For the first time in a long time the conditions at Fort William are sunny and dry! The track is so dry it is catching a few riders out, some more serious than others! The other item of note was there was lots of punctures, will this come into play on Sunday?
Booosshhh! Here we go, World Cup number 1 is upon us…We head to Fort William and the conditions are good. The Aussie junior team is on hand to get use to World Cup conditions, bar Ben Hill, who due to a UCI ruling can’t ride until next weekend at round 2. Today’s trained practice saw Mic Hannah top the time sheet with a 4.43.921, being timed practice it is hard to make accurate predictions but no doubt SicA�Mic will be amongst it come Sunday. Rachel Atherton clocked aA�5.25.477 to be the fastest female on course, having never won her home World Cup she will no doubt be feeling the pressure. Enjoy the photos;
Fastest in practice and looking good. Sic Mic is stamping his authority early.The fastest female during timed practice, Rachel Atherton has never won at home but will be out to change this come Sunday. Let’s hope Tracey Hannah has something to say about this…The newest section on the track is this road gap (over a creek?!) here Aaron Gwin sends it. No doubt he will be one of the favourites but with a new team and new bike will this play into the finals on Sunday?Talking about new teams, Sam Hill will be keen to get back on top of the podium, especially after a dry few seasons, by his standards anyway!Now with a new team mate and returning from injury, Troy Brosnan had a lax timed practice run but as he said “tomorrow’s another day”, wisdom beyond his age and we would love to see TB snag his maiden World Cup victory.
We will be back with more images from qualifying soon.
Images: phunkt.com
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The pits for both the Australian domestic and the international season, are going to look substantially different for 2013.
Without doubt this has been one of the most intriguing off seasons to date, there has been some big changes, as well as some unexpected ones. With that in mind lets have a look at whereA�you can expect to see theA�Australians racing and on what.
Ben Hill – In his first season on the Clint White Racing program, Ben has started off with solid results in both the Tassie and Vic series, look as he pushes for Worlds selection later in the year.
Ben Power – Ben has been dealing with a injured hand but hopes to get to overseas later in the year to hit up some races in North America.
Bryn Atkinson – No real big changes for Bryn (and fiancee Jill Kintner) for 2013A�they are;A�”still riding for Norco, and running our own team. We’re both staying in the US this off season, so I’m not going to be at any Aussie races unfortunately”.
Caroline Buchannan – It was a nice surprise to see Caroline return to downhill for 2013, riding an Airborne bike Caroline has said she would like to race both downhill as well as 4X, not to mention her busy BMX program leading up to the 2016 Olympics, hectic indeed!
Chris Kovarik – Chris (and partner Claire) are still running the Kovarik Racing program which will see them attend selected races (such as Australian National Series races’) whilst continuing their successful ride clinics. A change for 2013 sees them on Fox suspension.
Connor Fearon – After a hugely successful 2012A�season Connor steps up from the junior ranks forA�his first season as a senior, still on Kona and unable to comment too muchA�on team commitments, with Mitch DelfsA�no longer on KonaA�don’t be surprised to see Connor as the soleA�team rider for 2013.
Crimmins Brothers – We thought we would cover both Andrew and Thomas together as a unit, both are racing for Giant Australia, expect their speed to continue to grow and watch as they make a push for Worlds’ selection.
Danielle Beecroft – After third at Junior Worlds in 2012, Danielle will continue riding Pivot Bikes for 2013A�and is “currently in talks with a major sponsor, that will help her in her quest to improve on her third place at the World Championships last year ” so expect more news soon.
David McMillan-A�David has continued with the Specialized Australia program for 2013, look out for David as he tries to head overseas later in the year to some international races. Currently the team has the 2013 alloy Demo with the carbon models landing in February.
We are super keen to see Dave have a good season this year, an off season scare with a crash at the dirt jumps hasn’t appeared to slow him down. He looks happy in this photo with his alloy Specialized, the carbon models are on their way (or maybe it is because he has got his hands on one of the super limited adition downhill247.com t-shirts?!) Photo: Ronnie Grammatica/toptobottom.it
Dean Lucas – Since returning form overseas Dean has been in good form at home on board his Kona, expect much the same in 2013.
