Brits abroad
Joe Barnes, Bex Baraona, Mathew Stuttard, Katy Winton and Lewis Buchanan are the key Brits to watch at this year’s EWS.
Here are the five key British players that we reckon are the ones to watch at the 2017 EWS…
1. Joe Barnes
Everyone’s favourite Scottish slopmeister, Joe Barnes will once again be racing for Canyon Factory Enduro Team aboard a new carbon Strive most likely. Barnes finished a respectable 24th overall in the EWS last year. It would be great to see him on a podium at one of the rounds this year.
2. Bex Baraona
An inspiring tale of a privateer racer who broke into the EWS top 10 during 2016. Baraona describes herself as an “Enduro mountain biker from Manchester, trying to break into the world circuit, and one day get on that podium. I’m on a mission to the top!”. Baraona finished 7th overall in the 2016 EWS – the top placed privateer racer. She’s currently trying to finance her 2017 EWS season. Check out her fundraising raffle.
One minute with Matt StuttardI have been trying to film with Matt for a long time, but weather and availability have never quite played ball. The day didn't start too well either with Matt having a big off-falling about 8 foot into a river! Luckily a clear frosty winters day in Hebden Bridge proved perfect conditions for a 1 minute raw edit of Matt on his new bike.
Posted by Whitenosugar Productions on Monday, December 5, 2016
3. Matt Stuttard
Stuttard first popped up on most people’s enduro-radars when he won a stage of the Aspen-Snowmass EWS event last year. Although not technically a privateer racer his TwoTwo Gravity Racing team was a much more modest affair than the likes of Jared Graves’ Specialized Racing Team or Cody Kelley’s Yeti/Fxx Shox Factory Team. Stuttard finished the 2016 EWS in 35th spot. Graves was 34th. Kelley was 36th. For 2017 Stuttard has been snapped up by Hope Tech Factory Racing and he’ll most likely be piloting a Hope HB211 carbon enduro bike. Nice!
4. Katy Winton
Self-described as a “Wee Scottish mountain biker racing all over the planet for Trek Factory Racing Enduro”, Winton had an exceptional 2016 season, finishing in 6th spot overall (yep, just above Bex Baraona). 2016 was her first year as a full-on big brand-sponsored pro racer but seems to have taken to the scene with aplomb. Could she be the new Tracy Moseley?
5. Lewis Buchanan
Another exciting Brit prospect snapped up recently by Trek Factory Racing Enduro. Buchanan finished in 40th spot overall in 2016 but he sat most of the season out through injury. In the two EWS round he did compete in he finished 13th and 7th, so he’s clearly one to watch for this year. From recent Instagram posts it looks like he’ll mostly be using the new Trek Slash 29 as his EWS bike.
Fancy a go at the EWS?
Public entries for the 2017 Enduro World Series open next Wednesday (January 25th) via the new lottery-style system.
If you fancy trying your luck at entering the EWS then the public lottery registration system is for you.
For a 48 hour period starting from 00:001 GMT on January 25th members of the public can apply for a ticket.
After the entry period closes, ticket numbers will be picked at random to fill the races applied for.
The full list of successful ‘lottery winning’ applicants will be posted on the Enduro World Series website on January 28th.