May 4/08 12:07 pm - World's DH Test Event in Italy

Posted by Editoress on 05/4/08
 

World's Test Event DH Val Di Sole ITA
Report courtesy ChainReactionCycles/Intense

Sam Hill showed everyone why he is the current World Champion and the man to beat come the real race on the 21st June. The course looked super rough for the riders and the bikes. Riders had to be really strong to hold onto the bike and also really fit to be able to go at 100% all the way down the very steep and challenging course.

Chris overcame a few bike set up problems for the final and had a descent run to place 11th but also post a good time with a lot more left come the real race. He said he had a descent run and was finally happy with the bike set up. Chris hasn't rode anything steep with roots since the final World Cup last year, so this was a very valuable test event for him and the team.

Julien had a mechanical early on in his race run and made him pretty nervous all the way down but still managed a great time, so he has a lot more to offer also come June. Juliens hard training over the winter is definitely going to pay off for him and he is very happy with his bike.

Matt had a decent run but struggled a bit with his lines. We got here late because we had to wait for a shipment of parts the riders missed course walking inspection and while the other guys walked the track on Saturday evening, Matt was racing 4X.

Ruaridh was looking great on the course, but unfortunately caught his pedal on a root whilst hopping up onto a high line and flipped over the bars and landed on his back. He jumped back on quickly but then plowed straight into a tree head first. Even with all this Ruaridh still managed a 3.42 only 12 seconds off the top 10! So this is amazing form for him so early on after his winter knee injury.

All the guys now know what they need to work on for the start of the World Cup series in Maribour next weekend. This has been a great weekend of testing and getting the bikes set up properly. We head off to Maribour tomorrow for a bit of training and recovering before Thursdays practice.


1. Sam Hill (Aus) Monster / Iron Horse
2. Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate
3. Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team
4. Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Po Team
5. Justin Leov (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team

11. Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense
12. Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense
30. Matt Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense
42. Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense