The second round of the 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship moved to Portugal for the legendary Extreme XL Lagares, featuring three days of intense racing. Once again, the high level of the riders, changing weather conditions, and the physical demands of the competition led to some fierce battles.
The event kicked off on Friday with the traditional riders' parade from the center of Peñafiel to Agrival. Shortly after, at 12:00, the first race,the Eurocode prologue,took place, covering a demanding 60 km course through spectacular forests. Francesc Moret secured 6th place, Eric Miquel finished 19th, and Chugg Radford crossed the line in 37th.
Later that evening, around 20:00, the Night Super Special was held in Peñafiel to determine the starting order for the next day. This second race combined forest sections with urban obstacles. Moret stepped up his pace, delivering an excellent performance to finish 3rd. Eric Miquel placed 13th among the top riders, while Chugg Radford finished 27th.
On Saturday, the Extreme Peñafiel took place over a 115 km forest route, featuring the iconic technical river sections filled with rocks. Due to the rain, these sections became extremely slippery, adding even more difficulty. Francesc Moret finished 16th, Chugg Radford 21st, and Eric Miquel 26th.
Sunday hosted the main race, physically demanding across all categories, with the top Gold class starting at 15:00. The format was similar to Le Mans, with a technical 5 km loop repeated over a total duration of 2 hours plus one lap. Early rain made the terrain even more treacherous, especially in the dense vegetation and technical trial sections. In the end, only 10 riders managed to complete nine laps.
Francesc Moret completed eight laps to finish 13th. Eric Miquel also completed eight laps, securing a solid 19th place after a challenging weekend. Meanwhile, Rieju Rutherford rider Chugg Radford completed one lap less, finishing 24th.
Eric Miquel:
“It wasn’t the best start to the weekend. As an FIM rider, I should have had priority in the starting positions, but I was placed 41st, behind many non-FIM riders. It was a mistake, and despite protesting, nothing changed. I started from there and climbed 21 positions, even with the rain making the terrain very slippery, but it didn’t count for points since only the top three scored.
In the SuperTest, I finished 13th, which was quite good, although I had to take risks riding at night with limited visibility. On Saturday, I started from the same position but couldn’t really find my rhythm, as the rain made everything very slippery. I had to push physically a lot, and after five hours on the bike, I was completely exhausted.
Sunday was the most important race and my chance to push for points. I didn’t start well, around 26th, so I had to fight my way up to the top 15. Then I had a heavy crash after another rider took me down, losing positions. Despite that, I managed to regain my pace and finish 19th among the PRO riders, scoring one point.
I’m happy to have scored in the World Championship among the top riders in the world,it’s not easy. I leave motivated and eager to keep pushing.”
