NEWS - Downhillnews

Saalfelden Leogang in Salzburger Land, Austria, April 29th 2015 – The Austrian mountain bike mekka Saalfelden Leogang is all set to host the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano from June 13th to 14th. During the Out of Bounds Festival (June 11th to 14th), the world’s best downhill racers will fight for points on the legendary “Speedster” track, in their pursuit of the world cup title. For further entertainment there will be lots of side events and the tenth edition of 26TRIX, a prime Gold level FMB World Tour event.

Saalfelden Leogang will host mountain bike’s downhill racing elite as the third round of the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup takes place in Bikepark Leogang. After the second round at Fort William (GBR, June 6th + 7th), the athletes will travel to the alpine town, Leogang (June 13th + 14th) before their journey goes on to Lenzerheide (SUI, July 4th + 5th).

Raring to roll out of the start gate, racers will have to conquer 2.5 km of root carpets, stony off-camber sections, tight turns and high-speed tracks. If history is anything to go by, then we can expect to see breath-taking duels like Gee Atherton and Stevie Smith’s championship battle in 2013 and legendary moments like Aaron Gwin’s bare rim run just last year. The action is at Saalfelden Leogang – make sure you don’t miss a beat! This is the schedule of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Saalfelden Leogang:

Saturday, June 13th
12:30 pm              World Cup Downhill – Qualifying Round – Juniors
01:30 pm              World Cup Downhill – Qualifying Round – Women
02:00 pm              World Cup Downhill – Qualifying Round – Men Elite

Sunday, June 14th
12:30 pm              World Cup Downhill – Final – Juniors
01:15 pm              World Cup Downhill – Final – Women
02:00 pm              World Cup Downhill – Final – Men Elite
Awards Ceremony

Before the downhill finals go down, the Austrian Hannes Arch will amaze the live crowds with his spectacular airshow at 12:15pm on Sunday. This stunt pilot’s demonstration is a must see! A sense of thrill at the Out of Bounds Festival can also be found during the tenth edition of the progressive dirt jump event, 26TRIX. It won’t be the first time the craziest and most advanced tricks in the sport have been thrown down at this FMB World Tour Gold Event. Some of the highest ranked riders in the world will come to Bikepark Leogang to show why their bag of tricks is better than the rest. These airtime acrobatics include the raddest tricks of the mountain bike sport: from cashrolls to bikeflips and double backflips – anything is possible at 26TRIX.

Apart from the competitive events, side attractions like the team- and expo area is great for catching a glimpse behind the scenes of the world’s top cycling teams and get tips from the best mechanics in the industry. Visiting hours are:

Friday, June 12th: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Saturday, June 13th: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Sunday, June 14th: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Evening times are just as much fun at the Out of Bounds Festival. The program is full of events and contests where visitors and professionals can take part in together. The schedule is as follows:

Thursday, June 11th, 09:00 pm: Bunny Hop Contest; 10:00 pm: Video Premiere
Friday, June 12th, 08:30 pm – 10:00 pm: Pumptrack Contest
Saturday, June 13th, 09:00 pm: Oe3 Party with Rene Rodrigezz
Sunday, June 14th, 08:00 pm: After Bike Party @ Outback Bar

Visitors can take advantage of a special Out of Bounds package including tickets and accommodation:
UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Package from June 11th to 14th 2015
3 overnight stays incl. 2 day Out Of Bounds ticket to the event area and all side-events (Oe3 Party, etc.) and the Löwen Alpin Card (guest card for Saalfelden Leogang) starting from € 104,- per person
Book now under reiseservice@saalfelden-leogang.at or 0043 / (0) 6582 / 70660

News about the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup and biking in the Saalfelden Leogang region can be found on the bike channel: http://bike.saalfelden-leogang.com/ or on: www.facebook.com/MountainBike.WC.Leogang

You will find further information about Bikepark Leogang here:
http://bike.saalfelden-leogang.com/or on: http://www.facebook.com/Leogang.Bikepark

News and information about the Saalfelden Leogang region can be found on:
http://www.saalfelden-leogang.com/en

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Monday

Apr272015

Offseason Time Warp to Kiwi Carnage in the Rotorua Forest

Monday, April 27, 2015 at 10:05AM

(Words by Justin Leov)

I often find the offseason comes and goes really fast! This year even more so with an earlier round landing in our home land for once!

The offseason was a time warp blur for me. I had a lot going on as usual. Tory, Luca and I jumped straight into moving towns from Christchurch to Blenheim. This is where mountain biking first started for me as I grew up in The Malborough Regine, so this really is coming home! I had a lot of work finishing our house with a few weeks off the bike, and these turned into long days on the tools.

With the house finished we moved in just before Christmas and my next challenge was to get stuck into recovering the knee and wrist injuries I was carrying through the latter part of the 2014 season. With the help of the All Blacks doctor and my coach we were able to figure out what was going on and put to work a plan to correct my weaknesses in the muscles which were contributing to these injuries. Back into the training and some work to be done!

