IMB Issue 17 Goes Live

 The latest issue of IMB has just gone live and features an interview with one of my all time riding heroes Fabien Barel. Getting photos for this feature was a bit of a nightmare, but Irmo Keizer steped forwards and saved the day. I love the opening DPS our designer created for this. It was great to find out about what Barel's been up to since 'retiring', no doubt it's going to be a very different World Cup series without him.

Also in this issue with Morewood's Lloyd Ramsay. I'd spoken to Lloyd a couple of times over twitter about working on an article together so it was great to make it happen. Oh, and the Trail Guide and 'glamping' in Dartmoor. The less said about that the better really...

Fabien Barel

 Morewood Bikes - 10 Years Strong

 Trail Guide

Marc Beaumont Wins Halo BDS Round One

Marc Beaumont has won the opening round of the 2012 BDS in Combe Sydenham with nearly a three second lead over Josh Bryceland! Crowd favourite Brendan Fairclough crossed the line in third on board his new Scott downhill bike with Matt Simmonds in fourth and Rich Thomas rounding up the podium in fifth spot.

Combe Sydenham was last used as a venue by the NPS (National Point Series) back in 2004. The new track was purpose built by local riders on private land kindly lent to the BDS for the race, proved a huge hit with both racers and spectators. Granted it looks a bit dead in the picture below, but Bryceland was the penultimate man down, and everyone had moved down to the finish area…

 Matti Lehikoinen added a touch of international flavour to the day finishing 19th in his first race back since his injury at the end of the season last year. In fact all the CRC/Nukeproof boys had top 20 finishes, including team manager Nigel Page who won the veterans category, ahead of Jason Carpenter.

Elite Men Top Five

1 Marc Beaumont 2:25.976
2 Josh Bryceland 2:28.902
3 Brendan Fairclough 2:30.035
4 Matt Simmonds 2:30.426
5 Rich Thomas 2:30.458

In the women’s race all eyes were firmly on Rachel Atherton and Manon Carpenter. With Rachel having missed out on the opening round of the World Cup in Pietermaritzburg this was their first race together in 2012. Rachel’s brother Gee may have missed out on racing due to his broken tibia, but he was on his crutches by the side of the track to give Rachel his support. But it was Manon Carpenter who took her first BDS victory, beating Rachel by just over half a second.

 
Elite Women Top Five

1 Manon Carpenter 2:51.960
2 Rachel Atherton 2:52.594
3 Jess Stone 3:03.585
4 Angela Coates 3:17.421
5 Emma Wareham 3:17.759

Full results can be found on here on roots and rain.

Greg Minnaar Wins Pietermaritzburg World Cup!

Greg Minnaar has stormed to victory taking first place in the opening round of the World Cup on home soil in Pietermaritzburg!

Last year’s World Cup winner Aaron Gwin was just over half a second behind Minnaar’s time, and Mick Hannah who finished in third was only a second back, with Gee Atherton and Steve Smith rounding up the podium.

As the top 30 gathered at the top of the hill, Brendan Fairclough was sweating it out on the hot seat. Fairclough will be the first to admit that this isn’t a track that suits him, and it was a crash on this track last year that plagued his season, but with a new knee and a new bike, the Scott Gambler, he was able to come away finishing twentieth.

It was Gwin’s team mate Neko Mullaly who knocked Fairclough off the hot seat, only to have to make way for next rider down Julien Camellini. Camellini qualified third here last year but disaster struck in his race run when his gear cable snapped and he was forced to ride single speed, destroying his chances and leaving him absolutely devastated.

With this being the first race of the season we were going to see many riders on new teams or with new bikes, and Camellini is one such rider, going it alone this year on his own race program. Lots of big names set out, but it wasn’t until South African rider Andrew Neethling crossed the line that Camellini’s time was bettered, although he had done enough for a top ten finish.

Needles looked to be tucking between the jumps for speed and to conserve energy, and it paid of, with the home crowd going wild. Needles’ time at the top was short lived with Yeti/Fox rider Jared Graves just edging him off the hot seat. This year Graves is focussing purely on racing downhill, completely changing his training regime and it paid off, with Graves finishing in sixth place, just half a second off a spot on the podium.