Mitch Delfs – Mitch moves off Kona on to his new team, when we talked to him about he was coy other than saying he was “pretty stoked on the new gig” and he claims he will be on one “good looking bike”, more news as soon as we get it!
Jackson Davis – After success racing in Indonesia recently, Jackson will be racing for Specialized Australia this year at all the National races,A� when Sam Hill says Jackson has one of the best cornering techniques he has seen you definitely have to pay attention.
Jack Moir – After 5th at the 2012 World Champs inA�juniorA�Jack is in fine form and will be hitting up all the Nationals and as many World Cup races as possible. This year Jack is on the Yeti Australia team butA�our hot tip is that he will be picked up by the Yeti World Cup Team, watch this space…
Jack took his new Yeti to Thredbo to get some time on it before the Nationals start, from this photo it looks like he is pretty comfortable on it already! Photo: Ronnie Grammatica/toptobottom.itJack is pretty happy with his new set up and why wouldn’t you be! Photo: Ronnie Grammatica/toptobottom.it
Jared Graves – A strong start to 2012 in South Africa was the highlight for Jared’s World Cup season, in 2013 Jared is still aboard Yeti but focusing on the enduro downhill scene, something he should do well in considering his ability to train at the highest level physically combined with his bike handling skills. Expect Jared to help mentor Aussie Jack Moir wherever possible.
Josh Button – Unfortunately Josh won’t be heading overseas for 2013, a real loss for Australian downhill, Josh has the skills to become a real consistent top 20 prospect but has been hampered by bad luck. His constant knee injuries (which were often not his fault) have been what has really slowed him down, for 2013 Josh is trying to make it to the Thredbo and Canberra rounds of the National Series.
Rhys Atkinson – Rhys is back on board with Specialized and will look to regain the overall National Series title he claimed in theA�2010/11 season before heading overseas to race some World Cups.
Sam Hill – Big news saw Sam leaving not only his Specialized team but also long time team manager Sean Heimdal as he heads to Chain Reaction Cycles/Nukeproof, he willA�take over a raft ofA�existing sponsors, including SRAM so expect to see him on the Blackbox program for 2013 which means he won’t be riding Marzocchi as previously suggested.
Timmy Eaton – After a successful 2011/12 season Tim has changed it up slightly for 2013, getting on board the Giant Australia team, which could easily dominate this season with the depth of field it has signed.
Tracey Hannah – Tracey will be riding with brother Mic on Polygon Bikes, after a promising start to 2012 a big injury put a temporary hold on her return, Tracey is now back on her cross country bike, expect to see her fighting it out at the first World Cup in a few months.
Troy Brosnan – 2012 was a year Troy would rather forget, so much promise but cut short by injury, Troy is now back on his cross country rig and training hard for 2013, with new team mates expect Troy to be even hungrier after a ‘lost’ international season last year.
Will Rischbieth – Will has been recovering from an injury sustained last year but he will be back riding for Giant Australia in 2013 at Nationals across the country.
2013 is going to be an interesting year to say the least! There are plenty more riders who could have made this list, expect coverage of a huge range of races in 2013.
Connor Fearon was having fun on some of the big jumps in Norway, the added style was a bonus for everyone watching!
We finish our wrap up of the 2012 World Cup series with Connor Fearon’s Inside Info from Hafjell, Norway. This is what he had to say;
Norway was the final round for the season and I was hoping to finish it off on a high note. The team got to Hafjell a few days prior to the race. Turns out there nothing to do there when ita��s freezing cold and raining. Despite being labelled a�?Europea��s #1 bike parka�? it turned out to be below average and we couldna��t ride the race track until official practice. The exchange rate there is through the roof as well it felt like I spent more coin in the last week in Norway than the other 4 months of the tripa��
So the start of the week wasna��t all that exciting I was hoping I would cheer up after walking the race track on day 1. The track has a few different sections. Some jumps and corners in the open sections I really liked. Once the track weaved into the wooded sections it became my nemesis, it got pretty slow, technical and awkward. Definitely far from my preferred type of course.
Connor hitting the main rock garden (or jungle as it was being referred to!) on the course, not sure if that is optimum foot/pedal position this time round!
