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Julien Camellini dominates the 5th race of the iXS European Downhill Cup in Pila, Italy
One of the most beautiful races of the European series was staged last weekend in Pila. The cup’s penultimate race attracted 320 riders from 15 countries. Apart from a demanding and perfectly primed course, the event boasted a perfect organization and racing on a top level.
The organizer’s class showed in an attention for detail and the great presentation that resembled races on a world cup level without neglecting the specific Italian flavour. Camera teams of RAI television were broadcasting the entire event, and thousands of fans kept on celebrating the riders. Some of them were not competing but added some glamour due to their reputation in the sport of downhilling. The likes of Nicolas Vouilloz and Corrado Herin rode the course out-of-competition and set first indicative times.
A couple of riders already had shown their ambitions for a podium finish in the seeding run: The reigning Italian champion Lorenzo Suding (MTB Herin School) put five seconds between himself and the competition, securing himself the right to start last on Sunday. Still the list of participants had a lot more big names to offer, like New Zealand’s champion Wyn Masters (Kenda Playbike), twelvefold German national champion Marcus Klausmann (Ghost ATG) or Shaun O’Connor (Kenda Playbike), second-place finisher at the Australian national championships.
For the race’s final heat however, the course got even trickier as the grippy surface had turned into fine dust after Friday’s rainfalls, getting extremely slippery. Junior racer Ronan Taylor (GBR – High line Racing) fared well in these conditions, being the first rider on course in the elite category. He made himself comfortable in the Red Bull Hot Seat, and his time stood for more than 120 riders to finally put him in 14th position.
When the seeding run’s ten fastest riders went on course, a true thriller developed as O’Connor finished with a new fastest time only to be bested by the winner of the series’ previous race in Špičák, Marcel Beer (SUI – GT/iXS). Next up was Marco Milivinti (ITA – Team Cingolani) who placed himself right between these two before Julien Camellini (FRA – Chain Reaction) put himself on the leader board with a new fastest time. The last rider to start was Suding, but he could not repeat his ride from the seeding run and had to settle for fifth. Thus Camellini won the race with a time of 4:09 minutes and two seconds advantage on Beer and Milivinti. The overall standings are still being led by Thomas Braithwaite (GBR – Hope Technology).
In the women’s race, overall leader Miriam Ruchti (SUI – iXS/Commencal) did not waste an opportunity, winning both the seeding run and the race. After a strong second place in the seeding run, Sandra Rübesam (GER – Giant Germany) only finished in 7th. Italian champion Elisa Canepa (ITA – Eli-Ca RRide asd) finished in second, with Sidonie Jolidon (SUI – Neubike Bex) in third.
Wilfred van de Haterd (NED – NOX Cycles) further extended his lead in the overall, getting the maximum amount of points. Second on the day was Heinz Hostettler (SUI – BanditBike.ch), with Henrik Karppinen (FIN) in third.
The extremely competitive under17 category was won by Carlo Caire (ITA – Argentina Bike). By finishing in second, Riku Laensioe (FIN – DaKine-Oakley) successfully defended his overall lead, as Francesco Colombo (ITA – Team AXO) finished in third. The girls’ under17 category was contested by four riders, and the win went to Tahnee Seagrave (GBR – Intense Cycles).
As a conclusion, the return of Pila on the international racing calendar after 2005’s world cup race was long overdue. Venues that boast such an atmosphere are a definite asset for downhill racing.
Please find all additional information and the complete results of the race on ixsdownhillcup.com. And of course an official video edit of the race is going to be available in days to come on various web-based platforms. The last race of this year’s iXS European Downhill Cup will be held on 11th/12th September in Châtel/France.
© Photos: Thomas Dietze |
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Marcel Beer wins the fourth race of the «iXS European Downhill Cup»
The first race in the history of the iXS downhill series in Eastern Europe was being held in the Czech republic. Špičák, which is situated in the «Böhmerwald» national forest, presented a perfect event on a high organizational level. About 200 participants from 14 countries had to cope with changing weather and course conditions.
After Friday’s training had been ridden in extremely wet conditions, the course steadily dried up until Sunday’s race. Marcel Beer (SUI - GT/iXS) seemed to fare well in these conditions, as he had already distanced all others by four and more seconds, and he proved his class in Sunday’s final run. As the last rider to start, he managed to push Sam Shucksmith (GBR - Bad Ass Bikes) off the Red Bull hot seat by a minimal margin, putting himself into the record books as the winner of the European series’ fourth race. Right behind second-placed Shucksmith, Dominik Gspan (SUI - EWZ/Loop) finished in third, after he had already shown his class by winning the iXS Swiss Downhill Cup’s race at Wiriehorn.
Another rider to score a remarkable result was Frank Hedwig (GER - BerGaMont), who seems to get back to his old best after a strong ride in the seeding run. His sixth place-finish was a clear sign of improvement, although he had some trouble adapting to the course, commenting: «Wood is supposed to be burnt in the oven, not to be ridden on in downhill races.» In the end, he had to settle for a 17th place.
The fastest of the elite women was the reigning German champion Harriet Rücknagel (GER - On The Edge), who literally dominated her category, winning by 7 seconds. Carina Capellari (SUI - Hiestand Power Team) and Martina Brühlmann (SUI - iXS/Yeti) were next in the standings.
The podium of the under17 category was a purely Czech affair: First was Ondra Stepanek (CZE - Rock Machine-Cyclomax), edging out Jan Cepelak (CZE - Mondraker) and Stanislav Sehnal (CZE - SK Grafobal).
The masters category was won by Wilfred van de Haterd (NED - NOX Cycles). The second place went to Henrik Karppinen (FIN), with Michael Stammbach (SUI - Team Fatwork) in third.
Once again, a quote from a recent article on the website of Dirt magazine is more than suitable: The iXS Cup goes like a clockwork. Of course, this was largely thanks to the local organizers, the team of the Bikepark Špičák. And this bike park made good use of the opportunity to promote itself to the participants, as they all agreed that they would like to come back.
© Photos: Thomas Dietze |
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Mountain bike rider Martin Soderstrom from Sweden went “BIG” in Bavaria. The Australian Dane Searls dominated the BMX discipline of the international dirt jump competition hosted by the bicycle tradeshow BIKE EXPO. 40 riders from 12 countries made their way into Bavaria’s capital to show their latest tricks on a big sized dirt line. The winners did not only receive 10,000 US Dollars cash, but also a big keg of Bavarian beer. The weather conditions at the BIKE EXPO trade show in Munich didn’t make it easy for the riders: The first training day on Thursday was sunny, but Friday and Saturday were rained out. So the whole comp had to be rescheduled to Sunday. The mountain bike riders were the first ones to go big on the 150 meters long dirt line in the early afternoon. The numerous spectators on site as well as the ones watching the live webcast on watch26.tv presented by GoPro cameras got some first class dirt jump action: Swedish young gun Martin Soderstrom landed his tricks super clean. In his best run he showed a tailwhip at the start tower step down, a huge 360 table top, a double tailwhip, another 360 and a 360-double tailwhip. No question, once again the NS Bikes team rider deserved the BIG IN BAVARIA title. But guess who was his strongest competitor. Of course, it was Great Britain’s Sam Pilgrim. Sam and Martin had a lot of trick battles this season and Sam had only a 1,25 points gap to winner Martin Soderstrom. Pilgrim showed 360’s at the step-down, 360 x-ups, backflip no handers and as well as a 360 double tailwhip. French Yannick Granieri proved again, that he got one of the best styles and went third with tailwhips, high in the sky inverted 360s, backflips and perfectly executed flipwhips. Fourth place went to Benny Korthaus. The Munich local got pushed by the crowds as hard as possible. He thanked them by pulling the biggest backflip table tops of the weekend, as well as inverted flips and once he landed his signature flatspin 360 double tailwhip. The prize ceremony was very traditional in a Bavarian way: The winner got a 30 liters beer keg, the second a spigot and the third a hammer. A few minutes of teamwork later, the men on the podium were able to celebrate their success with a zip of fresh and cold beer. 
