mike jones

15 Oktober 2020

2020 world cup round 1 Maribor

admin Allgemein, racing 2020, brook macdonald, Eleonora farina, maribor, maribor 2020, mike jones, racing, uci mtb worldcup, uci worldcup, worldcup, worldcup racing

Qualification 2:

: pretty dark in the woods- the view is a factor for sure.

: seems like Bike has ups and downs, but was the slower quarry time a technical move for an early star time?

: easy 28th place for Brook- building his way back to the top.

: Ele is performing well these days.

: who thought, we will see Brook in worldcup racing that quick and who thought he will already perform on this level- this guy...

: 18th place in race 1 for Mike- what can we expect for race 2?

: track looks maybe inviting, but it is difficult to ride on the root carpets in the woods of Maribor.

: Briefing... Brook and Mike.

Qualifying went pretty good for the MS Mondraker Team. We will see all riders in Sunday’s race. With a 3^rd place Eleonora pulled out another top result, Brook sent it into 28^th place and Mike by the skin of his teeth crashed his way into 57th place. The weather forecast for the race is overclauded, but now rain, we will see if this changes the track to the worse or better.

race day 1:

: muddy but rideable- the Micheline tires keep traction.

: Mike Jones railing corners.

: motocross like tracks in the takeoff... the landing didn't look any better

: Mike Jones on his way to 18th place.

: Ele with a very consistent performance this week.

: vision in the woods is another factor for this week.

: happy Ele- this is how we want to see her.

: First world cup first podium.

What a day- Eleonora started with a crash this morning, just one hour before she had to get back up to the start for her race run, but nevertheless she managed to get down a solid run, maybe a little bit conservative, but good enough to finish in 4^th place. First world cup in 2020 and first podium for her- we can’t complain.

Mike had a good run, but unclipped in before the rock garden and couldn’t clip in again. He rode the rock garden unclipped, clipped in after the section and fought into the finish. The effort got rewarded with an 18^th place, which is a good start into the 2020 season. For Brook it doesn’t went as planned. He couldn’t unclip in a slippery section to put his foot out and crashed. Not a big crash, but big enough to lose some seconds, which throw him back in the final ranking to 39^th place. Probably not what he expected, but Brook is building his way back up and there is no doubt we will see him back in his natural habitat: the world cup podium.

Qualification 1:

: Ele in the morning training session...

: Representing the Italian national champion jersey

: cut a good figure in the infamous rock garden of Maribor

: Brook back on a worldcup track- not very sure about a year ago.

: Mike seems to get a long with the rainy conditions.

: mud fest in Maribor

: muddy conditions, but components resist and work perfectly.

: back to shiny pre race conditions.

Qualification ended with mixed feelings. Ele had a little crash, but finished in 5^th. She was not happy with the result, but in general happy with her performance. Mike had a so-so run, but qualified in 33^rd position. Brook had a crash in the top section. He slid out in a corner, but managed to get back on the bike and finished in 54^th place. As he was protected he would have been qualified anyway and he will still start in the flied of the top contenders.

Practice:

: this is the nice picture of racing in autumn

: Maribor- a unique venue close to a bigger city.

: Eleonora cuts a good figure

: Brook looking faster and faster

: those Micheline tires grip...

: Mike Jones seem to be back on a good perfomance level.

: characteristic for Maribor- wild root sections.

: autumn racing

We are finally back to world cup racing and Maribor is usually a good start if the season starts in spring ad not in autumn. Brook, Mike and Ele had a good day out in the woods and learned the track pretty quick, so they could get up to race pace. Conditions will be different for qualification and race day as rain is forecasted. Maribor what a beautiful place on Indian summer days…

Track walk:

: difficulties at the uplift- team effort solves the problem

: Brook back on the worldcup circuit.

: autumn conditions with slippery leafs

: race 1

: race 2

: high speed section in Maribor

: this is Maribor- infamous rock garden

: at this time of the year also the light and the view are factors.

Back to world cup racing. Round one of the 2020 UCI MTB world cup takes place in Maribor Slovenia. The conditions are like to expect that late in the season, changeable weather conditions, with the track being covered in leaves and the light is getting dark pretty early already. Beside all the new restrictions we have because of Covid we also have a new situation regarding race. Both race in Maribor and Lousa are supposed to be double races, which means we have qualification 1 on Thursday and race 1 on Friday and qualification 2 on Saturday and race 2 on Sunday.

This is on one hand double the chance, but also double the effort and difficult for riders as they have to learn 2 different tracks in sections and they only have the normal amount of training time. Stay tuned on RedBull.Tv and follow the race.

1 August 2019

world cup round 6 Val di Sole

admin Allgemein, racing brook macdonald, Eleonora farina, ici mtl worldcup, laurie greenland, mike jones, round 6, thibault laly, val di sole

This is our race journal from the 6th world cup race of the 2019 season in Val di Sole. We will update the journal every day with the latest news and pictures of the day. Stay tuned we keep you posted!

Day 4: Finals

: not the day of Eleonora- she crashed and had a flat tire... this makes it impossible to get on the podium these day. Ele finished in P8

: Brook at the last jump landing on the 15 meter mark. 30th place for him after the crash in the top part.

: teammates: Mike and Laurie.

: First world cup victory for Laurie Greenland.

: well deserved Champagne shower by the current world champion Loic Bruni

: the taste of success...

: the men behind Laurie: Mark Sterland

: even the race didn't went as planned, Brook was happy for his team mate Laurie.

What a race and what a result by the end of the day. The day didn’t start as planned. Eleonora struggled in the morning trainings runs. The track changed a lot after the junior’s race, which made it impossible for her to repeat the 4^thplace of the qualification. After a crashed in the middle bit of the track, Eleonora suffered from a flat tire, lost some more time and finished in 8^thplace. Mike had a conservative run on the wrong side of the limit after crashing in the past 2 races. Mike finished in 31^stplace.

Laurie came down in the last top group of qualification. He pushed from the very to and was on a flyer. Not as wild as in previous years, but he managed to increase his lead to the current leader Loic Bruni. Laurie crossed the finish line in lead with 7 more riders to come including top contenders Amoury Pierron and his team mate Brook, who had the best wet time in the qualification on the day before. Pierron had a good run with some little mistakes and couldn’t beat Laurie’s time. Next to come was Brook, who looked good in the top pit of the track, but unfortunately crashed out of the camera views. That crash throwed him back in the ranking and Brook finished in 30^thplace. With just 4 more riders to come, the first world cup victory was more and more in reach. Not one of the upcoming riders was able to beat Laurie’s time and so he finally won his first world cup by a margin of 2,8 seconds.

This was the first world cup victory for the MS Mondraker team since 2016. We are super stoked and happy as these moments make us what we do… the moments of joy when we won a race.

Thx to the whole team and all the sponsors for the support and making us win.

Results:

Day 3: qualification

: still good conditions for the women.

: try conditions in the morning training session.

: Farina with a save run into P4- full gas tomorrow!

: Mike Jones with a re-run after a red flag.

: Laurie Greenland 3rd fastest wet time- P10 in the end.

: mud is sticking everywhere.

: rough cleaning after the race run.

: still in good shape...

Well that was a hard day for use. We started with not too bad weather in the morning. The track was partly dry even it was raining the whole night. The weather seemed to be stable and the women had a dry qualification race. Elenora rode very save to make sure to qualify, which she managed with 4^thplace.

With about 10 riders in the men’s qualification the weather changed to the worth possible. The sky opened its doors and heavy rain effected the upcoming riders pretty bad. Mike got a red flag in his run and had to re-rum, which got him into 31^stposition. While a lot of riders where struggling bot Laurie and Brook had very good runs and entered into the group of riders, who came down in dry conditions. Brook finished in 5^thwith the fastest wet time and Laurie ended up in 10^thplace. Thibault Laly was unlucky again and crashed. He didn’t get seriously injured, but it is unsure if he will be able to compete in Lenzerheide.

Full results:

Day 2 practice & timed training

: Thiabult went down hard, but should be able to ride in qualification.

: building back up his confidence after two big crates in a row- Mike Jones. P15 in timed training

: Laurie pretty confident here in Val di Sole- the track suits him.

: Solid performance of Brook in VdS- P10 in timed training.

: home race for Ele- finished 3rd in timed training.

: toolbox wars- different level

: Stefan Dopplinger: Master of toolbox

: good day on the mountain for Laurie...

First training session in Val di Sole went good for us. The conditions where very dry and dusty and it seems like the track will not hold till finals. Thibault had a crash, but without serious consequences. Ele showed a strong performance again with a 3^rdplace in timed training. Brook set the 10^thbest time of the day and Mike finished in p15.

Results and Startlists

Day 1: course walk

: mud slinging when it's wet...

: Val di Sole, but it's raining?!

: quite a few options...

: good mood in miserable conditions.

: Mark checking Laurie's race wheels from the race last week in Pila- Mavic Deemax's still in good shape.

: Brook happy with the feel of his brakes.

With the 6th round of the 2019 UCI MTB world cup we are dropping into the 2^ndhalf season with just 4 more race to come. Val di Sole is one of those places we know pretty well and we probably had our biggest victories here. For sure the world champion and vice world champion titles here in 2016, but also the 2^ndplace of Laurie here last year where some of our highlights. The track has a big name in the Downhill scene and counts to the hardest tracks on the planet.

While we had good weather in the past few years we started with rain into this week and the forecasts are unsure for the upcoming days. One thing is for sure: if it will rain this track with the mix of loamy ground, rocks and roots will be the hardest of the year.

11 Juli 2019

world cup round 5 Les Gets

admin Allgemein, racing brage Vestavik, brook macdonald, Eleonora farina, laurie greenland, les gets, mike jones, thibault laly, uci worldcup, worldcup

This is our race journal from the 5th world cup race of the 2019 season in Les Gets/ France. We will update the journal every day with the latest news and pictures of the day. Stay tuned we keep you posted!

Day 4: Finals

: Laurie in a good mood- ready to enter the podium agin.

: Unlucky Mike Jones- showed best performance all weekend with times to enter the podium, but crashed in his final run- 53rd.

: Eleonora proofed again her ascending form- 4th place and another podium.

: entering the podium in front of an amazing crowd.- Laurie Greenland 3rd.

: first podium for Laurie Greenland in 2019.

: back on the podium... moments of joy!

: 2nd podium in a row for Eleonora Farina.

: Brook gave all after a tough weekend and managed to finish in top 15.

Great weekend for the MS Mondraker team in Les Gets/ France. We are back in the game with 2 podiums of Laurie Greenland with 3^rdplace in men’s racing and Eleonora Farina with 4^thplace in the women’s race. Brook MacDonald managed to finish in the top 15 after a tough week with massive crash on day 1. Unlucky Mike Jones crashed with 2^ndand 3^rdfastest split times- without a doubt on a podium run- and finished in 53^rdplace.

The team finished in 4^thplace of the day, but made up some positions in the overall. We are now in 4^thplace in touch with the top 3.

Results & Standings

Day 3: Qualification

: last race preparations for Eleonora.

: Mark and Stefan discussing the latest adjustments...

: Eleonora got 4th with a safety run- for her it is about to qualify and getting the protection status back.

: Laurie had a smooth run, which got him into 11th place.

: Brook still struggling after yesterdays crash.

: Thibault Laly missed the qualification.

: Alos Brage Vestavik did not qualify- not happy about a too conservative run.

: Not happy, but 37th place will do it for now.

Qualification went pretty good for us. We got 4 out of 6 riders into the finals with promising positions for the race. Eleonora got 4^thwith a safety run- for her it is about to have a run, which gets her in the finals where she can attack. She took some safety lines and lost a few seconds, but everything is in place for finals. Laurie had a smooth run, which got him into 11^th, Mike had an okay run, which still got him into 10^thplace. It seems to be a very good track for Mike as it is about to hold speed on the open sections. Brook still struggled because of his big crash on the first training day, but managed to finish in 37^th. Thibault and Brage rode to conservative and missed the qualification for finals.

Day 2. practise and timed training

: skeptical view from Mike's mechanic- today he must have pulled something out the sleeve.

: Ms Mondraker team train...

: strong performance in timed training of Mike Jones- 7th.

: big crash in the morning, but kept fighting thru the day.

: Laurie had some good sectors, after struggling in the morning with his setup.

: Eleonora was fastest today in 4 out of 5 section times...

: ...happy with that.

: always a smile on the face no matter what.

Todays practice started with a shock moment in the morning. Brook had a big crash in his first run and another one in his second run. This holds him back a little bit during the day, but he will be fine for qualification. Laurie struggled a bit in the morning with his bike setup, but found a good configuration by the end of the day. Mike showed a relay good performance in timed training and finished in 7^th. Eleonora struggled a bit at the beginning. Most of the girls had problems with the last jump before the finish- the height of the drop and the speed are frightening factors, but Eleonora managed it. She got 3^rdbecause of a small crash, but was fastest in 4 out of 5 sections.

results/start lists

Day 1. Course walk

: THE MS Mondraker Team

: Les Get start panorama

: Still pretty wide, still pretty grassy reaching the bottom of the upper section.

: Mike Jones and his mechanic Stefan Dopplinger on the Les gets road gap.

: chairlift life: Brage Vestavik and Laurie Greenland

: no hunger games for Laurie Greenland.

: A wonderful, touching moment between friends and competitors. Luckily there is no audio to spoil this still image.

: Brage dreaming big.

To most of the people Les gets might seem like a brand-new venue for the UCI MTB world cup, but in fact we have been racing here already back in the 90s. The last world cup happened here in 2002 and the last big race here was the world championships in 2004.

The track here is more old school with more natural features, wide open corners in the grass and high speed. This is for sure going to be a very interesting race.

4 Juli 2019

world cup round 4 Vallnord Andorra

admin Allgemein, racing 2019, andorra, brage Vestavik, brook macdonald, Eleonora farina, laurie greenland, mike jones, thibault laly, uci worldcup, vallnord, world cup racing, worldcup

This is our race journal from the 4th world cup race of the 2019 season in Vallnord/ Andorra. We will update the journal every day with the latest news and pictures of the day. Stay tuned we keep you posted!

DAY 4: FINALS

: fully focused in her world cup comeback race.

: Eleonora managed to get 5th with a clean run.

: First world cup podium in 2019.

: enjoying the good times.

: Laurie on the very smooth run- not at his limit yet.

: Brook was really happy with his run and to be just 0,7 off the podium.

: boys celebrating... team spirit at its finest

: hot seat from a different perspective.

This was a pretty cool race for us and we can’t complain at all: we have 3 riders in the top 10, we got a podium and we finished 2^ndin the team of the day ranking. Eleonora had a good run and finished in 5^thposition, which meant her first world cup podium of this season. Mike was again unlucky and suffered from a mechanical, which led to a crash. He managed to get down and finished 48^thplace. Laurie came down with a good run, but was a little bit irritated by dust swaths in the woods. He finished in 9^thplace and made up some positions in the overall. Brook finish in 6^thplace and was just 1,3 seconds of the podium. He also made up some positions in the overall and sits now in 7^thplace.

Results:

Day 3:

: Eleonora back to speed- P6 for her in qualification.

: Mike Jones building up his form curve again P27 for him

: Brook hasn't had a good run- a few mistakes cost him some sections- he is happy though P7.

: Mike Jones in one of the more natural wood sections.

: the track in Andorra offers a good mix of different conditions.

: Thibault Laly crashed in quails and could qualify for the race- P 83.

: Laurie into P8 with an easy run as he called it.

: Thibault introduced Brage to our Normatec recovery system... pretty sick tool if you are burned out after days like this.

We can’t complain after qualies. We had a good time and got 3 riders into the top 10 and 4 of 6 riders into the finals… there is not a lot more you can ask for. Eleonora qualified in 6^thplace and is back on pace after her longsome infection, which is why she missed the races in Fort William and Leogang. Brook didn’t have a perfect run- a few little mistakes summed up to 1 or 2 seconds, but he finished in 7^th, which is pretty promising for finals. Laurie had a smooth run and didn’t pushed too much- P8 for him. Mike is keeps building his form back up and finished in 27^th.

Brage had a solid run and just missed finals 0,7 seconds in 64^thposition. Unlucky Thibault felt good and had a good run until he crashed- 83^rdplace for him.

Results

Day 2:

: Stefan is checking the balance of the the Michelin tire.

: Eleonora leaving the pits for the first run of the day.

: the boys take the opportunity to share lines on training runs- pretty hard sometimes.

: "what you reckon is the best line?"

: Brook sending it.

: track is pretty dusty- Laurie can tell.

: Brook said that the hot weather and the dust makes this track the most physical demanding so far.

: Mike in attack mode.