Sick Mick famously qualified fastest here last year, only to crash out so hard he snapped his stem bolts in his race run. There would be no repeat of that today, and no doubt spurred on by his sister’s earlier victory Mick set off. Mick is an incredibly powerful rider and was nearly four seconds up at the second split after the gruelling pedalling section of the track, and was the first rider of the day to beat the qualifying times, with a 3:58.97 run.

Gee Atherton had a disappointing top section, but was able to make up time mid-track to finish in fourth. Steve Smith is another dangerously strong rider and was down at the second split, but was able to buck the trend of losing time on the bottom section and managed to sprint into fifth place.
Pietermaritzburg was the venue for Gwin’s first victory last year, and the start of his campaign for domination. Qualifying was so close between Gwin and Minnaar, with just eight hundredths of a second separating them.

Today saw more of the same, and Minnaar shot into the lead beating Gwin by just over half a second. Greg’s home crowd went wild as he sprinted past the line, taking his sixteenth World Cup victory greeted by team mate Steve Peat, then swamped by his One Life crew!

Men's Top Five

1 Greg Minnaar 3:57.98
2 Aaron Gwin 3:58.61
3 Mick Hannah 3:58.97
4 Gee Atherton 3:59.28
5 Steve Smith 4:02.36

Full results can be found here.

2011 World Cup Re-Cap Part Three

Never before in the history of downhill racing have the words “worst kept secret” been used so frequently in the off-season. In fact in many cases when the press releases were finally sent out their contents were no longer news at all. Still, rumours and gossip aside we were all sat at our screens waiting for those official statements to come out!

Comic by @teamrumours

The award for the biggest shake up as to go to the Athertons, who after five years of running Commencal bikes, said their goodbyes and joined the GT Factory Racing Team, alongside Marc Beaumont. As well as parting ways with Commencal, it was also announced the Athertons had parted ways with Animal after 10 years of support, and would now be riding for One Industries.

Not to be outdone, Brendan Fairclough had everyone gussing who his new team would be, before it was finally announced in December last year that he would be part of the Scott 11 Racing team. Fairclough carried over some of his major sponsors from previous years, including Troy Lee Designs and Monster Energy. Fairclough had a busy off season undergoing reconstructive surgery on his knee before hading out to California to get in some training in the sun. While we might know what team he’s on, it’s still not entirely clear what bike he’ll be running…

Ms Evil Racing paired with Mondraker Factory racing to become Ms Mondraker Team combining members of both former teams, along with the addition of Emmeline Ragot. This could well prove to be the team to beat with Emmeline riding alongside Brook MacDonald, Damien Spagnolo and Markus Pekoll.

With the Athertons now riding for GT, many people were left wondring what would happen to former GT rider Mick Hannah. Well, along with his sister, Hannah, Sick Mick will be a part of the Hutchinson United Ride team. Also new to the team is Guillaume Cauvin, who finished 3^rd at the last Junior World Championship in Champéry.

Whilst no-one joined or left the Santa Cruz Syndicate, there were a few changes within the team. After an eight year long partnership it was announced that they would no longer be running SRAM/RockShox components, and were making the switch to a Shimano and Fox setup. This marked the end of a 16 year relationship between Steve Peat and Rock Shox. After what’s got to be a similar length of time Greg Minnaar parted ways with Alpine Star, and will now be riding for O’Neal.

Giant Factory Off Road said goodbye to Duncan Riffle, who found a new ride with the Dirt Norco team, meaning it will be just Danny Hart and Andrew Neethling taking care of the downhill duties for Giant, but I’m sure they’ll be more than capable. Just like his teammate, Neethling is now a part of the SRAM BlackBox program.

After winning the BDS Alex Bond was picked up by Chain Reaction Cycles/Nukeproof then flew out to California for some pre-season training with the Athertons, only to break his collarbone. But having packed his hand luggage full of paracetemol Al will be racing in Pietermaritzburg this weekend.

Tracy Moseley announced at the end of 2011 that she would not be a member of the Trek World Racing team for 2012, and would instead be doing her own thing as part of T-Mo Racing focussing on competing in select events, still with support from Trek. Whilst TWR haven’t got any new riders, they have enlisted former World Champion Myles Rockwell to act as a rider liaison to help the team with their training and race strategy’s. Aaron Gwin’s hard work last year paid of with the overall World Cup title as well as being picked up by Red Bull.