The mountain bike action had been on a super high level, and all riders gained important FMB World Tour points.
After the 26” class, everybody was anxious for the upcoming BMX finals and the hottest tricks on 20” bikes: Australian Dane Searls, who is well known as an airtime lover, went crazy on the super-sized doubles of the BIG IN BAVARIA dirt line and showed tricks like 360 superman seatgrap indian airs or a super nice downside whip to tailwhip. No question, he was the man of the day with this super technical tricks and great style. 
The final TOP10 results in a short overview:
Mountain Bike
Rank Firstname Lastname (Nat./Team)
1. Martin Soderstrom (SWE / NS Bikes)
2. Sam Pilgrim (GBR / Ashton Diamondback)
3. Yannick Granieri (FRA / Commencal)
4. Benny Korthaus (GER / Red Bull)
5. Amir Kabbani (GER / Mongoose)
6. Jakub Vencl (CZE / Agang)
7. Szymon Godziek (POL / Dartmoor)
8. Linus Sjolholm (SWE / Scott Bikes)
9. Sam Reynolds (GBR / DMR Bikes)
10. Thomas Genon (BEL / Canondale)
BMX
Rank Firstname Lastname (Nat./Team)
1. Dane Searls (AUS / Unit Clothing)
2. Ben Hennon (GBR / Eastpak)
3. Markus Hampl (GER /Twenty Bikes)
4. Ricardo Laguna (USA / Dans Comp)
5. Patrick Guimez (FRA / Monster Energy)
6. Dusan Antalík (SLO / Nike 6.0)
7. Bob Manchester (GBR)
8. Jean-Baptiste Peytavit (FRA / Twenty Bikes)
9. Daniel Juchatz (GER / Vans)
10. Sven Lehmann (GER / KHE) 
Most of them already took care, that their spot on the riders’ list of the BIG IN BAVARIA in 2011 is secured. So you can already look forward to next year’s Vol.III of the BIG IN BAVARIA at the BIKE EXPO tradeshow (July 21st to 24th).
But you don’t have to plan that far to get first class dirt jump action. If you haven’t seen the live stream on http://www.soulbmx.com and http://www.watch26.tv , look forward for the BIG IN BAVARIA highlight clip coming soon.
Find the latest news of the GO BIG OR GO HOME and BIG IN BAVARIA Vol.II partners SR Suntour, 55DSL, One Big Park and GoPro on: http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com http://www.55dsl.com http://www.onebigpark.at and http://www.goprocamera.com
The mountain bike contest of the BIG IN BAVARIA Vol.II is ranked as a „Gold Event“ of the Freeride Mountain Bike (FMB) World Tour. Find the actualized ranking on: http://www.fmbworldtour.com
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Successful premiere for the Dakine FREERIDE Festival Saalbach Hinterglemm powered by Nissan
Freerider fans pleased with the region and festival atmosphere
The place was still recovering. Around 9,000 freeride fans stayed overnight in Saalbach Hinterglem last weekend (9 to 11 July) to be there for the premiere of the Dakine FREERIDE Festival powered by Nissan. Spectakulare side-events, over 40 exhibitors with 86 brands, many well-known professional bikers and three days of unbroken sunshine made for a fantastic festival at one of Europe’s best freeride destinations. “The premiere went really well. We’re very pleased with the way the event ran, the number of visitors and, of course, the wonderful weather in this dream location,” enthuses Monika Weber, event manager for hosts Delius Klasing. Wolfgang Breitfuß, director of the tourist association of Saalbach Hinterglemm, puts it in a nutshell: “This was one of the wildest events we have ever held in Saalbach Hinterglemm.” “This is just how I hoped the FREERIDE magazine festival would be: a relaxed atmosphere, spectacular side-events, wonderful weather and plenty of freeride opportunities for all visitors. My wishes have come true and I am very pleased with this great debut festival,” smiles FREERIDE editor-in-chief Dimitri Lehner, referring to the magazine’s first festival. The program for the first Dakine FREERIDE Festival in Saalbach Hinterglemm offered top-class freeride sport over three days. Anyone wanting to experience freeriding in its purest form far away from the bustle of the festival site would have found just what they were looking of in the “Big 5 Bike Challenge”