Andorra is another level this year- the hot weather in combination with the deep dust makes this track thy most physical demanding. The boys and girls got some good training runs in and feel ready for the qualification.

With a 5^thplace of Brook, a 14^thplace of Laurie and a 18^thplace of Mike we had 3 riders in the top 20, which is pretty promising considering the fact that most of the riders already went up to race pace to see what is possible on this track.

Results and start lists

Day 1:

: good mix of natural sections...

: with man made sections...

: high speed section with loose gravel.

: cofactory pilot Brage Vestavik following the factory riders like being their shadow.

: Finish jumping the arena of La Massana.

: Brage Vestavik tries to look sharp...

: pit life... hanging out after lunch and sharing impressions from course walk.

: little rain in the evening after course walks... thunderstorms expected for day 2.

Here we are back in Andorra, a mini state in the Pyrenees between France and Spain.

We connect very good memories with this place: double podium in 2018, podium in 2017, victory in 2016 and the win of the team overall in 2016…

This season hasn’t been that good for us so far, but we hope this will be our turning point. The track walk didn’t show any major news to us, which means the track is basically the same like last year.

One major change for this race is, that Laurie as well as Brook will test a new bike setup with mixed wheel sizes. This setup was tested first at Crankworx Innsbruck and now we will test the setup under world cup conditions.

7 Juni 2019

world cup round 3 Leogang Austria

admin Allgemein, racing 2019, austria, brook macdonald, ici worldcup, laurie greenland, leogang, mike jones, thibault laly, UCI, worldcup

This is our race journal from the 3rd world cup race of the 2019 seaosn in Leogang/ Austria. We will update the journal every day with the latest news and pictures of the day. Stay tuned we keep you posted!

Day 4:

: Thibault struggled a little bit, but managed to finish in top 50.

: Brook finished in solid 12th position.

: some little mistakes cost Mike a good result

: not the weekend of Laurie- big crash in the finals with no chance to finish in a top spot

: Thibault collecting points.

: Happy but not satisfied: Brook MacDonald

: 29th place for Mike Jones.

: nothing else to lose...

What a final in Leogang/ Austria. We saw an exciting and tight race with some solid results and some bad luck for our team. Thibault struggled but managed to finish in the top 50. Mike was on a good run, but a few mistakes at the bottom of the track cost him a top result. He finished in 29^thplace. Brook had a really good run and finished 12^th– “happy but not satisfied” he said. Unfortunately Laurie had a massive crash, while riding well. He saved 2 points and finished in 59^thplace.

Day 3:

: wall ride from a different perspective.

: Laurie in full action mode.

: tucked in full race mode.

: Brook MacDonald finished in solid 20th place.

: Brook in the national champion jersey.

: Mike on the mission to qualify- he hold back a little bit to make sure he will race in finals on Sunday.

: Wallride- usual perspective

: Mike qualified in 37th.

Qualifying is done and went pretty good for the MS Mondraker team. We finished the day with 4 riders qualified for the finals and 2 riders in the top 20 in ideal position to attack the podium in finals. Mike Jones is also back in the finals after the mechanical issue in Fort William, which didn’t let him qualify for the race and Thibault Laly qualified again. Even the results maybe haven’t been outstanding we are happy as we know the pace is there and we just have to put some things together to make our way back onto the podium.

Day 2:

: The Ms Mondraker Team train is back on track.

: probably one of the most impressive sceneries in world cup racing- Mike is sending into the panorama of Leogang.

: battle tracks on Brook's jersey- still 9th in timed training.

: Thibault is the only rider representing the co factory team this weekend.

: Mike on the mission to strike back.

: Laurie simply enjoys riding this track.

: tight relation between rider and mechanic- in here, Mark and Laurie

: Brook and Ben get into details...

The conditions for the first training session where unreal. Good weather and a perfect track- there is not a lot more you can ask for. The MS Mondraker train with Brook, Laurie, Mike and Thibault was back on track and the boys got some solid training runs in. Brook and Laurie had both a little crash, but with no consequences which will affect the race.

Day 1:

: Laurie and Thibault wit Leogang panorama

: Leogang wood of fame

: one of the bike park features in Leogang

: difficult line choice

: where to go?

: Brook and Mike followed by the mechanic crew.

: bridge before the finish

: sun is out- happy Mike Jones.

Here we go with the 3^rdround of the 2019 UCI MTB world cup in Leogang/ Austria. Finally we are back in summer and the weather conditions have changed a lot from Scotland to Austria. Leogang Bikepark- instructed by former MS Mondraker team member Markus Pekoll- changed the track quite a bit from previous years and for sure for the better. While in previous years riders didn’t like the bike park style track too much, they are happy with the changes and the fact that the layout changed by about 70%.

31 Mai 2019

world cup round 2 Fort William

admin Allgemein, racing 2019, brook macdonald, Eleonora farina, fort william, laurie greenland, mike jones, thibault laly, UCI, worldcup

This is our race journal from the 2^ndworld cup race of the 2019 seaosn in Fort William/ Scotland. We will update the journal every day with the latest news and pictures of the day. Stay tuned we keep you posted!

Day 4: race day:

: this is what we call miserable.

: one of the necessaries this week: tear-offs. No worries, those will be collected after the race.

: Last training session for Laurie.

: Brook going over the Red Bull road gap.

: Brook was pushing hard in his race run: 9th place.

: Brook going over the Scotland arch jam.

: Laurie dropping into the last section.

: Laurie on the second last jump before the finish.

Well, this was it. Fort William in done and in the books- unfortunately not with the best end for us, even we managed to finish in descent positions. Brook finished in 9^thplace, Laurie end up in 15^thspot and Thibault became 60^thand made his first world cup point in 2019. Eleonora could not race because of an infection and high fever, but she will be back for Leogang/ Austria. Overall this was not a bad race, but for sure we hoped for better. Fort William is simply no joke and it takes a lot to show outstanding results. For sure we will come back next year, to prove we can do better and hopefully we will make it on the podium then.