During practice I tried my hardest to pick lines that would open up the track a little bit even if it meant going over rocks and taking wider corners. The coolest obstacle on the track was the massive natural gap halfway down the track. I dona��t think the course builders meant for this to be jumped but it happened anyway. I hit the gap in practice and race run for the fans even though I cased it every time and might have been slower it was still the most fun I had on the track!
My race run was pretty solid until the last sections of the track where the wind picked up a lot and it felt like I was going backwards. I got blown badly by the wind on the last jump and almost crashed, doing this I stomped the ground pretty hard with my leg and hurt my knee which stopped me from pedalling to the finish. I got 38th position in the end which was disappointing because I moved back in the overall (Although beating Peaty still who had a problem in his run).
So my first full world cup series is done and dusted and Ia��m just about ready to head home now! Ia��ve learnt a lot in this season that will help me improve myself for the next world cup season. For now ita��s time to go back to Australia just in time for summer, have a good off season and come out swinging next year!
So Connor’s last race of the season might not have quite gone to plan but he still finished up 34th in the overall, combined with his 3rd place at World Championships, that’s a very impressive season! What will happen next year, downhill247.com will keep you in the loop!
Wild times here in Norway, as Thibaut Ruffian proves, drifting his way around one of the grassy turns on the track!
The race here inA�Norway ran to a different scheduleA�compared to the six previous World Cups.A�With it being it the last race of the season apparently the decision was made to hold the finals on Saturday allowing spectators to party on Saturday. The flip side of this is that crowd numbers were possibly a little less as the locals had to work on Friday!
Elite Men:
1. Steve Smith 3.31.76
2. George Brannigan 3.32.16 + 0.40
3. Greg Minnaar 3.33.90A�+ 2.13
4. Gee Atherton 3.34.05 + 2.29
5. Nick Beer 3.34.90 + 3.13
…
7. Sam Hill 3.36.51 + 4.75
11. Mic Hannah 3.37.41 + 5.64
20. Bryn Atkinson 3.39.06 + 7.30
38. Connor Fearon 3.43.12 + 11.36
47. Mitch Delfs 3.46.50 + 14.73
55. Josh Button 3.48.25 + 16.49
We were walking up the track as Bryn Atkinson went drifting past, two feet up, nice!Look at the concentration, unfortunately for Steve Peat a crash in his race run pushed him down to 71st.Mechanics are often little known and just go about their business but without them riders would be left high and dry!Just like mechanics, the media are generally little known but just get on with their job. Here photo guru Jacob Gibbins gets a lift to the start of the track.Some took their filming/photography a bit more serious than others!A lot of cameras were focused on this gap but only a few riders would send it.Emeline Ragot finished 2nd just over 2 seconds behind Rachel Atherton.Mic Hannah just missed out on a top 10 finish in 11th place.Australia’s highest placed finisher was Sam Hill in 7th.Greg Minnaar can never be ruled out, 3rd in the race and 2nd in the overall.Second place was George Brannigan, the young Kiwis best result thus far.Stevie Smith was all smiles for the cameras! 1st place…
Next to wrap up the race and the series for 2012 we will bring you Connor Fearon’s Inside Info from the race, stay tuned.
Today was the first day of practice here at Hafjell and it was a long day with an open practice session in the morning before the top 80 men/top 20 women had their own practice session. It was a fun day on the course though, the general consensus from the riders is that the track is a whole lot of fun and a good race track to boot!
The jumps at the top of the course saw the riders having some fun throwing down some big whips, this meant a fun day for everyone else watching!
