SUN VALLEY, ID (July 2, 2017) — More than 180 athletes gathered in Ketchum, ID on July 1-2, 2017 at the Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival to race Round 3 of the SCOTT Enduro Cup presented by Vittoria. After one of the most scenic and grueling rounds in the series, Cody Kelley of Salt Lake City, UT and Cooper Ott of Crested Butte, CO each took their respective podiums. The annual Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival is a celebration of life on two wheels. The four-day festival is host to endurance, skill and learning based events centralized around all things cycling including the SCOTT Enduro Cup presented by Vittoria.
The weekend weather was perfect for races with cool morning temps, warm breezy days and mostly sunny skies. A heavy snowpack protected the trails from early season damage as Sun Valley Resort was just opening their lifts to bikers on July 1. On Saturday, riders raced three timed stages located on the steep slopes of Sun Valley Resort. The day’s three stages featured a mix of flowy fast switchbacks and loose rocky terrain descending 6,345 vertical feet. The second day, Sunday, featured two rugged backcountry stages that tested the riders’ endurance with two long stages and big transfer stages in between.
Men’s Pro/Open Final Results
- Moab and third place at Angel Fire.
“It was a pretty solid weekend. I especially liked the second stage of the backcountry course on Sunday. There were a lot of loose corners and some sick bits,” remarked Kelley. “I’m pretty stoked for Deer Valley. It’s close to home for me and it’s the most technical race in the series [Enduro Cup].”
Shawn Neer, 25, of Layfayette, CO came in second place remarking that while he couldn’t quite catch up to his teammate, Kelley, he still felt pretty good about his riding overall. This was a repeat performance for Neer as he also placed second in Angel Fire. Only nine seconds behind Neer was Ryan Geiger, 22, of Flagstaff, AZ.
Women’s Pro/Open Final Results
- Moab.
“This was my first two-day enduro race of the year. It’s a bit different than a one-day because you want to conserve a little bit of energy for day two, but you don’t want to have too much left in the bank,” Ott remarked. “The trails here did not let you leave too much in the bank and that was really fun.”
Coming out of a third place in Moab and second place in Angel Fire, Anne Galyean, 30, of Golden Colorado landed a repeat second position in Sun Valley. Galyean’s sharp technical skills enabled her to manage the technical sections and push hard enough on the blind portions of the course. Lia Westermann, 18, of Salt Lake City, UT came in a close third, just six seconds behind Galyean.
Podium finishers in the Pro/Open category shared $5,000 equally divided between men and women.
The SCOTT Enduro Cup presented by Vittoria will now prepare for its fourth and final stop Aug. 26-27 at Deer Valley Resort, Utah. To register, and to view a full list of results from the Sun Valley race, visit endurocupmtb.com.
