Touchdown in Finale Ligure, Italy | UCI Enduro World Cup

The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series has touched down in Finale Ligure ahead of the opening round of the UCI Enduro World Cup!

We took Josh Carlson out on day release to have a gelato and chat to some of the riders.

Race Coverage from Finale Ligure will be available on the evening of Sunday (12th).

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[Music] we’re back on the beach baby round one of the Enduro World Cup here in Finale luro in Italy to start our racing of Enduro it’s shaping out to be a fantastic season trails are primed athletes are ready let’s check out what they have to say now we’re in Italy so before we go and find out what the Riders think of the trails there is two things we must do number one [Music] espresso and number two not necessarily in that order zato we’ll do a I’ll do a cup with uh stretcher teller and uh your favorite was was crino he there we go yeah okay perfect okay so we are now caffeinated we are about to be gelated just made that up now let’s go and hear what the writers have to say and what they think about the famous finale uro racing we’re in Italy so you’re going to have coffee gelato and pizza that’s a given but what is the of importance um coffee first always um I’d actually probably then say followed by pizza and then gelato how many times have you raced here in Finale um four I think three three three times three times you’re looking at me he didn’t come last year did we so three times wow we’re in Petra bit last we came to P but now we’re back in Finale but now we’re back on a bit of a classic finale course how do you feel about that I’m really excited I thought the course looked great and a couple of stages I’ve not done before so yeah I think great to do something a bit different and yeah there’s always tons of trails here so might as well make the most of all of them Richie R look at this rig mate that’s a bit pretty what’s the goal this year you’ve been there done that one that is there to add another number one to this uh dominate Come Out Swinging yeah I think it’s always you know add another number one and I think as always just have fun this season and kind of see how it goes um do a fewt Donal here and there so that would also be add a little spice to the season but yeah I’m just looking to you know have another great season and yeah go at it we’re just going to try and photob bomb this little bike check over here well we’ve got a brief pause Jesse mid’s here Jesse melid how good is it to be back in Finale I love it great you look great uh more importantly Jack men’s on a brand new bike hey Jack hey how are you welcome to the factory team Bud cheers appreciate it this is a b cool yeah this is super cool like couldn’t couldn’t ask for much better like got a teammate that lives in Squamish and yeah it’s good times two Canadians how many finales have you done well we went through this the other day and Jesse was saying he’s been here 11 years and so I would have been yeah 11 or 12 years old when he first came here um and I think this is my third time here Jesse when was your first finale hey Josh I know how you feel now right I feel so age don’t age me this is about you uh what what was the question when was your first finale I think 2013 first year and how old were you then was I 11 years years ago 23 no oh man I’m 32 21 there’s a lot of numbers for this early in the week here what’s your most exciting thing about B in Finale I think it’s just everything it’s just we’re comfortable here we know it we have the beach the weather the trails the people the food the gelato everything is just so lovely and nice and comfortable and I think it’s just such a good place to return [Music] to we just busted into the makeup room here and who do we find El Elon 2024 yeara Ready set go finale is a location we all enjoy and love racing at how does it feel to start the season here yeah it feels a bit strange to start here often we race here at the end of the season so often it’s like a holiday Vi at the end of the season I keep having to rind myself like no this is serious not too much gelato um is there ever too much gelato and as we wander through the square who do we find but finale’s own Greg Kahan mate you’ve updated the race machine this weekend I like what you’ve done with the custom rust and the grips tell us about these grips up here yeah we’re just doing a bit of testing at the moment I’ve got one real soft one and one you know duct tape’s quite sticky so good good for traction and yeah we got the b b twin collab frame you’ve got that aerodynamic fender on the front here you know keeps the mud in but let the winds go through yeah yeah we got a prototype bash ring as well she kind of you know she got bit of a swirl to her yeah who who’s the teammate that’s going on the back here who’s the Ricky Bobby to be decided applications are open mate you’ve got a brand new setup this year fantastic new program that you’ve put together how proud do you feel to make it to round one with the the program that uh that you chose and you want to be a part of yeah yeah I’m really excited it’s cool to finally be here you know it was quite a long offseason and yeah I’m stoked like I’ve kind of you know I’ve got good people around me I’ve got good bike good parts on it and yeah it’s really cool to kind of built something around uh my own needs and yeah feeling ready walking through the pets we spot uh zachari your Hansen Zack fresh team got some fresh swag going on here secret don’t tell anyone fresh team this year you’re back into uh what seems to be the old team so yeah same same but different yeah yeah all the core people are still the same so feels like going back to family and uh yeah good place safe place I already know how everything works so pretty happy things sorted themselves out kind of so in a good spot and uh ready to race I guess ready to race indeed now our location you’ve spent plenty of time at before and had some amazing success does that feel does that fill you with confidence coming into the season and starting in a place like finale for sure I’m I’m actually pretty stoked with start cuz I usually I want to escape the snow in the winner so I go here I usually spend at least a month there every winter so I feel super familiar with the terrain and the tracks as well and uh I mean this off season have been a big change for me as well having the little kiddo to watch so I guess training have been pretty much the same as before but the wrestling part is been a bit of a challenge so I mean it’s nice for me to come and the first race is a place that I’m familiar with and know so well it’s fantastic to see so many happy faces and stoked Riders to be here in Finale laga to kick off the 2024 e and Juro and uro World Cup season it’s going to be a fantastic week of riding and racing so stay tuned to the whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube page for all the action and we will see you track side