(www.bik-5.at). This XXL tour, sponsored by the Hotel Gondel, covers an altitude difference of 5,000 meters, but only barely 1,000 of these have to be conquered by the riders from their own strength. Over 200 riders took the tour over the weekend.  The side-event for the first day of the festival took place on the Friday evening. In the “Maxxis Dual Eliminator”, 92 riders, both male and female, took to the
slalom course designed by trail builder Joscha Forstreuter. After the heats, the 16 fastest men and four fastest women competed in the final that evening. The man against man/woman against woman race provided plenty of excitement for the many hundreds of spectators along the route. The women’s final saw Austria’s Steffi Marth and Angie Hohenwarter, both of whom had come fifth in the 4X European championships of 2010 and 2009 respectively, co head-to-head against each other. In this heat, Angie Hohenwarter managed to take a slight lead in the first third of the trail and held onto this advantage until she reached the finishing line. The winner of the men’s race in the “Maxxis Dual Eliminator” was Rüdiger Jahnel. The Austrian, who is placed 155th in the world 4x rankings, won out over his compatriot Georg Sieder in an exciting and extremely close-run race. Afterwards, riders and spectators came together to celebrate at the riders’ party in the “Goaßstall”, the place where it all happens in Saalbach Hinterglemm.
The “Maxxis Dual Eliminator” course was once again the center of attention at midday on Saturday, when 64 junior freeriders aged from 6 to 15 had a chance to show off their skills in the first “Kids FREERIDE Challenge”. Extreme biker Bobby Root presided over the prize-giving, handing out lots of gifts from FREERIDE magazine and Dakine.  In the afternoon, in the “YT Best Trick Award” powered by Bagjump, 22 participants - the youngest just 10 years old - offered an impressive air show.
The side-event was presented by dirt jumper Marius Hoppensack. The enormous air cushion provided by Bagjump meant that a soft landing was guaranteed. The Dakine FREERIDE Festival in Saalbach Hinterglemm was the first event in which the 15 x 15 meter cushion was used. The jury comprised three YT riders, Dominic Amberger, Tobi Wrobel and Niki Leitner, who finally judged the best jumper to be Patrick Leitner from Vienna. The runner-up was Frenchman Yannick Granieri, while third place went to Jonas Berndt from Bochum. At the end of the competition, Patrick Leitner had two reasons to smile: he had won the event and he had a brand new bike from YT Industries as his prize.  The whole of Hinterglemm was on its feet on the Saturday evening for the “Marzocchi Airstrike” slopestyle contest, anxious not to miss this spectacular show. The course, which was designed by Joscha Forstreuter, was difficult enough. The riders jumped from one hotel roof to the next and wallrides and kickers followed. Thus, they had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate their skills to the judges and to the hundreds of spectators in the heart of Saalbach Hinterglemm. The best-known members of the jury in this slopestyle contest, which is part of the Freeride Mountainbike (FMB) World Tour, were Timo Pritzel, Tibor Simai and Rob J. After the 26 professionals had completed the course twice, it was up to the jury to choose the top 5, who would be allowed one more opportunity to impress the public in a final run. After a short break for deliberations, the jury agreed: Tobi Wrobel, Peter Henke, Yannick Granieri, Geoff Gulevich and Amir Kabbani would take to the rooftops one last time. The “Marzocchi Airstrike” was judged on the basis of the best of three runs. Amir Kabbani opened his show with a 360 jump from the second rooftop to the large timber landing ramp. He followed this with another perfect 360 before finishing with a perfect double table. However, Frenchman Yannick Granieri also put on a superlative show. His final flip whip crowned a perfect third run. The jury and public were left in no doubt: one of these two riders would take the content title. And that’s exactly the way things worked out. Tobi Wrobel (YT Industries), who is 43rd in the current FMB World Tour rankings gave an excellent performance to take third place. Second place went to Yannick Granieri (Commencal) – 10th in the FMB World Tour rankings. This means that the deserving winner of the “Marzocchi Airstrike” was Amir Kabbani (Mongoose). He is currently ranked third in the FMB Word Tour rankings.  