You can now see the complete World Cup-segment from Anthill Films’ new community film project, “STRENGTH IN NUMBERS”

“The UCI world cup circuit is a living, breathing community of riders dedicated to travelling the globe to race bikes. Nomadic in nature, this elite community exists only on the road in a never-ending pursuit of milliseconds. These athletes train the hardest, constantly drive technology forward and act as ambassadors for our sport as they travel the world to compete.”

To see the full film uninterrupted, get exclusive extra features and support the filmmakers, order your copy now on iTunes worldwide or 3-in-1 Combo Pack:

www.anthillfilms.com/strengthinnumbers/buy/

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The iXS European Downhill Cup continued this weekend with the fourth leg in Pila, Italy. A highly challenging course and changeable weather conditions turned the race into a nail-biting thriller. In the end Robin Wallner and Floriane Pugin were the victorious winners.

The seeding run for the women’s category on Saturday took place on a completely dry track with Emmeline Ragot (FRA – MS Mondraker Racing) showing what could be achieved on it, finishing in 4:23.744 min and with a more than 6 second lead. Conditions were more difficult by the end of the men’s category with the last 80 riders in the class having to contend with heavy rain, making it pretty difficult to compete with the times recorded previously. At that point Cesar Rojo (ESP – Mondraker), ex-World Cup rider and current developer at Mondraker had set the best time of 4:03.046 min. No-one was able to get anywhere near this time, with the exception of local hero Lorenzo Suding (ITA – Pila Black Arrows), so the starting order for the final was thus clear and it wasn’t possible to predict with any certainty what the results on Sunday would be.

Sunday again started dry but the heavens opened already during the training session. As a result the course was from the outset no longer dusty, as also well-demonstrated by the times recorded. On average the competitors needed another 20 – 30 seconds to complete the course. And, just as on the previous day, the Elite Men class was affected most as the last 100 riders or so were faced with heavy rain, making the numerous roots and rocks in the upper section in particular unpredictable. The riders who had started early thus had completely different conditions, enabling Robin Wallner (SWE – Team Åre Bikepark) to record a time of 4:17.309 min which no-one else had been able to match by the end of the day. Second place went to Oscar Härnström (SWE – Pila Black Arrows), who was also able to benefit from the early dry conditions. Best able to cope with the subsequent wet course was Joshua Button (AUS – SC Intense), taking third place just two tenths of a second behind Härnström. Damien Spagnolo (FRA – MS Mondraker) came fourth, as on the previous day, once again proving that he can always be counted on to produce a good result under such conditions. The fifth spot went to Ruaridh Cunningham (GBR – POC/Alpine Bikes), who had already shown his talent in extreme conditions with his win at Innerleithen. Leader of the overall rankings is now Spagnolo with 301 points. In second place is Wallner (275), followed by Markus Pekoll (AUT – MS Mondraker / 271), Brook MacDonald (NZL – MS Mondraker / 257), Johann Potgieter (RSA – Canfield Factory Team / 237) and Cunningham (226).

With over 20 riders the Elite Women class put up a good field, promising an exciting race. Alba Wunderlin (SUI – Veloatelier Biel) set the initial best time, which remained intact until Elisa Canepa (ITA) took to the course. Following this the only remaining riders to tackle the course were the previous day’s fastest. The first was Emilie Siegenthaler (SUI – Scott 11) who crossed the finishing line with a lead of more than 8 seconds. Her time was, however, immediately beaten by her team colleague (FRA – Scott 11), who shaved off another 2 seconds. Only current World Champion Emmeline Ragot remained in with a chance to block the Scott 11 women’s double victory. Following a fall she however only managed to finish the course with a four second time lag, forcing her to settle with third place. The winner was thus Floriane Pugin with a time of 4:53.291 min. The leader in the overall ranking is now Ragot with 122 points, head of Siegenthaler (87) and Rachel Atherton (GBR – GT Factory Racing / 86 points).

The Masters category saw what was virtually a wire to wire win, because after Wilfred van de Haterd (NED – YT Industries) had a flat tyre in the seeding run he was first onto the course, meaning that he was immediately able to take his place in the Red Bull Hot Seat. He only left it after the last rider in the category had crossed the finishing line and he was the clear winner. Van de Haterd was thus also able to secure his lead in the overall ranking. Second place went to Heinz Hostettler (SUI – Banditbike.ch), meaning that he is also hot on van de Haterd’s heels in the overall ranking. Maik Höhne (GER – Bikeland 262) finished in third place.

U17 category riders Ferran Jorba (ESP – Moto Club Sant Andreu) and Loris Vergier (FRA – US cagnes) slugged it out over both days in a neck-and-neck race. The Spaniard was able to win the duel on both days thanks to leads of just a few tenths of a second. Third place went to German young hopeful Ferdinand Brunold (GER – Mag41.com Racing Team).

