has a smile on their face throughout the day. This when combined with world class trails and stunning landscapes makes it easy to see why this event is so popular. We would love to see more of this pairs style racing across Europe and definitely in the UK.
Photo by Foto.
A massive thank you to the awesome team at Enduro Team Davos for looking after us and for putting on such a sick event.
Until next year…