Day three of the Dakine FREERIDE Festival in Saalbach Hinterglemm powered by Nissan also had plenty of delights in store. The highlight of the festival – the “Scott Gang Battle” – was on the agenda. However, while the 398 participants were preparing for the mass downhill, 14 riders saddled up for the “Rose Speedwheelie” contest. The riders picked up speed and lifted their front wheels at a marked point on the steeply sloping road. Among them were FREERIDE
editor-in-chief Dimitri Lehner, Timo Pritzel and, of course, the wheelie king himself: Bobby Root. With a speed of 60.60 km/h, there was never any doubt
that the Californian world record holder for speedwheelie riding would win the event. Second place was taken by Julian Reder, who was just behind Bobby with 59.5 km/h. Third place went to Morris Fessler with a speed of 58.53 km/h.
Former champion Timo Pritzel raced to 4th place. The speed camera recorded a speed of 57.23 km/h for him. Dimitri Lehner achieved 49.65 km/h in his fastest run, taking 11th place. Naturally, having won the event on his back wheel, Bobby Root insisted on completing the course all over again on his front wheel. The “Scott Gang Battle” was the sporting highlight on the Sunday afternoon and crowned the close of the first DAKINE FREERIDE Festivals powered by Nissan in Saalbach Hinterglemm. This new race format is a mass start downhill, similar to the popular Avalanche series. There were some spectacular sights for the thousands of spectators at Austria’s first mass downhill. A total of 398 riders from nine nations accepted the challenge of the 1,000 meter altitude differential on the eight kilometer route of the X-Line on Saalbach’s Schattberg and “battled it out” for a total prize purse of euro 3,500. There were separate starting categories for women, masters (over 40’s men) and men in “gangs” of 120 racers each. Following a couple of broad S bends from the Schattberg’s western peak, the starter field fed into the X-Line downhill route - an exciting single trail with only a few decisive places at which overtaking is possible. Of the women, Elke Rabeder from Bad Goisern (Revolution Racing Team) demonstrated the best tactics and stamina, placing herself at the head of the field with a sensational time of 13:23.20 minutes. Carinthian Angie Hohenwarter, die Siegerin of the “Maxxis Dual Eliminator”, followed in second place with 13:25.77 minutes, in front of Allgäu’s Ines Thomas with 13:32.40 minutes. The masters made it perfectly clear that they weren’t ready to be put out to grass just yet: Abbou Frédéric from Team Bionicon took first place with a time of 12:14.86 minutes in front of Thomas Martin (freeride-allgaeu.de, 12:42.82 minutes) and Holger Meyer from Munich with 12:49.66 minutes. Thus, the winners’ rostrum was an all-German affair. The best time of the day was achieved by Rüdiger Jahnel (specializedmountainbiker.at) from Seewalchen am Attersee. Having already won the “Maxxis Dual Eliminator” on Friday with a clear victory, his sensational time of 11:42.00 demonstrated that he is also unbeatable in the mass downhill. Vorarlberg native Johannes Graf from the Kraftstoff team took silver with a time of 11:43.56 minutes and Mario Sieder of the Austrian national team won the bronze with a time of 11:50.19 Minutes.  Now that the festival is over, its time to start thinking about the next one. Constructive discussions have already been held about the second Dakine FREERIDE Festival Saalbach Hinterglemm powered by Nissan. The dates are already fixed. Next year the freeride community will meet again in Saalbach Hinterglemm from 8 to 10 July. |
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