Photos: © Thomas Dietze

There’s nothing more to add, when talking about Steve Peat the name says it all. Enjoy!

”Ride in Peace…there’s always someone faster than you!”
Cute edit featuring Enrico Ubertini with two of the fastest bikers in Italy - Millivinti and Colombo. Location: Mt Beigua.

Over 20.000 spectators rushed in Val di Sole for the final stop of the 2011 Uci World Cup. Aaron Gwin, who had already been claimed world champhion after the race in la Bresse, won again in Italy, proving that he’s really unbeatable this year. He finished his run with an astonishing time of 3mins and 10 seconds, more than 1.2 seconds over the the second on the podium Danny Hart, and over 41 km/h average speed. Gee Atherton from UK, the 2008 World Champion in Val di Sole, jumped on the third step of the podium.

Tracy Moseley drove quite cautiously, especially in the third section of the course, and finished 5th. The last race of the 2011 World Cup season has been won by French national champion Myriam Nicole, ahead of countrywoman Floriane Pugin and Rachel Atherton, UK. Anyway, Moseley earned enough points to grab her second world cup title in career (the first was in 2006).
Among the Juniors Troy Brosnan, Australia, and Manon Carpenter, UK, won the overall standings.

Pictures: (c) Newspower Canon

Aaron Gwin (USA) just crossed the finish line after he had secured the last starting position with the best time in the qualifying and now the winners of the men’s and women’s DH race at the UCI World Cup stop in Leogang are set. None of the men was able to get close to Gwin’s time (USA/3:44.181) and Floriane Pugin (FRA/4:29.427) finished with a comfortable lead ahead of her competitors. Cheered on by the spectators that had flocked to Saalfelden Leogang despite the changing weather, the athletes showed an absolutely spectacular race. About 13.000 mountain bike fans had come to Leogang on this long World Cup Weekend to attend this international biking highlight.

The DH course in Leogang is famous for its technical sections that demand a great deal of concentration and skill of the riders. Especially the last passage with its roots made slippery from the rain posed quite a challenge for the riders. The track that measures 2.600 meters and stretches over 830 altitude meters, was a lot faster than last year, even though the mud did its part to slow the riders down.

The Sunday afternoon was rung in by the ladies’ DH finals. Even though the race itself took place in dry weather, the course was soft from the rain that had come down in buckets and especially the root section posed quite a challenge for many of the ladies, as well as the following men’s race. Floriane Pugin (FRA) delivered a truly impressive run and overtook with her time of 4:29.427 the two British ladies Rachel Atherton (2. Platz/4:32.010) and Tracey Moseley (3. Platz/4:32.119). She won her first World Cup stop with a large margin of over two seconds. The race remained exciting until the very end since the ladies kept switching position on the hot seat. Particularly the last three starters each took the coveted seat and had to turn it over again after the next run. The winner of the last World Cup stop in Ft. William, Tracy Moseley, surely wasn’t happy to hand over the hot seat to Rachel Atherton, who then had to vacate the first for the last starter. Austrian World Cup hope Petra Bernhard came in on sixth place and climbed up to number nine in the overall ranking.

1st    PUGIN Floriane         FRA   4:29.427
2nd   ATHERTON Rachel     GBR   4:32.010
3rd   MOSELEY Tracy         GBR   4:32.119
4th   NICOLE Myriam         FRA   4:39.233
5th   JONNIER Sabrina       FRA   4:40.162
6th   BERNHARD Petra       AUT   4:43.384
7th   SIEGENTHALER Emilie SUI   4:48.904
8th   GATTO Micayla           CAN   4:50.707
9th   GROS Céline             FRA   4:52.681
10th   CHARRE Morgane    FRA   4:55.535

Right after the women’s race, the men’s DH finals made the spectators hold their breath in excitement at a truly thrilling race. The Austrian spectators were more than riveted to see Austrian Markus Pekoll take the lead early in the race. He was able to hold this position for several runs until he had to give up the hot seat for Brook MacDonald (NZL/3:54.796). Pekoll came in on the 16th position. Then it looked as though Steve Peat would take the lead but he lost his line and had to be satisfied with the 12th position (3:58.984). At the first split, multiple DH World Champion Sam Hill (AUS/3:53.406) was already two seconds faster than MacDonald and forced him to vacate the seat. In the meantime, Cedric Gracia (FRA) just missed the hot seat with a very fast time and was sitting in second position next to Sam Hill for a while. In the end, Gracia placed 6th – his best World Cup result in the past few years. However, Hill’s lead was not solid enough for him to relax on the hot seat. After the run of last year’s winner in Leogang Greg Minnaar (RSA/3:49.902), the time had come for Hill to move since an impressive lead of almost four seconds meant Minnaar moved to the top. Fabien Barel (FRA) lost valuable time when he crashed, proving once again that the course is no eas task even for the absolute superstars of the scene. After Minnaar had taken the lead with such a comfortable margin, many already saw him on top of the podium but Gee Atherton was able to beat the incredible time by another 3 seconds. The fastest in qualifying Aaron Gwin (USA/3:44.181) was good for another surprise at the very end of the contest and came in at an unbelievable two seconds faster than Atherton in a race that could not have been more exciting.