Not wanting to be left out of all the Chinese whispers, Red Bull decided they wanted to join in the fun and games and hinted that they would be broadcasting the World Cup series, and then waited until last week, when we could take no more suspense before announcing that they would indeed be brining us every single race, along with commentary from Rob Warner.

So be sure to be logged on to www.redbull.com/bike at 2pm local time South Africa, when the World’s best will come together to kick start the greatest race series. Are you excited yet, because you sure as hell should be!

2011 World Cup Re-Cap Part Two

While the track at Mont Sainte Anne may have witnessed many changes over the years, with tweaks to the course and new lines carved down the mountainside, the venue itself still remains one of the oldest on the World Cup circuit. It’s quite ironic then that the top ten was made up entirely of the ‘new wave’ of riders.

The Punisher - Mont Sainte Anne world cup 2011 from TriRide on Vimeo.

It was here in 2008 that Aaron Gwin made his World Cup debut, exploding onto the scene with a number ten finish. With three years more experience and knowledge, not to mention the confidence from already winning to World Cups that season, Gwin returned and took the victory. Also full of confidence from a win at the BDS the previous week was Josh Bryceland who had the race of his life, finishing in second place just half a second behind Gwin.

Also making a return to the podium in Mont Sainte Anne were Brook MacDonald, Danny Hart and Cameron Cole. Disaster struck Gee Atherton early on in his race run when his tyre blew off and wrapped itself around his wheel. Gee could barely contain his frustration as he was forced to carry his bike down the rest of the track. Greg Minnaar also suffered on the Canadian track with a crash in his race run that saw him finish in eight place.

Having won the World Champs here in 2010, Sam Hill would have been hoping for a similar result, but a crash the week before the race re-aggravated his shoulder injury from crashing in Fort William, also in the 2010 season, which left him unable to continue with the 2011 series.

Windham, USA made its return to the World Cup Circuit, and while it might be the shortest track, it still remains one of the most popular with the riders. While Gwin might have been on home soil all eyes were firmly on Steve Peat, who had a flying race run here with a time that would seen him take a comfortable win, but had a huge crash coming into the final stretch. Peaty may have only qualified in ninth spot, but he held things together in his race run and was sitting comfortably in the hot seat up until last man down the hill Aaron Gwin set off and beat Peat’s time by nearly two and a half seconds.

The last time Gee and Greg raced here there were just a handful of points separating them, that would decide who would take the overall win. Once again on this course it was Gee who would beat Greg, but this time they were down in 11th and 12th place respectively, and their chances of taking the overall title were slipping further away from them.

After two races stateside the World Cup returned to Europe for round six, with French venue La Bresse also returning to the circuit. Peaty was the last rider to win here, and in doing so equaled Nico Vouilloz’s record of an incredible 16 World Cup wins. Peaty qualified in fourth place with Gee Atherton, Steve Smith and of course Aaron Gwin ahead of him.

Old School - La Bresse world cup 2011 from TriRide on Vimeo.

Ben Cathro had an incredible race run, and spent most the afternoon on the hot seat until top ten regular Justin Leov nudged him out the way. In fact apart from the opening and closing rounds of the series Leov was always a top ten finisher. Aaron Gwin may have been scooping up the big points, but Leov’s consistency certainly helped Trek World Racing take the team title.

Josh Bryceland had a flying run and could have been on for a second podium, but just metres away from the finish line he slipped a pedal, went over the bars and ended up in a disappointing 54th place. Team mate and mentor Steve Peat was equally unlucky in his race run, slipping off the track at the top of the course and slipping in through some tape fractionally further along, slowing him down by a few seconds and giving him a time that would have placed him fourth. But the UCI decided that as he had left the track, and did not re enter from the same spot, he would be disqualified from the race.

Greg Minnaar stepped in and saved the day for the Santa Cruz guys, with his second and final win of the series. Gee Atherton was just half a second behind Greg, but ended up with his best result of the series. While Gwin didn’t have the perfect race run, he did enough to finish in third place, and that was all he needed to be crowned the overall winner of the 2011 series.

But the real story at La Bresse was the announced retirement of Fabien Barel. On home soil and standing on the podium for a final time, Barel announced that this would be his final season of downhill racing. His big crash last year had obviously taken it’s toll on him, and with two podiums this season Barel had proved to himself that he had successfully returned to top level riding, but he had done enough, and would be bowing out.

