said Bolt . “ It ’ s been a perfect weekend - winning every time I went out on track . I wanted to prove to myself that I ’ ve matured as a rider outdoors and I feel like I ’ ve showed that . I feel like I ’ ve proven myself in tough Hard Enduro riding . Starting first today meant I had Mani chasing me and when he caught me on lap one , the race was really on . We battled back and forth , constantly changing positions . But we were pushing so hard it meant we had a big gap over everyone else . I knew I was stronger on the descents . On the final lap I just went for the pass , made it stick and hung it out for the win !”
“ I ’ m really disappointed not to have taken the win , for sure ,” said Lettenbichler . “ But I ’ m happy with the race , and how I rode , and it ’ s a really good start to the season . I caught Billy quite early on , I could see him when I got to the river section and was able to catch him soon after that . From there we swapped places for most of the race , and then unfortunately , he got me back before the finish . We opened up a huge gap to the third-placed guy , which is really good . Sometimes on a race like this it ’ s difficult to gauge your pace , but Billy and I were definitely on a different level today . It should make for
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 98