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Tuesday
Mar032015

Danny MacAskill Nominated For The 2015 Laureus World Sports Awards

Munich, March 3rd 2015 – Danny MacAskill’s wild ride on the Isle of Skye went viral on YouTube and has rewarded him with a second nomination for the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award. In just two weeks after the release of the Scotsman’s latest video clip “The Ridge”, it quickly reached over 20 million views and now sits at over 30 million views. In an interview Danny MacAskill admits: “I never had any expectations of those kind of figures.”
 
Danny, who was also nominated in 2010, is once again on the shortlist with six other outstanding athletes: freefall record holder Alan Eustace, world champion surfers Stephanie Gilmore and Gabriel Medina, skateboard sensation Nyjah Huston and Olympic snowboard champion Sage Kotsenburg. If his obsession with bikes will make Danny the Action Sportsperson of the year, we will find out on Wednesday, April 15th, when the 16th Laureus World Sports Awards will be held in the Shanghai Grand Theatre.


 
Danny says: “It's awesome to be nominated for the second time. Last year was a good year. It’s cool to have it recognized. I'm up against some pretty incredible athletes. To be honest, it's quite surreal for me because I come from a non-competitive background, like [free-faller] Alan Eustace. But to be in a room with all those other athletes, it's very, very cool.”
 
Filming “The Ridge” was a long-standing dream for Danny. “I’ve wanted to make that film for a number of years. I originally come from the Isle of Skye and I've always looked up at the mountain there. I started making these videos for YouTube over the last few years and I knew that it would make an incredible backdrop for a film. The last time I was up, with [director] Stu Thomson, we put some time aside to make the film.”


 
The clip’s popularity was a big surprise for Danny. “We had very little expectations for the film. It was just made by ourselves, over quite a short period, only six days, which for me is a very short amount of time to make a film. We were very lucky with the weather. I can't quite believe how well it's gone down. I didn't really care if it was well received by a global audience. It was more important for me that people in Skye watched it and were proud of it. But to have it go down as well as it has, has been pretty cool,” he adds.
 
Used to performing and riding in urban surroundings closer to sea level – “The Ridge” was a brand new venture for the small town Scotsman. “Normally when I'm down at street level, you're able to push a lot harder. You do things that maybe are out of your capabilities or comfort zone. When it's up on “The Ridge”, you have to have your wits about you. And you couldn't really necessarily take those same risks, because the consequences are obviously a lot more serious. It was just a case of finding the good parts of riding and trying not to fall off.”
 
Danny fans, rest assured – Danny has some big projects on the horizon but prefers to keep them close to his chest for now. Also, Danny has started a team of riders called Drop and Roll – together they travel across Europe performing live shows. No matter what Danny sets his mind too, you can rest assured that it will involve a bike.
 
 
For more information on the Laureus World Sports Awards please visit http://china.laureus.com/ and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
 
Danny’s Facebook Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/DannyMacAskill
 
Follow Danny on Twitter: http://twitter.com/danny_macaskill
 
Further information you will find on his website: http://www.dannymacaskill.co.uk


 

Thursday
Feb262015

Magura Adding to Tech Service Team

Magura USA, service partner for BOSCH eBike Systems, is pleased to announce the addition of Josh Parris to the Outside Technical Service Team for Magura and Bosch eBike Systems.

Parris has been active in the bicycle industry for over 15 years spending the last 10 years with Specialized helping build their Global Service Centers. At Specialized Josh also provided technical education to dealers and distributors of their e-bike division. A husband and father of two, Josh says, “I am very excited to join Magura USA. Magura is a growing company where I can continue what I started with Specialized–helping create an amazing bike environment on all types of bikes for our future generation of cyclists to enjoy.
 
Jeff Enlow, President of Magura USA said “With Magura’s growing number of OEM customers and our new service contract with BOSCH eBike Systems, we needed added support for our outside tech team. With experienced personnel additions, such as Josh, we can ensure we are able to offer the best technical service in the industry.”

Josh will serve as Magura’s Technical Aftermarket Service Manager, responsible for Magura and Bosch eBike Systems and will be based in Salt Lake City, focusing on the Western United States.

Thursday
Feb262015

Tomas Lemoine Hits The Slopestyle Scene With His New Partners

Munich, February 26th 2015 – Tomas Lemoine was the dark horse of the 2014 season. Sports marketing and communications agency rasoulution quickly recognized his talent and has signed with the young Frenchman. In addition to his new management, Tomas also welcomes new partners including Canyon bikes, Continental tires and ONE/ 661.
     
It all began when Tomas Lemoine, in his zebra pants, stood on the podium at Swatch Prime Line Munich. His podium result at the FMB World Tour Gold Event opened doors to the season’s big FMB Diamond Events. He later finished sixth at the Bearclaw Invitational (CAN) and Red Bull Joyride at Crankworx Whistler (CAN). Back in Europe, as the youngest rider in the field, he travelled to Nuremberg for Red Bull District Ride. His performance was just shy of a top ten result amongst the world’s best athletes.


 
Coming in strong, confident and with tones of style – Tomas has impressed the spectators, fellow riders and his new management. “We have been observing Tomas for a while now and for us, his great achievements and sportsmanship last season confirmed our beliefs. His positive attitude and professionalism fits our profile perfectly”, explains rasoulution founder and managing director Tarek Rasouli.
 
With a very successful career about to take off on the horizon, it did not take long for brands to recognize the youngest member of the “French Connection”. From now on, Tomas will be riding together with Peter Henke, Anton Thelander and Thomas Genon on the Canyon Factory Freeride Team. From 2015 you will see him throw down his epic trick combos on a Canyon Stitched and go big on a Torque DHX.
 