Having already taken the overall series win, Val di Sole in Italy would prove to be Gwin’s victory lap. With no pressure to perform Gwin comfortably qualified first for Sunday’s race just ahead of Steve Smith. Unfortunately for Steve he crashed hard during Sunday mornings practice and broke a bone in his ankle. But his high performance across the season meant he hobbled onto the overall podium in fifth place, even after missing out on the final race.

Troy Brosnan had a fantastic race run, sprinting out of every corner and tucking in every straight. He finished fourth here in Val di Sole, earning his first spot on the Elite mens podium. In 2011 Troy not only won the Junior World Cup series, but also finished eighth overall in the Elite class.

Gee Atherton had done well at VdS before, winning the World Champs here in 2008, but Danny Hart had one hell of a wild race run knocking beating Gees time by nearly three seconds. Somehow though Gwin managed to dig even deeperand took his fifth victory of the season, the first rider ever to do so in the history of the sport.

There is no denying it, Gwin dominated the 2011 season. The question on everyone's lips now is whether or not he can pull it off again, or if his success has acted as inspiration to force everyone to train harder and put in more hours on the bike. I guess we’ll find out in nine days time…

Stay tuned for the final part of this feature, when I’ll be looking at the team changes coming in to the new series.

2011 World Cup Re-Cap Part One

There's now just over a week to go until the opening race of the 2012 UCI Downhill World Cup, so lets take a look back at some of the action from last year’s series!

Freecaster 2011 DVD trailer from WFO Media on Vimeo.

Similarly to this year the series kicked off in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The course had been treated to a slight face lift since it’s debut on the World Cup circuit, with the start gate pushed back a minute and a half up the hill, but the long energy sapping motorway section half way down the track still proved largely unpopular with most riders.

In his qualifying run Brendan Fairclough dabbed his foot whilst coming through the rock garden and injured his knee, leaving him unable to compete in Sunday’s race. It was only upon returning to the UK Brendan was able to get his knee properly examined and the full extent of the damage became clear, resulting in Brendan having his ACL removed just 12 days before the race in Fort William. This injury continued to plague Brendan throughout his 2011 season.

Back in South Africa and in his first World Cup race since since breaking his femur in May 2010, Fabien Barel proved he’d made a full recovery by storming into fourth place, making a welcome return to the podium, alongside Steve Peat in fifth, who had also made a long awaited return to form. But it was Aaron Gwin, who with a new team, a new bike and a new coach who took top spot on the day, onboard a Session 88 fitted with a semi slick rear tyre and a dropper seatpost.

Bike setup aside Gwin’s victory in Pietermaritzburg showed that his intense off season training had paid off, and that he had the bike handling skills to go with it. Whilst the 2010 season might have been all about Gee Atherton and Greg Minnaar, 2011 firmly belonged to Gwin. In only his third full season Gwin went on to become the first rider in history, to win five rounds of the World Cup in one season, and took the overall victory with a 465 point lead.

Interestingly while Gwin may have been stealing the limelight, the battle between Gee and Greg rolled over into the ’11 season, only this time the two were left to fight for second place. Minnaar might have beaten Gee on his him soil in Pietermaritzburg, but would he be able to do it again in Round Two at Fort William when the tables were turned and it was Gee with the home advantage.
Fort William 2011 will forever be remembered for producing some of the most exciting race action in the history of the sport. Gwin had qualified in first place but right behind him were last year’s winner Gee Atherton, Danny Hart and Greg Minnaar.

Mick Hannah had a disastrous start to the season, qualifying first in Pitermaritzburg, but crashing out in his race run with such force that he sheered the bolts on his stem. After a disappointing qualifying run here in Fort Bill Mick was keen to make amends and promptly did so, getting himself onto the hot seat.

Few riders came close to Hannah’s time but no-one seemed able to match the power Hannah put down in the final part of the track. Josh Button managed to knock Hannah off the top spot, closely followed by Scott 11 rider Fabien Pedemanaud, then Brook McDonald reminded everyone of his former Juniour World Champion smashing Pedemanaud’s time by over seven seconds, really putting the pressure on everyone at the top of the mountain. MacDonald’s time was untouchable and it wasn’t until Minnaar crossed the line that he was knocked off, but with only three riders left MacDonald was guaranteed his first ever place on the Elite men’s podium.

