Look out for news fromA�from young Aussie rider Connor Fearon, as downhill247.com follows his progress this year. Connor has come off a super successful domestic season where he won the Under 19A�National Series and Championships. His first race of the year in South Africa wasn’t quite what he was hoping for, read his race review here:
Coming into World Cup round one I was training on my fitness
and pedalling. I knew I wasna��t fit enough for it yet but was feeling better
than what I usually do so I was pretty confident. I rocked up to Durban airport
and got picked up by Matti, Konaa��s mechanic. Got out onto the freeway and see a
ute fly past with a few Africans in the back. Definitely a culture shock for
me! It was pretty sad seeing all the slums on the drive to Pietermaritzburg,
something I would never see back home in Australia. We were staying in a pretty
cosy B&B complete with barb wire fencinga��
After riding the track I figured it was actually pretty fun and fast to ride. It
would be a cool race track if it wasna��t for the big pedal in the middle of it.
I ended up qualifying 49th which I was ok about. I definitely wanted
to improve in the finals. I was feeling good for my race run, unfortunately I
made a bit of a mistake near the top which wasna��t too much of a setback. I
cranked the pedal as much as I could but my legs were hurting along the way.
This bit of the track was definitely a weakness for me, looking at the split
timing I proved myself right loosing 24 positions along the pedal. I ended up
finishing 61st which is my worst result in the few World Cups Ia��ve
raced. It was a disappointing result but now I know what I have to do to do
well next year in the World Championships!