Day 3: qualification

: Eleonora in the last training session before the qualification.

: Brook finished in 6th with a solid run

: unlucky fellow Mike suffered from a mechanical on the front wheel. unfortunately not protected and will not race the finals

: Laurie had a mechanical as well, but the protected status makes him race the finals.

: Thibault happy with his 43rd place.

: Laurie before his race run.

: signing session at the Mondraker pits with quite some interest.

: good crowed here in Fort William

Qualification today ended with mixed results. Brook had a good run and finished in 6^thplace. Laurie and Mike suffered from mechanicals. While Laurie has a protected status and is qualified for the finals Mike unfortunately is not protected and will not race finals. Thibault also had a good run and managed to qualify for the finals with a 43^rdplace.

Eleonora had a big crash in the upper rock section. She hit the ground pretty bad with her hip and finished further back in the field. Even she is protected and could race finals shew won’t by doctors recommendation.

Day 2: 1st practise

: goggle setup- probably the most important these days.

: Laurie in his fancy Fox pants with a zebra animal print.

: conditions and atmosphere on track were surreal.

: Brook on one of the wooden bridges in the upper part of the track.

: Mike showed a good pace trout the training.

: Thibault Laly crossing one of the little creeks.

: mudpack for the Mondraker Summum

: soaking wet

No news on day 2 training. The weather conditions have been miserable like on the day before and it doesn’t seem to get better. Timed training was a kind of meaningless as no one was really trying to set a best time and rather prevent crashing under those conditions.

We used all the training including the timed session to test different setups, but the conditions make it really hard to focus on that.

Day 1: track walk

: track walk time in Fort William. Boys and girls checking out the track- just minor changes.

: weather is miserable in Fort William... cold and wet, but Eleonora is still smiling.

: Laurie in a good mood... Micheline hat keeps him warm.

: Fully prepared Mike Jones.

: happy Brook MacDonald... no matter of the weather!

: classic pit preparation in Fort William

: Mark Sterland preparing Laurie's bike.

: some interesting talks between Laurie and his mechanic Mark.

Welcome back to the mountain bikes world cup classic. Fort William is for mountain bike downhill what is Kitzbuehl for downhill ski racing. The venue with the most spectators, the biggest party and one of the fastest tracks on the circuit. This track is infamous for its length, for mix of rocks and hart ground at the top and the muddy conditions in the lower woods. Furthermore the track is known for the speed and the long pedaling section before the finish.

While we had perfect conditions in 2018 we are facing miserable conditions now. It is currently very cold mixed with a lot of rain and while other sports would cancel training or even the race, we keep on going as long as riders can be transported to the start.

6 September 2018

Lenzerheide World championships 2018

admin Allgemein, racing, special events 2018, braves vestavik, brook macdonald, Johannes von Klebelsberg, laurie greenland, lenzerheide, mike jones, patrik butler, UCI, world championships

Finals- all in!

World championships is one of those races which are hard to describe and the feelings around this all or nothing race are hard to put into words. We went to Lenzerheide to hunt for medals and to win the jerseys. The chances were realistic, which Brook proofed with winning the qualification, but world championships has its own laws…

Even we did not win and haven’t been on the podium we are honestly happy with our season. We formed a good team again and even we are tired now we can’t wait for next season to race again.

1st Loci Bruni

2nd Martin Meas

3rd Danny Hart

7th Laurie Greenland

28th Michael Jones

34th Johannes von Klebelsberg

35th Brook MacDonald

59th Brage Vestavik

Juniors:

1st Kade Edwards

2nd Kye A’Hern

3rd Elliot Jamieson

44th Patrik Butler

Full results presented by Tissot timing.

: Brook fought till the end even he crashed and a podium was out of reach- chapeau!

: deepest disappointment- podium was in reach.

: 2 mistakes hold Laurie back from being on the podium again.

: Laurie on the last big finish drop.

: Brage Vestavik 59th place. Not bad for his first year Elite!

: Mike Jones finished in 28th.

: Italian stallion Johannes von Klebelsberg- 34th and best italian rider.

: Patrik Butler crashed on his way to 2nd place.

Nothing really special happened in today’s training session. Suspension setups are done and the tires are chosen already. For sure Riders took the last chance to test some different lines to find the last tenth of a second for the race, but also this is business as usual. We are ready for tomorrow and we can’t wait to race. Stay tuned and follow us on redbull.tv.

Start times finals:

Junior Patrik Butler: 11:14:00

Brage Vestavik 14:51:00

Mike Jones 15:09:00

Johannes von Klebelsberg 15:28:00

Brook MacDonald 16:16:30

Laurie Greenland 16:20:00

Live Timing

: BrookMac- low altitude flight.

: Laurie a little bit more sideways

: today was the day for "scrub" studies- Mike Jones.

: Laurie Greenland

: Brook MacDonald

: Johannes von Klebelsberg

: Pat Butler- solid training today.

: BrookMac looked confident.

Well, this qualification was a good start, but we don’t want get to excited as at worlds riders keep their cards close to their chest.

1^stBrook MacDonald: Brooks hasn’t had a good run. He made a few mistakes and couldn’t believe he finished in first place.

2^ndLoris Vergier

3^rdConnor Fearon

23^rdMike Jones: Like Brook Mike had quite a few mistakes and he was not happy with his run.

39^thLaurie Greenland: Laurie was on a cruising run. He is counting on different conditions on Sunday and kept his grains for Sunday.

