Andrew Neethling Leaving Polygon UR Team

Looks like Needles is leaving Polygon UR for 2017. Any guess as to where he will go?

Giant Announces Their 2017 Off Road Team

"Following an ambitious year that saw its riders compete at international off-road events of all disciplines, all around the globe, the Giant Factory Off-Road Team looks back at a successful 2016 season while also preparing for the year ahead.

The core of the team, including six-time Colombian downhill champion Marcelo Gutierrez and Australian enduro specialist Josh Carlson, will return for 2017, and at least three new riders will be added to the roster.

Highlights from the 2016 season included race wins and podium finishes at Crankworx World Tour events and Enduro World Series races around the world. Gutierrez won his sixth Colombian DH national championship, and Carlson continued his progression at the top level of enduro racing with a podium finish at the Whistler, British Columbia round of the EWS and a top-10 overall series ranking.

“It was another wild year on the enduro tour,” said Carlson. “I was especially stoked to come back from a crash and score that podium finish at Whistler with my friends and family there watching. We did a lot of development with our bikes and gear throughout the season, and I think it showed with some of our results.”

Carlson’s teammate Yoann Barelli also showed moments of brilliance in 2016, scoring two top-10 finishes in the Enduro World Series before he was slowed by injury in the second half of the season. And the surprise enduro racer for Giant last year was 20-year-old Canadian Mckay Vezina, a member of the North American Giant Co-Factory Team who broke onto the EWS circuit as a rookie and immediately became a consistent top-20 finisher.

The team’s U.S. riders Adam Craig and Carl Decker also chalked up some big results in North American racing. The versatile Craig scored wins in a variety of off-road events, from enduro to cyclocross, and Decker found success at races ranging from gravel grinders to XC and cyclocross competition.

Decker will return for 2017, targeting a mix of off-road races, events and festivals. Craig will also continue, but in a new capacity as an ambassador. The longtime Giant racer will evolve his role to help inspire riders of all levels, connect with retailers at events, and provide valuable rider input on new bike and gear development projects.

While the core of the team remains the same for 2017, French riders Yoann Barelli and Guillaume Cauvin, along with Spaniard Alex Marin and American Seamus Powell will depart at the end of the year.

“Each of those athletes brought a lot to our program,” said Giant Factory Off-Road Team manager Joe Staub. “Their energy and commitment has been a constant over the past few years. We wish them each good luck in the future.”

The coming year will also see some new faces for the team, with a focus on up-and-coming young talent. In enduro racing, Vezina will step up to become a full-fledged member of the Giant Factory Off-Road enduro squad. And for downhill racing, Gutierrez will be joined by young talents Jacob Dickson, a four-time junior national champion in Ireland, and Eliot Jackson, a former motocross racer from the U.S. who scored top-10 results at two Crankworx DH events last year.  

More information on the 2017 Giant Factory Off-Road Team, including the final team roster as well as all the details on new bikes, gear and equipment sponsors, will be announced in early 2017. 

 You can follow the Giant Factory Off-Road Team all season long on their Facebook page."

2017 EWS Calender Announced

The Enduro World Series is delighted to reveal its 2017 race calendar as it continues its mission to uncover the world’s best riding destinations.

The new season, the series’ fifth, will feature eight rounds across three continents, with the addition of three completely new and exciting venues.

March will see the first competition of the year head back to familiar territory of Rotorua, in the North Island of New Zealand. Part of the Crankworx World Tour, riders competing in the Giant Toa Enduro will get the chance to once more explore this magical land filled with smoking geysers, lush rainforest and some of the most challenging singletrack the Southern Hemisphere has to offer.

The series will stay down under for round two as it then skips across the Tasman Sea to Shimano Enduro Tasmania. This wild and remote island off the Southern Coast of Australia will offer riders a real adventure as they explore the famous trails around Derby in the north east of the island. The area has become synonymous with world class mountain biking in recent years, and riders will get to experience everything from fern forests to granite slabs as they take in the stunning views on offer.

