Val Di Sole - Worlds Test Event Results
Sunday, May 4th, 2008
Val Di Sole Worlds Test Race Results:
1st Sam HILL Monster / Iron Horse
2nd Steve PEAT Santa Cruz Syndicate
3rd Fabien BAREL Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team
4th Florent PAYET Subaru Mountain Bike Po Team
5th Justin LEOV Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team
11th Chris KOVARIK Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense
12th Julien CAMELLINI Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense
30th Matt SIMMONDS Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense
42nd Ruaridh CUNNINGHAM Chain Reaction Cycles / Intense
Sam hill showed everyone why he is the current World Champion and the man to beat come the real World Cup race on the 21st of 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.
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.
Chris over came 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.
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 for him so early after his winter knee injury.
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.
All the guys now know what they need to work on for the start of the World Cup series in Maribor next weekend. This has been a great weekend of testing and getting the bikes set up properly. We head off to Maribor tomorrow for a bit of training and recovering before Thursdays practice.
Thanks to all our sponsors.
Nigel Page
Team Manager - ChainReactionCycles/Intense
See more pictures in the CRC Gallery