Fabien Barel is always a rider to watch out for but a slip up at the top of the track left him with a broken wheel and unable to finish. Similarly Steve Smith made a small mistake but he somehow managed to keep things under control and still finished in tenth place. A second place here for Cameron Cole last year catapulted him into the limelight. This year he was just half a second off a spot on the podium and had to settle for sixth place. Right behind him were fellow kiwi’s Sam Blenkinsop and Justin Leov, meaning in total there were four riders from New Zealand in the top ten.

With the crowds just settling from Minnaar’s run, Danny Hart set off and started getting seriously wild on the top section of the track. His first and second split times put him above Greg but he lost speed in the final section and crossed the line greeted by the loudest roar from the crowd just over a second behind Greg’s time. This would be Hart’s first podium as an elite rider, as well as Giant’s first podium in ten years, and Danny couldn’t be happier.

Next rider down Gee Atherton was under so much pressure after winning here last year, but as he crossed the finish line it was clear that something wasn’t quite right. In fact Gee’s rear wheel was smashed to pieces yet he was still able to ride to the bottom of the course and finish in fourth place. Not the result he’d been hoping for, but one he should be proud of considering the circumstances.

All eyes were on Aaron Gwin as he set off from the starters gate. After winning the first round of the World Cup as well as the US open many people were expecting Gwin to walk away with first place again today. Gwin’s time at the second split put him in front of Greg by five seconds, but a small crash cost him dearly and he ended up finishing in fifth. Greg had now been victorious at Fort Bill more times than any other rider, with four first place finishes!

Just seven days later the world’s best gathered in Leogang, Austria on a track that is slowly gaining the affection of those who compete on it. Brook Macdonold was looking for a repeat of last week’s success at Fort William and once again found himself on the hot seat watching the rest of the field coming down trying to better his time. Sadly Brook hadn’t done enough this week but he still finished in an impressive tenth place.

It was Sam Hill who knocked him off the top spot and went on to finish fifth, giving the Monster Energy Specialized rider his World Cup podium since 2009. Team mate and fellow Australian Troy Brosnan finished 15th after a small crash on a corner that caught out many other riders. Brendan Fairclough, still coming to terms with his injured knee came in a disappointing 31st on a track that many thought would suit his riding style.

Danny Hart really excels on these steep tracks and was surely hoping for another spot on the podium. He was the fastest rider down in Friday’s timed practice so knew he was capable of something special. Hart looked much more in control of his bike this week and almost seemed to float over the roots strewn across the course. Hart came so close to Hill’s time and ended up finishing in sixth place.
Blenkinsop is another rider who laps up the steeper technical courses. Blinky finished fourth here last year after qualifying first but just couldn’t find it this year and ended up in ninth place.

Last year’s winner and next man down Greg Minnaar was up on Hill’s time at the first split and took the lead by three and a half seconds. Justin Leov couldn’t catch Minnaar’s time, then Andrew Neethling and Fabien Barel crashed in their race runs, guaranteeing Minnaar a spot on the podium.
Steve Smith’s first split time placed him in 21st but he went on to put down a solid run and earnt himself a place on the podium finishing in fourth. Gee Atherton was absolutely flying down and looked faster than anyone. Atherton proved exactly why he’s the defending World Cup champion and finished three and a half seconds up on Minnaar’s time.

All eyes were now on Aaron Gwin who had once again finished first. Even with a crash at Fort William Gwin finished fifth. How would he cope today, would the pressure of being last rider down get to him again? Well, the short answer is no! Gwin looked to be in a league of his own and was up at the first split by five seconds. A slip on the pedals cost him time but he still won with a two second lead!

Stay tuned for part two where we’ll be looking at all the action from Mont Sainte Anne, La Bresse and Val di Sole.

IMB Issue 16 Goes live

 Issue 16 of IMB is now live. This issue, thanks to the guys at Trek UK and Martin Whiteley at 23-degrees sports, I was able ton interview the 2011 World Cup winner Aaron Gwin, the biggest interview of my career to my date.

