19.9.07
Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier Grab Overall Series Titles at Maribor
Holbrook, NY
This past weekend in Maribor, Slovenia, Sam Hill continued his season-long domination by winning the 2007 World Cup Series' final race as well as claiming the World Cup Downhill Series Overall Championship. Teammate Sabrina Jonnier took home 6th place in the Women's Elite Downhill event and also secured the World Cup Downhill Series Overall Championship.
After a five-year hiatus, the UCI World Cup Series returned to Maribor for the 2007 Series Final. A mix of roots, loamy soil, and tight turns, the course had become a bit of a legend since last hosting a World Cup round in 2002. The course was described by riders all weekend simply as "fun to ride" and as an added bonus, weather conditions remained perfect throughout the event with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-20's C/70's F.
In the weekend's main event, Sam Hill followed up on his World Championship in Scotland the previous weekend by taking the win in Slovenia. Hill raced his dw-link equipped Iron Horse Sunday to a 1.33 second win over second place rider Gee Atherton. Hill finished the course in a time of 2:53.78 minutes. "Maribor was awesome", said Hill. "I finally managed to win the World Cup Series, which was a big goal for me. I had been second for three years in a row and wanted to get the win pretty bad. I have had an amazing year, the whole team has helped to get the World Cup Series Championship and hopefully next year can be even more successful." This was Sam's third World Cup win of the season and his first World Cup Series Championship.
Battling illness all week, Jonnier wasn't feeling up to par, but still gave it her all to finish the season on top. Sabrina said of her race run "I have been sick all week. I tried to go because I love to win, but I didn't have any energy on the pedaling sections. I just couldn't go quick." She then added, "I got 6th today but I won the overall, so that's always good." This was Sabrina's third World Cup Downhill Series Overall title.
With Sabrina's title the Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team also secured the women's Downhill Trade Team Title. Team mechanic Jacy Shumilack joined Sabrina on the podium to accept the award.
The Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team finishes out the season with an impressive collection of victories and titles in 2007 including two World Championships, two World Cup Series Overall titles, five World Cup wins, European Championships in downhill and 4X, French National Champion, and wins at the Sea Otter dual slalom, US Open, Psychosis, and Crankworx Garbanzo downhill events.
For complete info on the 2008 Iron Horse Bicycles product line, including the Sunday World Cup team replica model, visit www.ironhorsebikes.com. For more info, photos, and schedules for the Monster Energy/Iron Horse race team visit www.ironhorseraceteam.com.
The Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team thanks the following sponsors for all their support during the 2007 World Championship and World Cup Series winning 2007 season: Monster Energy, Iron Horse Bicycles, Mad Catz, Alligator Cables, Avid, Crank Brother, DT-Swiss, e-thirteen Components, Five-Ten Shoes, FSA/Gravity, FUNN, Maxima Lubes, Maxxis Tires, Minoura, mtbidsystems, RockShox, SRAM, THE, Troy Lee Designs, and WTB.
14.9.07
Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier Defend Downhill Titles In Scotland
Holbrook, NY
Monster Energy/Iron Horse teammates Sam Hill (Australia) and Sabrina Jonnier (France) stood atop the podium at the UCI World Championships for the second straight year with repeat perfomances as Elite Downhill World Champions.
The World Championships, held annually, are considered by many to be the greatest and most prestigious event in the sport of mountain biking. Riders from around the globe were in attendance with hopes of earning the right to wear the traditional white jersey with rainbow stripes for the following year. Monster Energy/Iron Horse riders, Hill and Jonnier, once again proved themselves to be the greatest at this most prestigious event. This year's edition of the World Championships was held in Fort William, Scotland on the slopes of Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the United Kingdom. Fort William has become a favorite of both fans and competitors since becoming a perennial host of a UCI World Cup Mountain Bike Series round in 2002.
In the women's competition, Sabrina qualified fifth in Thursday's qualifier run but pulled out all of the stops to put together her World Championship winning run on Sunday. In her final run, Sabrina raced her dw-link equipped Iron Horse Sunday across the line with a winning time of 5:28.35 minutes, 4.01 seconds ahead of second place finisher Rachel Atherton of Great Britain. "It means a lot to me to win again." said Jonnier. "I hadn't really done well on the Fort William track in the past, so I knew I had to work really hard for my second World Championship. I trained really hard for this and I'm really happy that all my hard work and the hard work of my team paid off."
