Enduro21 notebook from the halfway stage of the 2025 ISDE in Italy, a Six Days of Enduro where a wave of new riders are mobbing the timesheets while Josep Garcia and Andrea Verona’s domination remains unbroken, women’s enduro needs a word with itself, and some old Aussie dogs are still at it.

It’s fair to say dust wasn’t as much of a problem as we expected as day one of the 2025 FIM ISDE 2025 started. Heavy rain in the Bergamasche hills created some slick conditions and, under the trees in the mountains it has remained tricky all week.

A great ISDE in one of its spiritual homes

Fast as hell riders at the top of the sheets are matched by big entry numbers across and remarkably few retirements. Fans have been great all week in the tests and the transfers with the excitement of the daily results keeping us glued.

Waiting in the perfect scenery, with nothing but the chatter of fans and birds, the smell of coffee wafting across, when suddenly Josep or Verona arrive flatstick between the tapes it blows you backwards like a hurricane. This will never get old, and as we approach 100 years of ISDE, it couldn’t be better.

Eating our words

Happily, we eat our words about teams Italy and Sweden starting as favourites as the current World Trophy holders France picked right back up where they left off in 2024 on day one.

Like always, the conditions and tests work for some and against others. European riders on the whole are revelling while the likes of Australian and American riders are all looking for some dust, wider tapes and places to click taller gears.

But although the French senior men’s team started strongly, they are unable to match their own form from one year ago with consistency. Along with their Junior team, they are in a fight for the podium but not the win and like many of the top teams here, not having the strength in depth is hampering their efforts to retain the World Trophy.

Having all four riders up there is the name of the game at the ISDE and predictably it is the Italian quartet who are doing that best of all. Andrea Verona, Samuele Bernadini, Morgan Lesiardo and Manolo Morettini are simply riding better than any other four-some.

History repeating itself

ISDE Italy 2021 was funnily enough the same. Italy won then on home soil, in both the World and Junior Trophy categories. With a certain amount of home soil knowledge, plus a wave of home support wherever they go, you wouldn’t bet against the Tricolore at this point.

Flying Swedes  

Led by experienced Mikael Persson, the “elder statesman”, the Swedish quartet were pencilled in as potential winners by us. Having set alight the Junior World Trophy (and EnduroGP Juniors) for the last couple of years, Albin Norrbin, Max Ahlin and Axel Semb were joined by Persson who has form in the Italian tests where Mikael’s name will be familiar to anyone who remembers ISDE Italy in 2021.

A lot has seemingly changed since then, not least for Persson who got a propelled into a Farioli contract on the back of running third all ’21 ISDE and now is the main man in Triumph Racing colours. 

There are a lot of test still to go but the Swedish World Trophy team look favourite for a silver medal and potential winners in the future, maybe the 100th edition in Portugal next year?

Josep’s winning run – statistics alert

Speaking of winners, since his first ISDE day win in France 2017 (day 4), Josep Garcia has been the rider to watch and for four years at least, the rider to beat at this event. Since day four in Portugal 2019, only one rider has beaten him, Andrea Verona, and between them they have won every single day of Six Days racing since then.

Correct us we’re wrong but Argentina 2023, day 2, was the last time anyone other than Garcia won a Six Days day. That includes being fastest in the Cross test – although the Swedish Juniors ran him mighty close in the horrendous conditions which concluded ISDE Spain last year.

Josep took a clean sweep of day wins for a fourth consecutive scratch victory on Spanish soil and before this year Josep had 21 day wins in total and 10 in a row.

Verona has been dogged and it is remarkable how many times the pair have been within fractions and seconds of each other with Josep so often just ahead. On one day in Italy ’21 they finish 0.04 apart.

What can you say about the USA Women?

You can say they are in a class on their own basically. Even on a day when one test caught out two of their three riders big time, they still won and extended their lead. To hold a 20-minute advantage is amazing but it doesn’t shine too well on the other nations.

It’s no criticism of anyone individually but the level is not there across all three riders in any of the challenging teams and the finger points at the respective national federations, plus the many major races and championships not promoting women enough.

Yes, we are missing some of the preious podium girls here and Italian home herione Francesca Nocera is riding injured, but the nations could do worse than to look at how the sport of enduro and XC develops riders in North America for a start. Take the best of the Aussie girls this week, Danielle Macdonald, who has jumped across to the USA to race in 2025 to earn a living and basically become a better rider.  

Speaking of USA…

Normally we are talking about the Team USA men in our Notebook a lot but the truth is a combination of riders arriving injured or out of practice, and a couple of riders just not on the dial, they ain’t landing on the podium this year at ISDE.

Johnny Girroir, Dante Oliveira and Grant Davis (in the Juniors) are carrying the flag but not consistently across the days.

They are a perfect example of our point about the team being a sum of its parts and Team USA men aren’t bringing enough depth to be challengers here in Italy in the World or Junior Trophy categories. They lack a talisman too, the likes of Ryan Sipes, Kailub Russell or Taylor Robert to lead the team.

Young versus old

Final word for this notebook goes to the mix of riders. For all the talk of tests suiting some riders and nations better than others, the top guys are the same and the rankings show the class of the field is truly international.

Riders like Daniel Milner and Josh Strang have been doing it a while now and though the Italian tests are nothing like their usual racing (Australian enduro for Milner and GNCC for Strangy), it is rider skill putting them in the mix.

And it is a right mixture with a new wave of young riders, particularly from France, Sweden and Italy btu also the likes of Kyron Bacon and Grant Davis, who are mobbing the time sheets. That’s great for the sport to have a new wave of talent but it’s equally good to see the old boys still got it.

Photo Credit: Future7Media | Andrea Belluschi + Nicki Martinez