To steal the intro from the interview:

"It’s strange that in such an adrenaline fueled and action packed sport as downhill racing, it’s often the statistics that stand out the most. And already there are a lot of firsts in Gwin’s relatively short downhill race history. Take this past season alone; the first American rider to win a World Cup since 1999, the first American to win the overall title and the first rider to win five World Cup races in one season. It seems winning is something that comes quite naturally to Mr Gwin…"

There's no two ways about it, Gwin dominated the 2011 season, wrapping up the overall title with a race still to go. Will he be able to do it all over again this year? Will other riders have stepped up their winter training? It's going to be great watching and seeing what unfolds!

Also this issue I interview South African Photographer Ewald Sadie in 'The ESP Profile'. Ewald's got soem great shots so it was cool to be able to help him share his work. I was also 'fortunate' enough to re-write Will's feature on his trip to Switzerland last year. Will can take some incredible photos, but sadly the guy can't write for shit...

Aaron Gwin

 The ESP Profile

 Swiss Side

Winterberg Ski and Snowboard

With two riding trips to Morzine, racing in the Megavalanche and going to mulitple weddings, me and my girlfriend never really had a chance to go on a proper summer holiday together. A couple of weeks ago we saw people boasting about German Christmas markets coming to their towns. We got talking and she said she'd really like to go to a real one, but she also wanted to go skiing again.

I'd never been on a snow sports holiday but really wanted to get into snowboarding. She'd never been to Germany but wanted to go to a Christmas market. Hmm, a plan was hatched. To Winterberg!

I went  biking here last year and loved the town so was keen to visit again, and learning to snowboard gave me an excuse to buy a cool coat and more goggles! Love my goggles. I booked a few lessons at Xscape, spoke to Ellis who I'd stayed with before and soon enough we were on the flight over to Dortmund.

In the weeks leading up to the holiday I'd been frantically checking the live web cameras of the slopes, but had yet to see a single snow flake. Needless to say it was a massive relief to start seeing more and more snow as the train made it's way to the small town. In fact we were incredibly lucky and had fresh snow every day! More than enough to have our own beer fridge on the balcony...

The first day was spent on a blue slope, with both of us trying to remember how to ski or board. By the second day we'd figured out how to use the maps and ventured out. It wasn't until the third day that I made it down a red run without nearly killing myself! Great fun though.

On Thursdays the slopes are floodlit so you can stay out till late and ski in the dark. The lifts run until 10pm, and while we weren't overly tired, cold or worn out, we didn't make it to the end, just because we couldn't take anymore euro-pop! On the way back to the B&B Harriet went a bit 'urban' skiing down the roads. Not quite J.P Auclair style, but pretty cool to watch!

By the final day we really didn't want to leave, but it was Christmas Eve and we really needed to be heading home!

Downhill World Champs 2011

Danny Hart has cemented his place in the history books, winning the 2011 World Champs by an incredible 11 and a half seconds! Champéry is without a shadow of a doubt the steepest and most technical track out there and conditions could not have been any worse. Rain poured down the mountainside for the entire race, and the fog and mist made it almost impossible for the riders to see more than a few feet in front of them.


Brendan Fairclough was the first contender for the World Champion title, and was up at the first split onboard his new carbon-fiber demo 8. Fairclough has had a pretty tough season, after seriously damaging his knee in the opening round of the World Cup at Pietermaritzburg. Fairclough opted to have his ACL removed so he could be back on his bike as soon as possible, his sole aim for the season to do well here in Champéry. He crossed the line in 3:55.124 putting him in the hot seat and earning him fourth place. Not the result he would have wanted, but still a great performance none-the-less.

Fairclough’s MES team mate Sam Hill was also a serious contender for getting the gold. Hill may have missed out on the final rounds of the World Cup series after aggravating his shoulder injury in a crash whilst training, but as he proved last year he’s never one to rule out, especially on a track as steep and technical as this.

With his title to defend Hill put on one hell of a show, picking some crazy lines and looking seriously fast. But it wasn’t to be enough and he crossed the line just over two and a half seconds behind Fairclough, but still taking a top ten finish. Hopefully next year Hill will be able to stay injury free throughout and make a return to form.

According to the rumor mill the French team has been training at Champéry ever since the final round of the World Cup at Val di Sol. However true that may or not be, any time the French riders had been putting in, it certainly paid off, with Damien Spagnola and Mickael Pascal finishing in second and fifth place respectively. Fellow countryman Fabien Barel was waiting to congratulate both of them as soon as they crossed the finish line. No doubt his racing experience played a huge roll in the team’s success.

