Orbea Wild Ride: The new German E-Enduro champions were crowned
Enduro racers normally only have time pressure during the stages, but today it was worth being the first to cross the finish line. It was the only way to avoid the impending shower from above. Julian Claudi, Christian Rothenbach and Nick Willner did just that. They reached the final finish line in dry jerseys, on clean bikes and with a remaining battery of 9 per cent. Their verdict: a mega course, a perfect mix of uphill and downhill stages and finally a race where personal performance and not just the bike counted! Find out what else was going on on day 1 of the BIKE Festival in Willingen in our compact highlight report.
Favourite Torben Drach: "I left my heart on the track"
All the other E-Endurists who crossed the finish line later also had to contend with rain showers, hail showers and a final stage on a bike park track that resembled a slide of soft soap. It hadn't rained in Upland for weeks and the tracks were hard and dusty. The rocky sections were particularly tough after the rain.
With adrenaline pumping through their veins Favourite Torben Drach the finish line: "I just left my heart on the last stretch. I drove completely over my limit!" But he had to if he wanted to win the race. Last year's runner-up had already crashed on Stage 1 and was in 15th place at the time, but the Rotwild rider still turned up the heat when the leaders decided to slow down due to the slippery trails: Drach set the second-fastest time on each of the last three stages.
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Erik Emmrich wins the E-Enduro championship title
In the end, however, it was only enough for second place for Drach, as Erik Emmrich had consistently set top times on the first three stages and was able to slow down a little on the last three to be on the safe side. With a total time of 12:15.28 minutes, the Orbea racer was 14 seconds faster than Torben Drach and is therefore the new German E-Enduro champion. Third and thus bronze medallist was young gun Elias Hassfeld.
Overall, however, the race was won by a racer from New Zealand. The overall results of the Orbea Wild Ride 2025:
- Charles Murray (NZL) 11:56.45
- Erik Emmrich (GER) 12:15.28
- Kelan Grant (IRL) 12:26, 93
- Torben Drach (GER) 12:29.19
- Elias Hassfeld (GER) 12:37.35
Defending champion Wiedenroth: "I knew I'd lost it there"
In the elite women's category, last year's winner Sofia Wiedenroth was unable to defend her title. The new German champion is Helen Weber from the Rotwild Schwalbe Gravity Team! In total, only 5 German riders competed this year:
- Helen Weber 13:49.19
- Sofie Wiedenroth 14:13,20
- Laura Zeitschel 15:14.67
- Jana Urban 15:19.26
- Noa Wischmann 18:28.95
We picked out some cool routes, but the weather was really tricky. Sometimes hail, sometimes rain, sometimes sun, everything. Grip was unpredictable, I hit a wet root. I knew I'd lost it there. You can't afford to make a mistake on the short stages. Also because Helen is a specialist in the wet and loam anyway and she rode really well today. She absolutely deserved it. - Sofia Wiedenroth
The championship title was of course my goal, but you can never count on something like that. Especially because the field of female riders was so strong. You can see it from the times. Sofia was right on my heels at all times. - Helen Weber
Philipp Martin, Orbea's marketing manager, was more than satisfied at the award ceremony: "66 participants show a significant increase compared to last year. We firmly believe in this format and will be organising it again next year!"
Fun fact: my colleague Stefan Frey and I were mistakenly mistaken for "the two from NADA" in the finish area. In fact, two employees from the anti-doping agency had travelled to Willingen and asked the winners to take a test after being honoured on stage.
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
