uci mtb worldcup – MS INTENSE RACING

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.

6 September 2019

Final world cup round Snowshoe USA

admin Allgemein, racing 2019, Eleonora farina, final round, laurie greenland, Snowshoe, uci mtb worldcup, usa, worldcup

This is the daily report from the final world cup round in Snowshoes, West Virginia, USA. The 2019 UCI MTB world cup got us to Snowshoe mountain which is about 4 and a half hours west of Washington DC. The ski resort is located in a national radio quiet zone near the biggest moveable radio telescope of the world: the Greenbank telescope.

Stay tuned for more news.

Day 3: Qualification

: Laurie at the rock drop in the training session

: crash marks in qualification- not the best sign.

: pretty crowed on the track already.

: no points for qualification at the world cup finals- Laurie took it easy.

: Eleonora was not fit enough to race. Another concussion in 1 week time... not worth risking it.

: Brook is always with us- KIA KAHA

: new Renthal bar in place. final race preparation has started.

: Stefan oru carbon specialist is double checking Laurie's helmet.

One rider left in the game for 2019 UCI MTB worldcup finals in Snowshoe… not what we hoped for when we came to North America, but now we have to deal with it. While Brook is doing big steps in his reha, Eleonora had to step back from racing in Snowshoe. The concussion from yesterday would have effect her too much. Laurie is the last man in the game and as there is that special rules for world cup finals, where you won’t get any points for qualification, Laurie decided to take it easy. He tried some things on the track, but one line didn’t work out as planned and Laurie crashed over the rock drop. Nothing has happened, but currently we are pretty nervous.

Day 2: 1st practise and times training

: Mark in USA mode

: Also Laurie pays homage to the USA.

: last check before training.

: first jump on track right after the start.

: spectacular rock line...

: ...with a rock turn right after.

: 2 crashes and another concussion today- Eleonora will not ride or race this weekend.

: 2 riders out, 2 mechanics out- different tasks this weekend.

Well not it has happened what we tried to avoid think about. Our riders flied get reduced by Eleonora Farina and now Laurie is the only remaining rider for the MS Mondraker Team. Eleonora crashed twice in her training and showed signs for another concussion in only 1 week time. Eleonora and the team decided to step back from a start to not risk any consequences.

Day 1: course walk

: It's been a while since the boom in these parts.

: It may not be the rust belt, but there's still a ton of cool history oxidising in the forest.

: A terrapin and not a smooth-shelled one at that.

: US back country

: Natural flow before the rocks really kick in.

: A beautifully shaped berm before things get super technical.

: Laurie USA outfit

Track walk was pretty exciting as Snowshoe Mountain is a brand-new venue to us and the organizers modified the track, which was used for national mountain bike events. The track is different from what we used to race on the world cup circuit, but for sure the track offers a kind of everything we are asking for… and more. With 2 riders left we are going into this race and as usual we will work for podium results- stay tuned.