Hattie Harnden wins Enduro World Cup overall title!

Hattie Harnden has proudly displayed the number “3” on her bike the last two seasons. It reflects her growth as a professional athlete, taking back-to-back third-place finishes on the Elite women’s Enduro World Cup overall after pushing herself to be better, faster, and more skilled through multiple disciplines. 

The number has also been a spur, right behind her on her seatpost, chasing her and reminding her that there was still farther to climb.

On Friday she reached the summit. She took fourth place at the final Enduro World Cup round in Loudenvielle, battling through what was by far the wettest, muddiest day of racing of the year. More importantly, she earned 339 points towards the overall standings, edging ahead of Isabeau Courdurier into first place. Harnden trailed Courdurier, who has won the last two straight overall titles, by just 63 points entering the race.

“She’s one of the most, if not the most consistent rider there has been,” Harnden said. “She’s won the overall three times. With other people, you can kind of pick and choose where you know you’re gonna beat them, or be stronger than them, but with Isa you genuinely just gotta go faster [laughs], which is a tall order because she’s been the fastest for a long time.”

Harnden set the tone on Stage 1, winning the 2.7-kilometer trail by 5.329 seconds over second place Ella Connolly, and 17.527 seconds over Courdurier, who was third. Harnden would go on to best Courdurier in three of four stages. Courdurier won Stage 3, but she finished ninth on the day thanks to a rough outing on a beastly 3.7-kilometer Stage 2 that created massive time gaps in the competition. 

“The woman that won that stage, Melanie [Pugin], she was the only one of us that didn’t crash at all,” Harnden said. “The rain stopped coming down, so it got sticky, so the ruts got really deep. It’s like a clay hillside. It was super, super slick. And once your hands hit the ground, once your feet hit the ground, all of it sticks to you. It’s incredibly difficult to get back into a flow for the rest of it.”

Harnden needed every second, pipping Courdurier on the overall standings by just 21 points. She was just 14 points ahead of Courdurier on the overall standings heading into the last stage, meaning that a difference of a few placings — and just a few seconds — would decide the season-long battle.

“People were saying at the top of the final stage that it was super close between Isa and I,” Harnden said. “Basically, whichever one of us came out on top on the final stage would win the overall, it was that close. 

“It was a long, long way to the bottom. Like, the longest couple of minutes of my life.”

Harnden has been one of the most consistent riders on the elite World Cup circuit the last three years thanks to her versatility. She is a 17-time British national champion across four offroad disciplines — XC, cyclocross, downhill and enduro. And hailing from England’s Malvern Hills, she is plenty well seasoned in conditions like she experienced Friday.

This season, she never finished lower than fourth in any World Cup race, across roots, rocks, dirt, fast and slow tracks, some at high elevation, and in rain or shine. She secured a win in the season opener at the famed and familiar course in Finale Ligure, and another at a brand new venue in Combloux, Switzerland. Perhaps no cyclist in the world is better at handling anything one can encounter on a mountain bike. 

“It’s tough going, especially with how the women’s field is at the moment. I know I worked really hard for it,” Harnden said. “I just didn’t take my eyes off the goal. I put a lot into training at home before this last block, and there were quite a lot of tactics in choosing what races to do and opting out of other stuff. When there’s only six races and you’ve got to be going your best for all of them, it’s really difficult.”

Harnden exploded with joy when the results of the overall competition were announced in Loudenvielle. One of the first people to hug her at the barrier was Tracy Moseley, a four-time downhill and enduro World Champion and Harnden’s mentor. Harnden was the first non-French rider to win the overall title since Moseley last won it nine years ago. 

“It feels super cool to be able to do what she did after she was the one that got me into it, and molded me,” Harnden said. “She was there when I won my first Enduro World Cup. For her to be there when I won the overall was special.”

Harnden’s season is not done yet. Next Saturday, Sept. 14, she’ll take on the first ever UCI MTB Enduro World Championships in Val di Fassa for a chance to win her first rainbow stripes. The competition will be fierce, but one thing we know for sure is that Harnden will be ready.

“Winning is a huge confidence booster to be honest,” Harnden said. “It’s nice to have done a six-week race break and know that I’m still on pace.

“I’ve been chasing a rainbow jersey for the last 10 years. It would be special to be able to finally get one.”

Emily Carrick-Anderson’s first year with Trek Factory Racing Enduro didn’t go fully as she hoped. She only finished one other World Cup event this year, taking fourth in Poland, due to injuries.

But she made sure to put her stamp on 2024 with a dominant showing in Loudenvielle. Like Harnden, Carrick-Anderson is used to foul weather, hailing from Peebles, Scotland. She used her experience in the mud to build a big lead with a Stage 2 win — 1:14.443 ahead of second place Simona Kuchynkova — and beat the Slovakian rider and series leader by nearly 56 seconds on the day. 

The 19-year-old Carrick-Anderson hasn’t been racing enduro for long, but she brings a ton of enthusiasm and natural talent to the sport. Now she has a major win to her name with at least one more year in the U21 ranks to continue her progression. We can’t wait to see where she goes from here.