Lets take a run through today’s proceedings;
It was a tentative start to the day with no one quite knowing what the cloud and fog had in store as everyone got on the gondola to head up to the top of the track…Fortunately as the gondola went up it broke through to the sunshine and the weather stayed dry all day. On another note, check out the roofs of the local houses here in Norway, got green?There was no shortage of riders serving up the style up the top of the track as Connor Fearon demonstrates!Some riders were slightly more business orientated, such as Mark Beaumont and were keeping it race through the jumps. We could literally have a whole gallery of action from these jumps. There was a huge cable cam set up through these jumps, rumours were it was for an upcoming Anthills Film movie…You can’t blame them though, no matter which way you look the scenery is fantastic as Josh Button demonstrates.There’s more to the track than the jumps at the top! We sat in this rock garden and it doesn’t surprise us Steve Peat was the fastest in timed practice. He studied this rock garden for some time and then proceeded to hit it smooth and fast, won’t back down! Stevie Smith on the other hand ‘rode the buffalo’ laughing and hooting his way down, Josh Bryceland described it like “a monkey in a sidecart”. Josh was commenting that there still wasn’t an obvious line yet while Stevie was saying on this track because it is so fast in some places you are forced to take one line!Before the riders hit the track the UCI actually went through and smashed out various rocks from what riders are calling the ‘rock jungle!’Ben Reid threads the rocks and trees, there are numerous line choices all the way down the track.Sam Hill didn’t hit the track in practice until relatively late, he did a few runs scouting lines, being a new track many riders were taking slightly longer to get up to speed.Aaron Gwin was getting around on board a custom Trek made to commemorate his overall 2012 World Cup series win. Things weren’t going all his way, going down in the rocks, you can see the mud on his right shoulder.This track is a physical one, you could hear how tired all the riders were near the bottom of the track!If you didn’t know it was there you would miss it! Can you see the man carrying the torch cut into the side of the hill?It was good to see Brendan Fairclough back riding, he was doing runs with Andrew Neethling and Sam Hill at various times of the day.Damian Spagnolo always seems to be a bit of a dark horse, he was looking good today.Conditions were good, the biggest issue today was the news the UCI may decide to lower the amount of points female riders are awarded in the series and thus reducing their value on a pro team for the overall teams classification. More news on this issue as we get it.
That wraps up the first day of practice, tomorrow the riders have another practice session followed by qualifying.
The Scenery here in Norway is about as picturesque as it gets! The weather changes so quickly,as the locals say ‘four days all in one’! Expect some wet practice days but the forecast for finals is sunny at the moment.
The final World Cup is upon us, Hafjell Norway gets the honours of closing out season 2012. The overall men’s series may be decided but there will still be lots of action!
We hit up a track walk with Connor Fearon, Mitch Delfs, Luke Strobel and Kyle Sangers, plus a few other riders here and there, so lets check out the track;
Getting to the track is an adventure in itself, 11 minutes from the top of the Gondola to the start of the track by foot, at least the riders will have bikes!Straight out of the start hut in the top right and into a big set of jumps, riders are tipping though that if they link everything up right the jumps might be too small!From here riders hit one of many rock gardens on the track…The track should deal with water well, even after yesterdays rain there were hardly any wet areas on the track.The sun and wind combine to remove the moisture pretty quickly, the wooded sections were the possible exception. With the large number of roots and rocks on the track expect it to be slippery if it does rain as forecast though.The track is a mix of high speed open bike park style sections and forested technical sections. For a rider to do well here they will need to be strong in all areas of their riding.The high speed sections are going to deliver riders into some of the more technical sections at full speed, this will get interesting…This probably describes it best, some hard technical sections and some easier wide open sections. Mitch Delfs was estimating three to three and a half minutes for race runs?! The high overall speed maks it hard to estimate.Here Connor Fearon points out a line to Mitch Delfs and Luke Strobel, riders are going to come into this section super fast so speed isn’t the problem it’s the super tight left hander directly after the gap that is though…The tight left hander leads into this, a 50 metre rock garden…Expect mechanics to be flat out this week!The rocks just keep going…And going! You have to get this section right otherwise you are going to crash or lose all your momentum and struggle to get through the rest of the rocks.Once the riders get through the rocks the bottom section of the track is fast and wide open, in general the whole track is pretty fast!There was a lot of last minute preparation happening on the track today.Some sections on the track had seen a bit more work than some other sections… Pretty cool!Hafjell is a ski resort but this weekend the fans will be out for the downhill.If you read Connor Fearon’s Inside Info you will know what his plans for this number 31 are!No points for guessing whos bike this is! The name is on the top tube!To get epic just add rider! We are expecting some truly epic riding here in Norway, downhill247.com will be bringing it all to you!
Practice starts tomorrow with most riders pretty keen toget out on the track.A�The race is actually on Saturday, we will keep you covered all week long!
