The first thing Laia Sanz did after winning the Gold in X Games Women’s Enduro X at Foz was to announce she would not be defending her title in front of her home town fans in Barcelona. This disappointing announcement, made within a minute of her win, crushed a lot of hopes. We all remember how lit up the Brazilian crowds were for the great Brazilian athletes at Foz, and Sanz would have been one of the stars of Barca if she could only show up.
Luckily with a little creative scheduling she was able to make the show. And show it was, Laia got off an 800 mile flight from Torres Vedras Portugal, site if the FIM Endurocross World Championships to race in the elimination and final before jumping back to the airport to get back into the FIM mix again. Just making the event was pretty major, the crowd in Barcelona was certainly appreciated but at one point it looked like that might be all she accomplished. After winning the elimination heat the finals heat started with a wreck, several bikes accordioned and went down trapping Laia in 8th, well behind the leaders. That was just the prelude to the show though. Laia started charging the field, working her way through traffic as the crowd got more and more raucous. She quickly caught up to 2 time X Games Gold Medalist Maria Forsberg and they went back and forth in some of the most exciting racing we have seen for the entire competition. By lap 3 Laia had passed for a lead she would never relinquish, and she won gold in her home town by nearly 12 seconds.
Laia Sanz wins Enduro X gold
Winning her second Enduro X Gold in a row, and doing so in dominating fashion means Laia Sanz has been officially crowned the Queen of enduro X. Current King of Enduro X Taddy Blazusiak was also up on Saturday to defend his Gold, but Mike Brown, who has won every race in 2013 except for the Foz final was going to have something to say about that. Brown took the lead out of the gate and the field quickly separated into a front pack of Brown, Blazusiak, Haaker and Webb in a tight bunch and everyone else riding trail. I could tell you that Mike Brown led coast to coast on the way to winning Gold but that statement, while technically accurate doesn’t tell the story at all.
Enduro X is a long, grueling race over a brutal obstacle course engineered to push man and machine to the absolute limit and beyond. Through this mentally and physically challenging course Brown and Blazusiak stayed right together for virtually the entire race. Blazusiak kept working Brown, came within a few inches of taking the lead at one point and the pressure seemed to be working late in the race as Brown made a couple of small errors that let Blazusiak get right up inside his back tire. Blazusiak was also nearly physically spent himself at this point from the chase, and on the final lap a couple of mistakes knocked him out of contention for the gold. He got hung up on a lapped rider on the 9th lap and had to take a bad line, losing all momentum as he did and falling off Brown’s leader pace. Then he lost traction coming out of the water and slipped going up a jump, landing well short and coming off his bike. From there on out it was Mike Brown’s glory lap, and Haaker and Webb passed Blazusiak to knock him out of medal contention in a race he had spent 9 laps in a deadlock with the leader.
Mike Brown Wins Gold in Ford’s Men Enduro X Final
X Games Barcelona 2013: Women’s Moto X Enduro X Final Results
Name Bib No. Hometown Time
1 Laia Sanz 44 Barcelona, Spain 8:32
2. Maria Forsberg 411 Seattle, Wash., USA 8:44
3. Sandra Gomez Cantero 93 Madrid, Spain 8:56
4. Tarah Gieger 68 Aguadila, Puerto Rico 9:18.566
5. Kacy Martinez 4 Sunol, Calif., USA 9:18.678
6. Chantelle Bykerk 3 Salmon Arm, Canada 10:10
7. Rachel Gutish 217 Terre Haute, Ind., USA 10:27
8. Jolene Van Vugt 63 London, Canada 8:37
9. Carmen Segura 92 Umbrete, Spain 10:46
10. Laia Mante Sola 84 Cervia de ter, Sapin 10:10
X Games Barcelona 2013: Men’s Moto X Enduro X Final Results
Name Bib No. Hometown Time
1 Mike Brown 3 Bluff City, Tenn., USA 10:59
2. Colton Haaker 10 Hollister, Calif., USA 11:01
3. Cody Webb 2 Santa Cruz, Calif., USA 11:14
4. Taddy Blazusiak 111 Krakow, Poland 11:22
5. Cory Graffunder 118 Vavenby, Canada 11:24
6. Kyle Redmond 7 Lake Hughes, Calif., USA 11:39
7. Gary Sutherlin 324 Bakersfield, Calif., USA 11:41
8. Bobby Prochnau 9 Savona, Canada 11:45
9. Alfredo Gomez 89 Cercedilla, Spain 11:46
10. Taylor Robert 33 Scottsdale, Ariz., USA 11:50
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