My training has been strong this offseason but it was touch and go if I would be able to even race in Rotorua when 2 weeks out I crashed while out on a training ride and tore my calf muscle. This is a painful injury and it came at the worst possible time in terms of where I needed to be coming in. Skipping the NZ Enduro event to focus on physiotherapy and recovery was all about getting strong enough to be able to race the opening round of the EWS! These are the type of things that do happen in our sport and managing them is something I've had plenty of practice with during my career of racing.

Looking toward EWS #1 and building up a fresh rig for the season I decided to ride my old trusty 29er. This year I have stepped up to the 160mm fork up front (up from the 150mm that I ran last year). With a little time on the bike I felt ready and rearing to go!

Course maps were released which I really liked the look of but with the forecasted weather I knew this race would be a tough one and that it had the potential to take out a few people. It's always gutting to see your fellow racers with injuries and when the current Enduro world champ and good friend of mine Jared Graves announced he would be sitting out the race due to an injury he sustained at home I was really disappointed for him, and also for the race to not have his presence. See you in Ireland buddy!

I woke up on race day feeling excited, being a home race I had my wife, son and coach all trackside and I was pumped for the event. We had our most technical and dangerous stages first up so I had a plan to ride it smooth and try to keep the wheels on the ground.

I started my day messy but with no crashes and a 4th place stage. With short liaison stages there wasn't time to muck around so straight onto stage 2 and a more flat out and go stage. I nailed this stage and felt happy to have a good feeling on the bike. I ended up winning this stage but I wouldn't find this out until after the race (a bloody good surprise!) with another "pin it" stage coming up my consistency was there and I rode clean. 4th stage of the day and this would be a physical one. I was just pipped by Jerome and I knew he had been training like I had in the offseason! Now it was time for a sketchy stage, stage 5. A short stage but deadly roots and commit or die type sections. I had nailed this stage in training every time but I had respect for it; it could bite on any run. Unfortunately my luck ran out this stage and I hit the deck, knocking my head hard enough to put my full face to good use. I knocked my visor back up and re-adjusted my goggles, as perfect vision is key in a fast sport. With a final whack to my brake levers I could then finish the stage. With two stages remaining I knew I needed clean runs now to make back some time. Stage 6 was a DH stage and I knew that would be a good one to ride clean. I managed to piece together a solid run. Now to get back to the pits before the final stage which was going to be in front of the Crankworx crowd and live on TV. This stage had a good mix, super tech up top and easy to crash, then wide open on the DH track with space to let it go, then a pedal in the middle which would spin your gear out and some good sized gaps. Leaving the pits I forgot to tighten my pedals and as soon as I got on the hill I remembered but being the last stage I didn't take any tools with me. With the TV broadcast we would be held some extra time before dropping in and the light was starting to fade especially in the dark wooded section right off the start this was only going to add to the already tech woods!

Dropping in I struggled in the first corner or two. I had my game face on but it required a settled approach so I backed it off just a little bit. Hitting my lines I got out of the first woods clean and set out to attack the DH part of the course. Boosting the upper jumps felt like my DH days and I had the 29er humming. With clean riding I was making up time but my cleats were loose enough to be giving me a few wild moments. Coming into the finish line I was trying to hit a gap I knew only a few people were clearing but I had to pull the pin when I lost my foot out of the pedal and nearly threw myself away. Finishing in 3rd for the final stage I was surprised to see I had finished 4th overall but only 1 second from Wyn Masters who had bagged himself his first ever EWS podium.

I was stoked to see how close the racing was, it was a battle not just with the times but with the conditions and the terrain. Surviving was a good feeling!

With round one in the books I’ll now be working hard for the next round in Ireland. There’s plenty to do with planning and training but I'm totally happy to have begun the season once again. See you out there!

Photos by Ale Di Lullo

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Friday

Apr242015

2015 Canfield Riot

Friday, April 24, 2015 at 2:31PM

Ever since our first experience on the wagon-sized wheels, we always loved the 29er concept; It just screams speed and charges through everything! Uphill, downhill—these wheels are fast. The downside is that most 29ers just weren’t as fun to ride. In 2011, we launched the Yelli Screamy, the first 29er with short chainstays. Playful and nimble, the Yelli changed people’s perception of the handling characteristics of 29ers. Here we are in 2015 and the Canfield Brothers Riot pushes the bar the further than it’s ever been pushed in the 29er dual suspension world, boasting the most aggressive 29er geometry to hit a pedal bike. Coupling 140mm of patented Canfield Balance Formula travel with the slack-and-low geometry Canfield Brothers is known for and radically short 414mm chainstays, the Riot is the most fun and aggressive full-suspension 29er to hit the trail.

2015 Riot colors and packages available on our web store.

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