Jesse with an incredible save

Maydena EDR World Cup: A New Enduro Era

Taking the place of the Enduro World Series (EWS), the brand new Enduro World Cup (EDR) hosted its inaugural race in Maydena, Tasmania. With old faces on new teams and young guns ready to battle it out for glory, this is an exciting time to be a fan of enduro racing. Because the Downhill World Cup season doesn’t start until summer this year, plenty of DHI racers made it to Maydena to try their hands at enduro. All the buzz during the off-season has led to this moment.

Jesse posing with his new Canyon bike

Jack Moir taking a corner in practice

Six fun but difficult stages were on tap for race day. Through mechanical challenges and brutal crashes, riders from all over the world battled to the very end. Maxxis was well represented in the U21 categories, starting with Forbidden Synthesis’ Emmy Lan taking the Women’s category win. To make things even better, Sascha Kim (Lusty Industries) and Remy Meier-Smith (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) went first and second in U21 Men, completing Maxxis’ top-step domination in the Junior categories.

Emmy Lan on her way to victory

U21 Men's podium

Next, the Elite Women got things going for the pro riders, with the competition heating up quickly. Rae Morrison (Liv Racing) looked impressive, just missing out on the top five in sixth place. Bex Baraona (Yeti/Fox) had a great opening race of the season, landing in fourth, while Ella Conolly (Cannondale Enduro Team) raced to a medal position in third.

Bex charging in Maydena

Ella on her way to a podium finish

The Elite Men threw everything they had at this race, but the early start to the season seemed to mix things up quite a bit. Typically, we’ve seen the likes of Richie Rude (Yeti/Fox), Jack Moir (YT Mob), and Jesse Melamed (Canyon Cllctv) all over the podiums for the past few years, yet none of them were able to achieve a top-five finish in Maydena. However, this was also a chance for other Maxxis talent (and Australian locals) to have an extraordinary day on the trails, with the young Luke Meier-Smith (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) getting the win in Elite Men. A jaw-dropping eight out of the top ten riders in Elite Men were on Maxxis Tires.

Richie Rude storming down Maydena trails

Luke on his way to his first ever EDR victory

Luke celebrating his victory

Stay tuned for the next round in just a week’s time in Derby, Australia!