Josh Bryceland was hotly tipped to do well, however after taking the high line on a berm early on in the track he crashed out over the bars and his carbon V-10 sailed passed the crash net and down the side of the mountain, leaving him unable to finish his race run and understandably devastated.

Kiwi rider Sam Blenkinsop was also tipped to do well here and he didn’t disappoint. Blinky seems to really excel on tracks such as this and he proved that once again today finishing in third place. Like so many other riders Blenkinsop was caught out by a blown out berm that also trapped many others.

Blenkinsop’s former team mate and fellow New Zealander Justin Leov is a solid rider and top ten regular but he crashed out and ended up finishing 23rd. Andrew Neethling and Brook Macdonald were also unable to beat Spagnola’s time.

All eyes were on Danny Hart as he set off from the start gate. At just 19 years old Danny has had the season of his life and he was looking to end it with another stellar performance. Hart was the first and only rider to tackle the blind log drop putting him over four seconds in the lead at the first split. Riding his incredible, all-out loose style Hart was in a different league to everyone else and went up an incredible 10 seconds at the next split! Coming into the final section, Danny pulled an insane whip and sprinted across the finish line over eleven seconds faster than anyone else. No question about it, Danny absolutely destroyed the competition.

Only three riders could knock Hart off the top spot, and Gee Atherton was one of them. A former World Champion himself, and winner here last year in similar conditions, if Gee held it together the title could be his once again. Gee hadn’t had the best couple of days in the run up to the race, knocking himself out in a crash in practice, and the nightmare continued for him today, crashing twice in his race run and ending up way down in the field.

Minnaar can always be relied on to succeed, but he just couldn’t put everything together, and although he put in a great run, he just couldn’t match Hart’s time and finished in eighth place.

Just Aaron Gwin left. Could he be the first American rider to win the World Champs since 2000? Gwin exploded onto the race scene with a top ten finish in his first World Cup race at Mont Sainte Anne, and this season with a new team and a new bike he’s had a second wave, winning five of the World Cup rounds and taking the season overall. Gwin seems to find time where no-one else can, so if anyone could beat Hart it would be him.

At the first split Gwin was just under a second behind Hart’s time. With so much of the track left Gwin had every chance of making that time up and taking the win. But a crash nearing the final second handed the title to Hart. Today Danny truly is the champion of the world!

1st Danny Hart (GBR) – 3:41.989
2nd Damien Spagnola (FRA) – 3:53.688
3rd Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) – 3:54.982
4th Brendan Fairclough (GBR) – 3:55.124
5th Mickael Pascal (FRA) – 3:56.631

Of course it would be impossible to talk about today’s race without mentioning Fabien Barel. After finishing fourth at La Bresse at the start of August, and on home soil, Barel announced that he would be retiring from racing and that the World Championships would be his last race.

A few days later, whilst on a training ride Barel crashed and broke four ribs leaving him unable to compete at the final round of the World Cup in Val di Sol. Barel was one of the most determined and focused riders on the circuit and has come back from injury before. Riding clipped in pedals and with his ribs still broken Barel sprinted across the finish line and finished 10th.

No doubt bikes will continue to play a huge part in Barel’s life, but he will be sadly missed from the race scene. All the best Fabien, and thank you for being one of the best riders out there, both on and off the track.

IMB Issue 12 Goes Live

Issue 12 of IMB has just gone live. It's quite funny looking back through the last launch post and reading the words: "here's to hoping it won't be as bad next issue!". It was as bad. This issue there was the added challenge of trying to write the Trail Guide with no recollection of any of the day's riding.

After driving all the way up to Fort William for the World Cup it made sense to visit one of the 7Staines trail centres, and we hooked up with ride guide/coach Clive Forth. The photos from the day look amazing, so I can only assuming the riding matched it, as I overshot one of the jumps in the skills area, crashing on the take-off to the next jump and knocking myself unconscious. Smooth.

I woke up on the ground with no idea where I was, what I'd been doing or where the brand new DaKine clothes I was wearing had come from. Hopefully it'll make for a good read!

Fort William

Mabie Trail Guide