'24 ISDE HALFWAY UPDATE

Team Australia continues to produce a consistent body of work at the 2024 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Spain, running from October 14-19.

At the halfway mark of the iconic teams’ event, Australia is second in the Women’s World Trophy (WWT) and fourth in the World Trophy (WT) and Junior World Trophy (JWT).

With most of the major teams managing to keep their powder dry in the first half of the event, positional changes have been minimal at the sharp end as France (WT), Sweden (JWT) and America (WWT) strengthened their respective leads on day three – although even a single DNF from one of those countries moving forward can quickly alter the balance of power.

On day three, already saturated terrain combined with unsettled weather saw the organiser activating the 106km loop originally proposed for day four.

All riders completed the loop twice, with Australia (Kyron Bacon, Jonte Reynders, Cooper Sheidow and Josh Strang) now 17 minutes behind leader France in the WT, with Spain and America in second and third.

Meanwhile, the JT team (Angus Riordan, Kory McMahon and William Dennett) is still in the fight for a podium finish, while the women (Jess Gardiner, Danielle McDonald and Tayla Jones) are set to duke it out with the Americans for top honours in the WWT until the very end.

Across the battles for individual glory, Bacon (Yamaha) was fourth in E1 on day three, moving up to fifth overall, while Riordan (KTM) is seventh overall in the same class.

Reynders (Sherco) is still riding out of his skin and remains fourth overall in E2 in his ISDE debut, while the evergreen Strang (Beta) – the only Aussie on a two-stroke – is 11th overall in E3.

Meanwhile, after a subdued opening to the ISDE, the precocious McDonald reignited her campaign on day three, finishing just behind her six-time winning ISDE teammate Gardiner after the six special tests.

In the outright standings – the fastest riders across all the classes – Spaniard Josep Garcia (KTM) is nearly 28 seconds in front of fellow powerhouse, Briton Steve Holcombe (Honda), with a huge gap back to third-placed Frenchman Theophile Espinasse (Beta). Tasmanian duo Reynders and Bacon are the best of the Aussies in 10th and 14th.

Team Australia’s ISDE assault has again received backing from the MXstore. Keep an eye on its Instagram page for additional event content, including videos.