Warkworth enduro rider George Swift is looking for a strong finish to her UCI World Series campaign at the final round this weekend at Morillon in the Haute Savoie region of the French Alps.
Swift, the only elite kiwi enduro rider racing at the pine tree-lined trails of Morillon, is currently in seventh overall on the elite women’s season standings going into the final round, after a season-best fifth placing in the last round in Switzerland.
Held across two days, riders will cover 84.4kms comprising 4,110m of descending over eight stages, set against the mountains of the Grand Massif.
The race is a lead-in to the UCI MTB World Championships in Italy in two weeks.
While Swift is the only elite kiwi in action, there are two well-known New Zealand riders taking part in the Open enduro race, in Queenstown’s Tom Hey and Rotorua’s Kashi Leuchs.
Hey, a renowned New Zealand rider, is best known as a leading trail builder, including setting the courses for Crankworx.
Leuchs, originally from Dunedin, is a former cross-country professional and three-time Olympian in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, who is the NZ distributor for Yeti Bikes. He is also the New Zealand team manager for the upcoming world championships.
George Swift on her way to the rainbow jersey in last year’s UCI MTB World Championships. (Credit: SWPix)