In the marquis event of the weekend, Sam Hill captured his second straight Downhill World Championship on his Iron Horse Sunday. After qualifying in 24th position in Thursday's qualifier, Sam was among the first of the favorites for the win to come down the course on Saturday afternoon. Coming across the line with a time of 4:52.01 minutes over the 1.75 mile course, Hill was the first rider to set a sub 5 minute time - knocking early pace setter Pasqual Canals Flix (Spain) off the hot seat. As the winds picked up and the rain began to fall heavier, only second place finisher Fabien Barel (France) would end up challenging Sam's mark, falling a slim 0.64 seconds short.
Hill commented, "Winning the World Champs for me is huge. It's been my biggest goal since I started racing downhill. I feel like I have achieved a lot. Winning for the second year in a row feels just as good as the first because it's a lot harder to try and defend it." Hill then added, "Now I'm going to have to try and back it up next year."
In addition to the wins by Sam and Sabrina, Ruaridh Cunningham of Scotland claimed the Junior Downhill World Championship on board an Iron Horse Sunday Factory frame. In the Elite Men's race, Iron Horse sponsored rider Ben Reid (Ireland) finished 14th, Duncan Riffle (USA) finished 27th, and Kieran Bennett (New Zealand) was 43rd. Aussie Junior National Champion Mitch Delfs finished up 4th in the Junior race.
The next stop for the Monster Energy/Iron Horse team is the World Cup Finals at Maribor, Slovenia on September 15-16. Sam and Sabrina both go into Maribor leading the World Cup Series point standings.
For complete info on the 2008 Iron Horse Bicycles product line, including the Sunday World Cup team replica model, visit www.ironhorsebikes.com. For more info, photos, and schedules for the Monster Energy/Iron Horse race team visit www.ironhorseraceteam.com.
The Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team thanks the following sponsors for all their support: Monster Energy, Iron Horse Bicycles, Mad Catz, Alligator Cables, Avid, Crank Brother, DT-Swiss, e-thirteen Components, Five-Ten Shoes, FSA/Gravity, FUNN, Maxima Lubes, Maxxis Tires, Minoura, mtbidsystems, RockShox, SRAM, THE, Troy Lee Designs, and WTB.
World Cup Series Champions
Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier Grab Overall Series Titles at Maribor
Holbrook, NY
This past weekend in Maribor, Slovenia, Sam Hill continued his season-long domination by winning the 2007 World Cup Series' final race as well as claiming the World Cup Downhill Series Overall Championship. Teammate Sabrina Jonnier took home 6th place in the Women's Elite Downhill event and also secured the World Cup Downhill Series Overall Championship.
After a five-year hiatus, the UCI World Cup Series returned to Maribor for the 2007 Series Final. A mix of roots, loamy soil, and tight turns, the course had become a bit of a legend since last hosting a World Cup round in 2002. The course was described by riders all weekend simply as "fun to ride" and as an added bonus, weather conditions remained perfect throughout the event with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-20's C/70's F.
In the weekend's main event, Sam Hill followed up on his World Championship in Scotland the previous weekend by taking the win in Slovenia. Hill raced his dw-link equipped Iron Horse Sunday to a 1.33 second win over second place rider Gee Atherton. Hill finished the course in a time of 2:53.78 minutes. "Maribor was awesome", said Hill. "I finally managed to win the World Cup Series, which was a big goal for me. I had been second for three years in a row and wanted to get the win pretty bad. I have had an amazing year, the whole team has helped to get the World Cup Series Championship and hopefully next year can be even more successful." This was Sam's third World Cup win of the season and his first World Cup Series Championship.
Battling illness all week, Jonnier wasn't feeling up to par, but still gave it her all to finish the season on top. Sabrina said of her race run "I have been sick all week. I tried to go because I love to win, but I didn't have any energy on the pedaling sections. I just couldn't go quick." She then added, "I got 6th today but I won the overall, so that's always good." This was Sabrina's third World Cup Downhill Series Overall title.
With Sabrina's title the Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team also secured the women's Downhill Trade Team Title. Team mechanic Jacy Shumilack joined Sabrina on the podium to accept the award.
The Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team finishes out the season with an impressive collection of victories and titles in 2007 including two World Championships, two World Cup Series Overall titles, five World Cup wins, European Championships in downhill and 4X, French National Champion, and wins at the Sea Otter dual slalom, US Open, Psychosis, and Crankworx Garbanzo downhill events.
