Tracy Moseley put up a good fight, but Florencia Espiñeira ultimately prevailed in last Sunday's UCI E-Enduro World Cup opener.
Espiñeira (58:05.465) was fifth and third in the race's opening stages, but quickly found her feet with victories in stage three and four. The Whistlerite moved onto loop no. 2 with a six-second advantage on the field and poured it on, overcoming Great Britain's Moseley (58:20.846) by 15 seconds. Laura Charles of France (59:11.050) held on for third.
As defending champ, Espiñeira told reporters that it was "a relief" to put together a strong start in Finale Ligure, Italy.
"The first race of the season you never know how it’s going to go,” she added in a release. "We had to be very strategic on the use of batteries. I was switching out of race mode, using less assistance during the liaisons, which means you have to push more but that’s what you train for.”
Among men, it was Ryan Gilchrist (51:00.961) who racked up four stage wins en route to gold for his native Australia. Portuguese rider Jose Borges went home with silver (51:23.812) and Frenchman Francescu Camoin earned bronze (51:25.499).
"The whole day I felt like I was just riding my bike and having fun," said Gilchrist in a press release. "It’s what I’m all about, it’s what the sport’s all about. Being able to take stage win after stage win, and win the day, is a testament to the work that I’ve put in and my sponsors have put in.”
Full results are available here.