The athlete from Marseille is looking forward to the upcoming competitions: “2015 will be a great year and I am super stoked and motivated. I will try to ride all FMB Gold and Diamond Events. Thanks to rasoulution and to all my partners for their support and great start to the season.”
 
In charge of his style and safety will be ONE/ 661 and Oakley. His grip will be provided by Continental’s “Race King 2.2” and “Kaiser Project”. Tomas’ Canyon bikes will also be equipped with SRAM, Avid, Truvativ, RockShox, NC-17 and Novatec components.
 
Follow Tomas Lemoine’s Facebook Fanpage for news and stories throughout the season: www.facebook.com/TomasLemoineFanpage

Wednesday
Feb252015

FMB Diamond Series 2015 Event Calendar

Last year was the debut of the FMB Diamond Series, comprising of the five biggest events around the world. Brandon Semenuk took his third FMB World Championship title last year, but riders like Brett Rheeder, Anthony Messere and Thomas Genon were close behind. Now, a new season is on the horizon and it’s time for the 2015 battle to commence. To learn more about the 2015 FMB Diamond Series events, click here

Alongside the renowned Diamond events, Crankworx Whistler Slopestyle (CAN) and Red Bull Rampage (USA), three more contests, Crankworx Rotorua (NZL), Swatch Prime Line Munich (GER) and Crankworx Les 2 Alpes (FRA) are all on the schedule.

The top 10 athletes from the 2014 FMB Diamond Series are automatically qualified for the Diamond events and a shot at the 2015 world title. The next eight athletes will be selected in order of the world ranking – taken three weeks before each Diamond event. This means that for the remaining eight riders, Gold and Silver events are an important step to qualify or keep their spot into the Diamond Series stops. Six more riders will then be invited: the event host can give away five wildcards and the FMBA can grant one wildcard to a deserving athlete. The top 10 pre-qualified athletes for the 2015 FMB Diamond Series are:

Athletes that are not pre-qualified for the Diamond stops will have to secure their invitations at the Gold and Silver events. Heavy weight Gold events, such as FISE Montpellier (FRA), 26TRIX (AUT) and the Colorado Freeride Festival (USA) are also confirmed. The Silver event Vienna Air King (AUT) will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. More Gold, Silver and Bronze events are still to register and one of the riders’ favorite, the Bearclaw Invitational (CAN) is still to be confirmed - so there is much to look forward to!

  • Click here
  • FMB Diamond Series: 2 events in Europe, 2 stops in North America, 1 brand new event in New Zealand
  • For more information about the FMB World Tour 2015 event structure click here
  • here
  • All the action from the FMB Diamond series will be broadcasted live on and

 

Next FMB Diamond Series event: Crankworx Rotorua, March 29th 2015 (Rotorua, NZL).

Useful links:

More information about the Diamond Series can be found on the FMB World Tour website:  www.fmbworldtour.com

For news and updates follow FMB World Tour on: facebook.com/fmbworldtour & twitter.com/fmbworldtour and Instagram.com/fmbworldtour

Friday
Feb202015

TOMAS LEMOINE JOINS CANYON FACTORY FREERIDE TEAM

KOBLENZ, 20.02.2015 — What’s better than having three of the most exciting slopestyle talents in the business riding together? Having four of them is what. More is always better and the Canyon Factory Freeride Team (CFFT) is excited to welcome new rider Tomas Lemoine into the ranks for 2015.

Still only 18, Tomas cut his teeth racing BMX back in the day but has made a real name for himself on the MTB dirt jump and slopestyle scene over the past season. From now on he will receive full support as part of the CFFT setup, riding the Canyon Stitched and Torque DHX at the biggest contests around the world.

Tomas is yet another product of the thriving Marseille riding scene and becomes CFFT’s first ever legitimate Frenchman, joining an international line-up that includes Thomas Genon of Belgium, Sweden’s Anton Thelander and the German Peter Henke. CFFT is now better armed than ever to storm the FMB World Tour rankings and will target the top spots at all Diamond Series events throughout the season.

For CFFT Manager, Flo Goral, Tomas has the potential to be the next big thing:

“We constantly keep an eye out for fresh new talent. When you look at Tomas’ skills, style and how old he is, it’s clear he has what it takes. Just watching his progression over the past couple of seasons has been incredible, the only question was how far this kid could go with the right support. That’s what we’re here to give him. As soon as we saw those zebra-print pants he wore at Munich MASH we were completely sold so when we got the chance to bring him into the team we couldn’t turn it down!”


The man himself can’t wait to get the new season underway:

“I’m super proud to ride for the Canyon Factory Freeride Team. It’s one of the few manufacturers out there with a proper freeride setup and its own team. All the bikes have the right geometries, which is so important for the riders. I also can’t wait to join my teammates, it’s a solid crew and we always have good times at contests together. I hope it’s the start of a long partnership, I’m like a kid at Christmas right now! My plan for 2015 is just to have fun on the bike. I want to do all FMB Gold and Diamond Series events and keep progressing through those contests, alongside all the other cool stuff like doing photo shoots and filming for new edits.”

Tomas has been busy hitting up the foampit over the off-season to nail down new combos ready for the 2015 contest season. He’ll make his CFFT debut this weekend at Masters of Dirt in Vienna riding alongside Thomas Genon.

Whether shooting new edits or gunning for the podium, the CFFT boys will always be ready to drop in and turn on the style in 2015! 

For all the latest CFFT updates then check out the official Facebook page.