Australia all set for 2022 ISDE
The Aussies will be fielding strong teams across the men’s and women’s trophy divisions in the 96th instalment of the iconic eventThe 2022 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) returns to French soil for the first time since 2017 this week (August 29 to September 3), with Australia’s talented line-up of wily veterans and ultra-fast debutantes set to fight for outright honours in all three trophy divisions: Men’s, Women’s and Junior.
With over 30 countries competing – back to pre-pandemic levels – the anticipation is massive for the 96th instalment of the ISDE.
The Australian teams are as follows:
Men’s World Trophy
Andy Wilksch (E3)
Todd Waters (E2)
Daniel Milner (E1)
Joshua Green (E1)
Women’s World Trophy
Jessica Gardiner
Ebony Nielsen
Emelie Karlsson
Junior World Trophy
Kyron Bacon (E1)
Blake Hollis (E1)
Korey McMahon (E2)
As tradition dictates, the 2022 ISDE will take on an enduro format for the first five days (utilising three separate loops from parc ferme) before a motocross special test wraps up proceedings on day six – a finale which has the capacity to make or break campaigns.
Italy is the defending champion in the Men’s Trophy, and led by current world enduro leader Andrea Verona it will be hard to beat again. If Italy doesn’t reach its full potential, Australia, Great Britain, United States, Spain and France – with huge hometown support – will be ready to pounce.
It’s a similar narrative in the 15-nation Junior Trophy, while America is the defending champion in the Women’s Trophy – in a classification where Australia monstered the opposition last decade by winning every year from 2013 until 2018.
Bacon comes into the ISDE as not only a rookie, but the man of the moment in Australia this year by taking all before him at the national level with a runway victory in the A4DE and outright leadership of the national off-road title with four rounds remaining. All on a Yamaha WR250F.
Related reading:
Australia awarded ISDE Senior Trophy!
ISDE: Aussie girls victorious
Other than ISDE stalwart Milner, who has been competing in the 2022 EnduroGP title, all the other Aussie riders have also been competing at a local level this year – with Waters also combining his enduro duties with an excellent third place finish in the MX1 class of the Australian Motocross Championship. He could be the ultimate weapon for the motocross special test on day six of the ISDE…
Australia has a long and proud tradition in the IDSE and is one of only two nations to have scored a clean sweep – victory in all three divisions – in the history of the event. The whitewash came in 2015, with France the first to achieve the holy grail three years earlier.
The ISDE has been held on Australian soil twice: at Cessnock (NSW) in 1992 and Traralgon (Vic) in 1998. The first ISDE was held in 1913, and only the two world wars and COVID-19 have forced the event into temporary hibernation.
The 2022 ISDE field will be dominated by four-stroke machinery, but one intrepid French rider will be campaigning a 30-year-old Honda CR500. It’s a peaky two-stroke machine not supremely suited to the tighter confines of enduro, but he obviously enjoys the thrill of the hunt.
The opening ceremony was held on August 28, and on day one of racing there were five special tests to get things underway.
To keep up to date with news and results from the 2022 ISDE from Le Puy En Velay in France, click here.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