1st   GWIN Aaron                  USA   3:44.181
2nd   ATHERTON Gee            GBR   3:46.294
3rd   MINNAAR Greg             RSA   3:49.902
4th   SMITH Steve                CAN   3:52.123
5th   HILL Samuel                AUS   3:53.406
6th   HART Danny                GBR   3:53.434
7th   GRACIA Cédric             FRA   3:53.538
8th   LEOV Justin                 NZL   3:54.165
9th   BLENKINSOP Samuel    NZL   3:54.344
10th   MACDONALD Brook    NZL   3:54.796

Next year, Saalfelden Leogang is particularly excited to welcome mountain bike fans to the largest mountain bike spectacle world wide; the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials Championships from August 29th to September 9th in the idyllic Salzburger Land.

Saalfelden Leogang in the Salzburger Land – The Austrian stop of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is in Leogang for the second time in a row. All in all 412 riders from 31 nations arrived a few days ago to get a first impression of the tracks and in some cases even get in the first practice runs. Most of the riders were already here last year and are impressed with the tracks that have received an overhaul for this year’s World Cup.

For multiple downhill World Champion and World Cup winner Sam Hill (AUS) this year is the first time he is racing the World Cup in Leogang, as he was out with an injury last year. After checking out the track, he already knows what to expect for the qualifying of today: “The track makes a real technical impression but the riders’ fitness will definitely also play a large part. I think this track has something for everybody.”

After just becoming Austrian Downhill Champion, Markus Pekoll (AUT) is looking forward to a World Cup stop in his home country: “I know that the track in Leogang is nothing to sneeze at. Especially if it should rain, the technical parts will become quite a challenge. The constant change between technical sections and pedaling hard will surely be quite demanding for most riders. However, I’m really looking forward to the spectators who will hopefully show up in masses to cheer me and the other riders on!”

Today at 2.00pm it is finally time for the DH qualifiers, while the finals will begin at 1.15pm on Sunday. Saalfelden Leogang is surely the theatre of world class action during this weekend and during all the Out of Bound Festival.

More information coming soon.

Here at Candiesmagazine.com nobody’s used to  to spend hours googling for news and stuffs.. we love the thrill of action, and well, one of the best thrills you can get in these warm Spring days is for sure a good and insane downhill session! So we took  a day off to visit the well known DownHill Bike park in Caldirola  near Alessandria (maps here).The location is really nice, not so far from the highway and at the same time in a quiet area, with nice woods and green lawns. Easy parking and food on place, too!

The Downhill Park is served by a single chairlift (15 € for a full day ticket) which brings riders on the top; then you have basically 3 tracks, one is medium level and the other two are for the experienced riders. Moreover a new track has been added this year.

Riding down in the wood you can also find quite a lot of different tracks and variations which allow you to ride almost everywhere in the area without getting bored doin’ the same track all day long.

Beside the usual natural obstacles (rocks, gymkhanas in the trees, and other friendly stuffs), you can find a good number of kickers and ramps, a parabolic wooden wallride and an amazing road gap too.

Being one of the most known downhill parks in the surroundings it’s easy to find there teams and bike crews taking laps and training, adding some challenges to the riding.

Definitely, it’s worth a visit for sure. Don’t miss the Regional Championship that will take place there on May 29th

Thanks to our homies Manuel, Tambu, Penna, Jonny, Luis, to be there and share the trip!

Now..dig the nasty pics!

Pictures: (c) Candiesmagazine.com

It’s raining outside and you don’t know what to do? Are you looking for the charge to launch yourself in a great riding day? Looking this video will definitely help you.

Ionate films did a really great job with this video, its 2nd freeride mountainbike film. You’re going to see riders like René Wildhaber, Ross Schnell, Samuel Zbinden, Carlo Dieckmann and Marco Bugnone ride through dust, dirt, tarmac and snow. The scenery are absolutely amazing and they space from the Swiss Alps, from the mountains and glaciers to the Ligurian coast and from Provence to the streets of Berlin.

The riders that you’ll enjoy seeing are: René Wildhaber, Ross Schnell, Samuel Zbinden, Carlo Dieckmann, Romeo Volken, Pascal Breitenstein, Mischa Breitenstein, Adrian Fischer, Sacha Robert, Katja Rupf, Marco Bugnone, Vinzenz Guntern, Roman Roschi, Mathé Hüsler

The video is setted in: Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria and France

Here’s the trailer man !