Seeding Runs at World Championships

The World Championships track in Val Di Sole, Italy is looking great. The seeding runs were pretty impressive. Gee and Rachel took the top place and it seems that alot of riders will be playing a tactical game as the seeding runs will surely be far different from the finals.
Sam Hill's drift at the finish line is superb!

2009 World Cup Schedule

8 DH World Cups plus the Worlds in Australia! Buy your tickets now.

April 11-12 UCI World Cup XCO/DHI/4X Round 1 Pietermaritzburg (RSA)
April 25-26 UCI World Cup XCO Round 2 Offenburg (GER)
May 2-3 UCI World Cup XCO/4X Round 3/2 Houffalize (BEL)
May 9-10 UCI World Cup DHI Round 2 TBC
May 16-17 UCI World Cup DHI/4X Round 3 Vallnord (AND)
May 23-24 UCI World Cup XCO Round 4 Madrid (ESP)
June 6-7 UCI World Cup DHI/4X Round 4 Fort William (GBR)
June 20-21 UCI World Cup DHI/4X Round 5 Maribor (SLO)
July 18-19 National Championships XCO/DHI/4X
July 25-26 UCI World Cup XCO/DHI/4X Round 5/6 Mont-Sainte-Anne (CAN)
August 1-2 UCI World Cup XCO/DHI/4X Round 6/7 TBC
August 23 UCI Marathon World Championships Graz (AUT)
September 1-5 UCI XCO/DHI/4X World Championships Canberra (AUS)
September 12-13 UCI World Cup XCO Round 7 Champéry (SUI)
September 19-20 UCI World Cup XCO/DHI/4X Round 8 Schladming (AUT)

There is a rumor that the TBA location may be a location like Lisbon that hosts the Urban Downtown Race.

We will see about that...

Not so pumped?

With the current wins on the World Cup circuit it is making for a very exciting season. You really can't under estimate anyone at the upcoming races. Sam will be looking for a return to the top. Gee is not going to give it up that easy, Greg is fitting in to the new team well and Rennie's taste for the podium has been reinvigorated. And lets face it Peaty is a beast on the bike. The list of potential winners is getting longer and longer and that type of unpredictability is what creates a stir of emotion come race day. Two weeks is Worlds in Val Di Sole, Italy. I have my picks for the top three, you got yours?

UCI World Cup Scotland DH Finals

Great results for Santa Cruz Syndicate

Minnaar wins by 3 seconds!
Gee Atherton
Steve Peat
Nathan Rennie
Sam Hill
Ben Cathro (in the condom)

Paging Sam Hill, Sam Hill to the finish line...

Fort William Day One

Downhill track looks dry and fast for a change, we will see how long that lasts.

In 4X qualifying today Jared Graves on a little break from the 20 inch, qualified first with Dan Atherton in second and Prokop in third. Dan Atherton was spotted on his new titanium hardtail during 4X practice. It looks great!

ATHERTONS WIN ACROSS THE BOARD!

Gee Atherton just took the win against Sam in a stunning weekend. Rachel won the womens, Dan took the 4X win, on Commencal turf none the less. These guys deserve it. More to come. Oh yeah Freecaster froze, after an hour and half of watching the last man on course was Gee and 20 seconds before his finish it just locked up. BLUE BALLS!!!

Gee got Sam by 0.31 seconds.

In other WC news J.D. Swanguen's bike fell off the lift and dropped about 30 feet and broke the front fork (insert Manitou joke here) he had no practice before his race run. I wonder how Jerry the mechanic felt about that?

Rachel won!

Rachel took the win over Sabrina Jonnier today in the second stop of the UCI World Cup Series. Vallnord Bike Park in Andorra played host and saw the skies hold back for the womens finals. With the fastest qualifying time she was favored to take the win. With a win for Dan Atherton in mens 4X yesterday the pressure will be on Gee to take the win. He qualified fastest with Sam on his heels but in mens finals anything can happen.

Qualifying

First of all you had better be watching the live feed care of some website. There are plenty of sites hosting the feed. Mens Qualifiers was impressive for Commencal having Gee qualify first. The Womens Qualifiers was even more impressive with Rachel Atherton beating the field by over 13 seconds. Again this is qualifying so anything can happen. Matthias and Rob are crazy! Matthias had his foot in his mouth several times, its great!