41^stJohannes von Klebelsberg: Johannes went down in his race run, but still managed to qualify and finished as best ranked Italian rider.

69^thBrage Vestavik: We saw a top perfomance thurout the training session of Brage and so it was not a big surprise he will qualify for the finals on Sunday.

This means all MS Mondraker riders did qualify for the finals on Sunday and Pat Butler completed this result with a 2^ndplace.

: Pat Butler managed to finish his qualification run in 2nd.

: Brage Vestavik- qualified for the world championships final in 69th place.

: Johannes von Klebelsberg finished in 41st position

: Mike Jones 23rd place.

: Laurie with his national coach Michael Vickers.

: Laurie on a cruising run- 39th place

: Brook was able to decide the qualification in his favour- 1st place in qualy.

: the bulldog showed the teeth.

There were no big surprises in the first training session. The riders know the track pretty much from the world cups of previous seasons. There is only a new wood section in the lower third of the track, but this new section didn’t cause any problems so far. Today it was more about sorting out the right set of tires for the qualification tomorrow. While Laurie and Brook are protected as they finished the season in the top 20 of the UCI world cup ranking, Mike Jones, Johannes von Klebelsberg and Brage Vestavik have to qualify for the world championships race on Sunday afternoon. Stay tuned for more news tomorrw!

: Laurie leading the MS Mondraker again-

: Brooks world championships training kit from Alpinestars

: Brage on fire on the first day.

: Laurie in his world championships training kit from FOX

: Mike jones is pretty confident on this track.

: Azuro Johannes von Klebelsberg

: Paddi Buttler ripping in his national color Puls Wear Kit.

: Brook- ready for a podium this weekend?

The 2018 world championships bike design looks very similar to what we have been racing this season. The reason therefore is simple: we had a good season and these were our “lucky colors”. So designer Alexis Vazsquez combined the colors with a gradient and pimped the design with rider individual details.

: Laurie Greenlands bike

: Fox fork decals fro Brook Mac

: Brook Mac

: Mike Jones

: Laurie Greenland

: special DT Wheels for worlds

: national details for new zealand

: world champs special edition.

Here we are in Lenzerheide for the highlight of this race season: the 2018 UCI mountain bike world championships. Lenzerheide has been a good venue for us in the past with a victory in 2016 and with the first Elite world cup podium of Laurie Greenland last year. The track didn’t change too much from the past years and from what we know from course walk, the track is world championships dignified.

World championships are very different to world cups as this event is federation driven, which means rider stay with the national federations and their national team colleagues. This made it even better to see that no matter what the Ms Mondraker crew stuck together for course walk and that they share lines as usual.

We are also pretty proud that we have a very strong contingent at world champs as we are represented thru 6 riders and 5 nations:

Laurie Greenland GBR

Brook MacDonald NZL

Mike Jones GBR

Johannes von Klebelsberg ITA

Brage Vestavik NOR

Patrik Butler AUS

: old stagger already: Laurie Greenland now and junior

: MS Mondraker walk the unchanged top section down to the road crossing.

: head mechanic Ben with Brook's bike

: not just a punch of good mechanics, but also good friends...

: sticking together thru the world cup season and so they do now.

: Brook and Lozza think hard at the infamous rock garden.

: big support from Mondraker at this special event

: man in charge.

23 August 2018

worldcup round 7 La Bresse

admin Allgemein, racing brage Vestavik, brook macdonald, Fabian Ulrich, france, frankereich, ici mtb worldcup, Johannes von Klebelsberg, La Bresse, laurie greenland, mike jones, patrik butler, worldcup2018

Day 4:

La Bresse- UCI mountain bike world cup 2018 is in the books with a final, which had potential for going into the books of history. Like in qualification rain kept pouring down. The conditions were already difficult on the day before, but every rider since then had a massive impact on the track. Roots were coming out, ruts appear and the dirt became real loamy.

Mike was the first of the MS Mondraker squad- he had (by his own words) a too conservative run and was not able to beat the time of Martin Meas, who crowed himself to the winner of this final world cup round. Mike finished in 23^rdplace. Laurie, still handicapped by his twisted ankle, also could beat the time of Meas and finished in 18^thplace. This got him into 5^thplace of the UCI overall world cup ranking. As it looked like no one could beat the time of Martin Meas or even could get on the podium, Brook started into his run. With the two fastest top split times, he opened the race again. He lost some from split 2 to3 and some more from 3 to 4, but he was still in reach of second place. Brooked crossed the finish line in 3^rdand there was just one more rirder to come down. Season dominator from France Amaury Pierron was the last man to come down and it looked like he would beat the time of Martin Meas until he crashed in the last corner before the finish jump. In the end Brook finished in 3^rdplace and managed to make up some positions in the overall from 8^thto 6^thplace.

Overall we had a very good race weekend and we can’t complain of how the season went. We showed a strong performance and we were in touch with all top teams. We finished as 4^thin the team overall ranking and we are proud to achieve that with our rider squad.

Now we have a weekend of till we head to our season highlight the world championships in Lenzerheide/ Siwtzerland. Stay tuned.

: massive crowd in La Bresse.

: Brook MacDonald on his way to 3rd place.

: Mike jones had a little bit too conservative run and finished in 23rd.

: happy to be back on the podium- Brook MacDonald.

: another "shoey" for Brook.

: Champagne shower.

: Laurie with another UCI trophy: 5th place in the overall standing. Mission accomplished.

: overall world cup podium.

Day 3:

Massive weather-change from training days to qualification: after 2 ½ month of no rain in La Bresse the sky opened it’s doors and it was pouring down for the qualification round. While Brook qualified in 4^th, Laurie took it easy to save some corns for finals- Laurie finished in 49^th. Mike had a massive mistake in his run. He cased the first jump out of the woods and had no speed for the upcoming jump line. Apart from that he had a good run and managed to finish in 9^thplace.