Round three sees the series travel north to County Wicklow in Ireland to revisit the Emerald Enduro. It’s the third time the EWS will visit Carrick Mountain, which is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the wildest races on the circuit thanks to the crazy fans who line the tracks in their thousands. This one day race has become an EWS classic and with good reason – the atmosphere can only be described as electric!

The island of Madeira is the setting for round four, the Enduro World Series Powered by Freeride Madeira. Lying in the Atlantic Ocean between Portugal and the Africa, this small island is home to some of the most diverse terrain on earth. From rocky singletrack down volcanoes to tight trails through native forests, riders will get to experience an incredible selection of both natural and purpose built trails that have recently helped put Madeira on the global mountain biking map.

Staying in Europe, round five will see the series land in France for the Natural Games Millau EWS driven by URGE bp. For the first time the EWS will join forces with the Natural Games, a celebration of adventure sports including climbing, kayaking and paragliding amongst others. Located in the south of the country, Millau will offer exciting racing on rocky, natural, ancient and technical trails that typify the riding style of the region.

It’s across the pond to Aspen Snowmass for round six, the Big Mountain Enduro Aspen Snowmass. Nestled in the high mountains of Colorado, this world famous resort is becoming as well known for its trail network as it is its ski runs. Racers can look forward to a mixture of classic high altitude Colorado singletrack alongside some man made fun in the Snowmass Bike Park.

It’s more North American adventure for round seven as the series lands in Whistler and straight into Crankworx, the world’s biggest mountain bike festival. The SRAM Canadian Open Enduro presented by Specialized is an annual fixture on the EWS calendar and with good reason – big crowds, big prize money and even bigger mountains in this most iconic of resorts.

Where else to end the series but on the shores of the Mediterranean in the beautiful Finale Ligure for the Bluegrass Finalenduro powered by SRAM. There’s a reason the series always finishes in this beautiful town in the Italian Riviera – Finale Outdoor Resort’s ever growing network of world class trails, huge crowds and the obligatory swim in the sea for whoever is crowned World Champion at this end of season extravaganza.

Chris Ball, Managing Director of the Enduro World Series, commented: “The series is always trying to push boundaries and discover new riding locations adding adventure into fantastic riding, great communities and brilliant organisers, and our fifth season celebrates this ethos. The three new venues will offer riders a new experience – the islands of Madeira and Tasmania are wild and remote and will prove the gateway to some unforgettable adventures. Then the Natural Games in Millau will be the first time the EWS has been part of a multi sport festival and I’m really looking forward to seeing enduro being included in this celebration of the outdoors. The venues we’re returning to are included in the calendar because they’re hard to beat; Ireland, Aspen, Finale and Rotorua are all incredible riding locations and I think 2017 is shaping up to be an amazingly exciting and fun year of racing.”

2017

#1 – March 25/26 – Rotorua, New Zealand
#2 – April 8/9 – Tasmania, Australia
#3 – May 13/14 – Madeira, Portugal
#4 – May 28 – Co Wicklow, Ireland
#5 – July 1/2 – Millau, France
#6 – July 29/30 – Aspen-Snowmass, USA
#7 – August 13 – Whistler, Canada
#8 – September 30/October 1 – Finale Ligure, Italy

“The series is always trying to push boundaries and discover new riding locations adding adventure into fantastic riding, great communities and brilliant organisers, and our fifth season celebrates this ethos. The three new venues will offer riders a new experience – the islands of Madeira and Tasmania are wild and remote and will prove the gateway to some unforgettable adventures. Then the Natural Games in Millau will be the first time the EWS has been part of a multi sport festival and I’m really looking forward to seeing enduro being included in this celebration of the outdoors. The venues we’re returning to are included in the calendar because they’re hard to beat; Ireland, Aspen, Finale and Rotorua are all incredible riding locations and I think 2017 is shaping up to be an amazingly exciting and fun year of racing.”

– Chris Ball, Managing Director