Category Archives: News

SPECIALIZED IN VAL DI SOLE

Posted on June 19, 2013 by dhb

What a difference a week can make! The Specialized Racing downhill squad rolled out of last week’s season opener at Fort William with some valuable knowledge and a lot of hard work to do. Putting both Troy Brosnan and Aaron Gwin back in the top ten at Val di Sole, with Troy on the podium, is proof of tremendous progress.

It’s a few weeks until round three, but it won’t be a vacation. Riders and crew will continue dialing in bike setup, equipment choices, and further honing skills. The battle for World Cup overall has only begun. …View More

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RTE – OURIMBAH GP

Posted on June 18, 2013 by dhb

Nienke Oostra negotiates a rock section

Rolling into the Ourimbah Mountain bike area and it is busy, wall to wall team tents and bikes going every which way. There is a large line-up at registration, this isn’t unfamiliar though, Rocky Trail Entertainment have built on their Grand Prix Series since 2009 and it is now one of the most popular events on the mountain bike calendar. I reach the rego table and Juliane from RTE confirms the big number of rider entries, it is around 300.

There is the usual scurry around to get prepared for the next four hours of racing, finding a clear patch of dirt beside the trail I place my bottles next to other riders from WSMTB. I pull out the chosen bike for the day and now that I’m here I second guess the choice of a hard-tail. While the Ourimbah trail has plenty of flow, it is technically demanding with rocks and roots to bounce off, hopefully the 29er wheels can just do their thing. I scuff the dirt with my shoe, it looks pretty dry up in the transition area, there were a few questions leading up to the weekend, re the weather but it looks the goods for at least the top sections of trail. …View More

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ALL OUT – VAL DI SOLE DH FINALS

Posted on June 17, 2013 by dhb

Dean Lucas takes his maiden WC win, lets hope its the first of many

The 2013 mountain biking World Cup made it’s annual return to the Italian resort of Val di Sole. The steep, rooty and rocky track is infamous within the racing circuit as one of the toughest and most gravity fed of the season. Riders barely needing to pedal once leaving the start gate. The track holds a place in the history of Australian DH racing with Sam Hill’s insane World Championships race run in 2008, crashing his way into 3rd place just two corners from the finish. Hill would surely be out for redemption this weekend.

Racing kicked off on Sunday afternoon, local time, with the Junior Men’s category leading the charge. Victorian junior Dean Lucas was the standout performance of the day putting in an amazing run (3.24.63) and to claim the first junior World Cup victory of his career, beating out Briton Phil Atwill and American Luca Shaw. The rest of the Aussie juniors finished quite well with Luke Ellison inside the top ten in 9th, Peter Knott 31st, Ben Hill 35th in his first WC race with Aiden Varley and Tom Crimmins in 37th and 52nd respectively. Dean’s win puts him into first place in the World Cup overall, 30 points clear of Gstaad-Scott rider Noel Niederberger winner of the first round and Phil Atwill. …View More

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HEAT STROKE OR GLORY – VAL DI SOLE XCO

Posted on June 16, 2013 by dhb

Bec Henderson in golden light....

The valley of the sun, turned it all the way up for the XCO races of Saturday, pushing the temp up into the high thirties. So riders would be testing their limits to stay hydrated and get results.
In the U23′s Women, Bec Henderson retains her overall leaders jersey after a closely fought race where she took second place just 23 seconds off the leader Yana Belomoyna. Henderson was just unable to hold on to Belomoyna on the climbs, however, her placing above Andrea Waldis puts her 20 points in the clear overall but the gap is closing. …View More

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CHUNKED – FLAT OUT PEDALS

Posted on June 16, 2013 by dhb

Chunked // Flat Outs

We were able to get a hold of a pair of Chunked “Flat-Outs” and after discovering Connor Fearon had been on them for almost a year we thought we should hand over reviewing responsibilities to him. So here it goes:
“I first saw The Chunked Flat-out pedals bolted onto Ben Power’s bike in early 2012. I mentioned I liked the look of them and the word got to Simon the owner of Chunked and he was happy to send me a set to use.
When it comes to bike setup I’m not fussy and can easily adapt to changes, although when it comes to pedals I can be really particular and the flat out’s ticked all the boxes. …View More

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VAL DI SOLE – FRIDAY DH QUALI’S

Posted on June 15, 2013 by dhb

Steve Smith looked always in control in almost every run today. 3rd in Quali proves you dont have to get wild to lay down a good time on this track. Smooth is Fast!

Another wild day in the field, as qualifications got underway in the downhill and once more TBS was there to capture the action. Aussies faired well overall, as they quickly adapted to the hard and fast track at Val Di Sole. Luke Ellison bounced back from his crash riddled race at Fort William and has seeded fifth in juniors whilst third place getter at the Fort, Dean Lucas, has seeded in ninth (despite having faster splits than all above him??)
In Elite Women it was once more the Rachel Atherton show, with a fat six second lead on Emmeline Ragot with Mannon Carpenter just behind, a near identical showing of last weeks top three. Tracey Hannah sits in a comfortable seventh in Elite Women, whilst Dani Beecroft and Tegan Molloy (with a over the bars) sit in third and fourth in junior Women or 37th and 38th in Elites. …View More

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PRELUDE – CHRIS MORECROFT

Posted on June 15, 2013 by dhb

Filmed a little over a week ago it appears the winter snows have not yet hit Mt Buller as Chris Morecroft hits up the upper section of Copperhead. If anything this edit shows what can be accomplished in a hour with a go pro and bit of fun. 10 points for pedalling that monster hill.

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