The co-factory had a bad day. While Fabian could not start because of an ongoing knee injury, Patrik, Johannes and Brage could not qualify in these horrific conditions- shattered dreams.

: pouring down rain- no doubt!

: disappointed Johannes von Klebelsberg- missed qualification.

: no happy about conditions and be holden back by a twisted ankle.

: shattered drames- Brage Vestavik could not qualify!

: Also not qualified for the finals for the last world cup of the season- Pat Butler.

: Johannes showed a strong performance in timed training, but the conditions probably changed too much.

: Laurie on a cruising run.

: very wet and difficult conditions in qualification.

Day 2:

Even the track is short it seems to be amazing. Riders like the mix of natural sections, with man made jumps and berms in combination with rock drops and flat out pedaling. As said the track is with 2:20:00 pretty short, but the timesheet from timed training showed it’s going be a tight race.

Brook was on fire and finished 5^th. Johannes had a pretty good day as well and finished in 16^th. Laurie was still a little bit handicapped because of his twisted ankle from Mont Saint Anne and finished 41th without having a full on run so far and Mike Jones finished in 33^rd.

: Brook on fire again these days... 5th place in timed training.

: Laurie still a little bit hold back from his twisted ankle, but he should be fine for the race.

: Mike is building up again and will be ready for world champs.

: Can Laurie make another podium this weekend?

: co factory train with Brage Vestavik and Pat Butler.

: MS Mondraker train is on track.

: Also on fire these days is cofactors rider Johannes von Klebelsberg- 16th place in timed training

: for sure one of the contenders this weekend.

Day 1:

Here we are at the last round of the 2018 UCI MTB world cup in La Bresse/ France. We have been racing here back in 2009 and 2011, but on a different track. The memories were not the best and so the excitement level wasn’t really high, but after track walk we have been happy. The Track shows everything we want to see: flat, pedaling parts mixed with steep bits and man made sections mixed with natural terrain. The track will be around 2:30:00 long, but we will know for sure after the first training session.

: co factory boys a little bit unsure about this drop

: Brook and Mike sharing and discussing lines.

: team manager- not often seen on course walk, pretty sceptical though...

: Mike and Brook spending some time to find the right line.

: Laurie's ankle is not 100% yet, but he is fit enough

: track walk time... not hard to say who owns this calfs.

: last drop down/ rock section out of the woods.

: Brook collecting impressions... this part is one for sure to remember.

10 August 2018

world cup round 6 Mont Sainte Anne

admin Allgemein, racing 2018, brook macdonald, laurie greenland, mike jones, mont sainte anne, patrik butler, UCI, worldcup

Day 4: finals

Well that race was a little bit of a disaster for us.

Laurie could not start because of a bad ankle from a smaller crash on the day before, Mike hasn’t had a good run, but also a flat tire and Brook crashed in his race run with in reach of the top split times, got back on the bike and had a flat tire as well.

Laurie had a DNS (did not start), which drops him from 3^rdto 6^thposition in the overall. Brook finished in 53^rdand dropped one position in the overall from 6^thto 7^thplace. Mike finished in 27^thand dropped 1 position in the overall.

The only real highlight for us this weekend is the 4^thplace of Pat Butler I the juniors race. That got him from 9^thto 6^thplace in the junior world cup overall ranking.

Obviously we are not happy with this and we came to Mont Saint Anne to do better, but this is how racing is: sometimes you win and sometimes you lose- we are not desperate but looking forward to the next round to fight back! Stay tuned for the next round, which is the season final in La Bresse/ France.

Day 3:

Riders were struggling in the first training session before qualification. With way less runs as they are used to, they had some try and errors, which is why we saw quite a lot of crashes. Brook went down pretty hard and Laurie rolled his ankle. Almost no able to walk his ankle got taped up by body mechanic Martin New Hill and at least Laurie was able to roll out of the start gate. Laurie got a DNF (did not finish) but as he is a top 10 rider he is protected for the race. Brook finished in 5^thwith a massive mistake in the top part. This let us hope for more as he was just 2,2 seconds off on 4.20.00 track. Mike was far off being happy after his run. He said that he made every mistake you could have made on this track and caught all the wrong and slow lines- not happy with his run, but happy with 20^thplace.

Junior Patrik Butler finished in 5^thwith a solid, but not error free run- we will see if he can make himself a birthday present on race day or not.

: crash marks say it all...

: Laurie hurt his ankle in last training session and just rolled out of the start gate.

: Mike (by his own words) rode like a beginner, but was happy to qualify in 20th place.

: Brook Mac in one of the typical sections of MSA

: Pat Butler- turning 18 today- will he make a present to himself today?

: Laurie before he rolled his ankle. Look super fast again.

: struggling with his ankle...

Day 1 +2:

Mont Sainte Anne/ Canada hosts the 6^thround of the 2018 UCI world cup. This year it is the one and only world cup round out of Europe and coming here includes special preparation such as flying over earlier for acclimatize and getting over the jetlag.

The weather in Mont Sainte Anne this year is unusual hot which are the best circumstances for storms and unstable weather. On the first day of training one of those storms kicked in with heavy rain and thunder. Training got interrupted for 2 hours because track marshals got evacuated from the mountain, the gondola got stopped and the riders got a maximum of 4 training runs on the first day. The good thing was that we showed again that we are a force to count with: Brook 3^rdand Mike 7^thElite time training and Pat got 2^ndin juniors timed training.

: here we are- Quebec City sight seeing tour first day

: Laurie in slippery conditions in the first training.