For complete info on the 2008 Iron Horse Bicycles product line, including the Sunday World Cup team replica model, visit www.ironhorsebikes.com. For more info, photos, and schedules for the Monster Energy/Iron Horse race team visit www.ironhorseraceteam.com.
The Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team thanks the following sponsors for all their support during the 2007 World Championship and World Cup Series winning 2007 season: Monster Energy, Iron Horse Bicycles, Mad Catz, Alligator Cables, Avid, Crank Brother, DT-Swiss, e-thirteen Components, Five-Ten Shoes, FSA/Gravity, FUNN, Maxima Lubes, Maxxis Tires, Minoura, mtbidsystems, RockShox, SRAM, THE, Troy Lee Designs, and WTB.
posted by Iron Horse at 10:53 PM
14.9.07
UCI World Champions
Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier Defend Downhill Titles In Scotland
Holbrook, NY
Monster Energy/Iron Horse teammates Sam Hill (Australia) and Sabrina Jonnier (France) stood atop the podium at the UCI World Championships for the second straight year with repeat perfomances as Elite Downhill World Champions.
The World Championships, held annually, are considered by many to be the greatest and most prestigious event in the sport of mountain biking. Riders from around the globe were in attendance with hopes of earning the right to wear the traditional white jersey with rainbow stripes for the following year. Monster Energy/Iron Horse riders, Hill and Jonnier, once again proved themselves to be the greatest at this most prestigious event. This year's edition of the World Championships was held in Fort William, Scotland on the slopes of Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the United Kingdom. Fort William has become a favorite of both fans and competitors since becoming a perennial host of a UCI World Cup Mountain Bike Series round in 2002.
In the women's competition, Sabrina qualified fifth in Thursday's qualifier run but pulled out all of the stops to put together her World Championship winning run on Sunday. In her final run, Sabrina raced her dw-link equipped Iron Horse Sunday across the line with a winning time of 5:28.35 minutes, 4.01 seconds ahead of second place finisher Rachel Atherton of Great Britain. "It means a lot to me to win again." said Jonnier. "I hadn't really done well on the Fort William track in the past, so I knew I had to work really hard for my second World Championship. I trained really hard for this and I'm really happy that all my hard work and the hard work of my team paid off."
In the marquis event of the weekend, Sam Hill captured his second straight Downhill World Championship on his Iron Horse Sunday. After qualifying in 24th position in Thursday's qualifier, Sam was among the first of the favorites for the win to come down the course on Saturday afternoon. Coming across the line with a time of 4:52.01 minutes over the 1.75 mile course, Hill was the first rider to set a sub 5 minute time - knocking early pace setter Pasqual Canals Flix (Spain) off the hot seat. As the winds picked up and the rain began to fall heavier, only second place finisher Fabien Barel (France) would end up challenging Sam's mark, falling a slim 0.64 seconds short.
Hill commented, "Winning the World Champs for me is huge. It's been my biggest goal since I started racing downhill. I feel like I have achieved a lot. Winning for the second year in a row feels just as good as the first because it's a lot harder to try and defend it." Hill then added, "Now I'm going to have to try and back it up next year."
In addition to the wins by Sam and Sabrina, Ruaridh Cunningham of Scotland claimed the Junior Downhill World Championship on board an Iron Horse Sunday Factory frame. In the Elite Men's race, Iron Horse sponsored rider Ben Reid (Ireland) finished 14th, Duncan Riffle (USA) finished 27th, and Kieran Bennett (New Zealand) was 43rd. Aussie Junior National Champion Mitch Delfs finished up 4th in the Junior race.
The next stop for the Monster Energy/Iron Horse team is the World Cup Finals at Maribor, Slovenia on September 15-16. Sam and Sabrina both go into Maribor leading the World Cup Series point standings.
For complete info on the 2008 Iron Horse Bicycles product line, including the Sunday World Cup team replica model, visit www.ironhorsebikes.com. For more info, photos, and schedules for the Monster Energy/Iron Horse race team visit www.ironhorseraceteam.com.
The Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team thanks the following sponsors for all their support: Monster Energy, Iron Horse Bicycles, Mad Catz, Alligator Cables, Avid, Crank Brother, DT-Swiss, e-thirteen Components, Five-Ten Shoes, FSA/Gravity, FUNN, Maxima Lubes, Maxxis Tires, Minoura, mtbidsystems, RockShox, SRAM, THE, Troy Lee Designs, and WTB.
posted by Iron Horse at 10:38 PM