: Mike coming back after a good rest for his wrist

: boys going back on track after the first storm.

: just 4 training run in total- 4th run in timed training was the first full run and he finished in 3rd.

: Laurie back on one of his favourite track even the conditions were really difficult.

: Mike 7th place in timed training session.

: happy faces, good team: Ben and Brook

12 Juli 2018

world cup round 5 Vallnord

admin Allgemein, racing 2018, anodrra, brage Vestavik, brook macdonald, Johannes von Klebelsberg, laurie greenland, mike jones, patrik butler, vallnord, worldcup

In the Elite category Johannes von Klebelsberg was the first rider of the Ms Mondraker team to come down. Coming from a very strong 26^thplace in the qualification he was able to improve his time by one second, which was not enough to repeat the result from the day before. He dropped down to 46^thposition.

Mike Jones was struggling all week with some big crashes and a sore wrist, which hold him back. To make it into the race run, Mike decided to use a wrist brace, which might be a handicap, if it was not tested before, but as it turned out later, the wrist brace was not going to be his biggest problem in his final run. Mike started out of the start gate pedaled thru the first section and snapped off his chain and derailleur. While we saw already fast runs without a chain, this one was different. The derailleur kept hanging on the cable and the risk of going fast was too big till the derailleur finally ripped off, which was too late to make up positions in the ranking. Mike finished in 60^thposition.

Brook was next to come. With a very strong 4th place from qualification he knew he could make it onto his first world cup podium since Val di Sole 2015. Brook went into a fully commited race run, but lost some time in the first section, while he was faster thru some of the lower section than later winner Loris Vergier. Just in the last corner before the last open bit Brook went hard into a corner, but was able to catch up and crossed the finish line in 3^rdposition with 3 more riders to come.

Laurie Greenland was next and again he showed a wild ride. Laurie dangled a little bit in the lower woods, where he almost got send over the bars. Laurie crossed the finish line 1,4 seconds off Brook and still two more riders to come.

Former team-mate of Laurie Danny Hart could catch up with neither Brook nor Laurie and qualification winner Luca Shawn crashed. Brook finished in 3^rdplace and Laurie completed this sensational result with a 4^thplace.

2 riders on the podium got us into 2^ndplace of the ranking for the team of the day and this 2^ndplace got us also into 2^ndplace of the overall team ranking. We again leave a world cup round with big grins on our faces.

We are now heading back home to prepare for the next world cup round in Mont Saint Anne/ Canada in about 3 weeks. Stay tuned and wait for our team video release on Wednesday!

full results

: 6th place- another top result for Paddy Butler.

: Johannes went one second faster than in Qualies, but that was not enough to replay the position from the day before- 46th place.

: Again bad luck for Mike Jones- check out his bike: chain missing, derailleur missing... 60th place.

: Laurie had a little hanger in the woods, which almost send him over the bars.- 4th place and another podium for him!

: Brook is back on the podium- 3rd place

: 2 MS Mondraker boys on the podium- well deserved!

: the newer generation podium.

: 3rd and 4th- two guys on the podium- thats more than you can ask for!

Day 3: qualification

Another very strong sign of the MS Mondraker in the qualification at the 5^thround of the 2018 UCI MTB world cup: Laurie Greenland finished in 3^rdposition just 0,006 seconds of 2^nd, Brook MacDonald finished in 4^thplace with a little mistake in the wood section where he clipped out of his pedal, Mike Jones got 22^ndwith a sore wrist after a big crash in the first training and Johannes von Klebelsberg managed to finish in 26^thplace. This 26^thplace is another strong result, which underlines his ascending performance curve. Brage Vestavik was riding a little bit to conservative and hold back too much. He did not qualify for the race and finished in 85^thplace. Last but not least Pat Butler qualified in 8^thplace in the junior category.

Overall we showed a very good team performance and we are looking forward to a tight race on Saturday- stay tuned and follow us on redbull.tv

: Mike Jones was riding with a sore wrist (from the crash on the day before) into 22nd place.

: Laurie Greenland finished 3rd- 0,006 seconds off 2nd place.

: Brook MacDonald with this little mistake in 4th place- 3,795 seconds off first, 1,226 seconds off 3rd.

: highspeed in Vallnord

: Brage was riding a little bit to conservative and could not qualify-85th place

: Best world cup qualification for Laurie Greenland so far- 3rd place.

: A little bit unlucky at the moment- Mike is riding fast, but is holden back by a sore wrist.

: Incredible performance of Brook MacDonald. Strong season so far especially considering his fast comeback after a broken collarbone at the beginning of the world cup season.

Day 2: first practice

We had a pretty good training day and the MS Mondraker training train was on again. In total it was a good day- a few mechanicals, a few little crashes and one bigger “digger” of Mike Jones, which was a little setback fro him as he tweaked his wrist again, but he will be able to ride today. Brook crashed in his timed training run and still got 10^thand co-factory rider Johannes had the 20^thfastest time of the day- so we are not worried about our pace or performance- bring on the qualification!

: BROOK 10th in timed training- with a crash!

: something we are really proud of- our MS Mondraker team train- watch out!

: one of the man made sections in Andorra.

: Mike Jones on fire. he wants to prove himself and is pushing

: a little bit to hard sometimes...

: ...but he is okay.

: Brook showing again a really strong performance

: Laurie- easy going in timed training- no doubt he knows his lines!

Day 1: track walk

Back to back weekends of racing on another sick track. We are here in Vallnord/ Andorra- a little country between France and Spain in the Pyrenees about 3 hours north of Barcelona and 3 hours south from Toulouse. The track in Vallnord is known as being a very fast track with some ambitious sections and we are coming here with some good memories such as the team overall world cup win in 2016.