Maribor, Slovenia was host to the first World Cup event of 2008, where
e.thirteen athletes shined once again on Eastern Europe soil. Maribor
was the location of the last World Cup event in 2007, and riders were
looking to better their times from the previous event so they could
start their seasons off on the right foot. e.thirteen athletes won both
the men's and women's elite downhill, and captured an amazing eight out
of ten of the top positions in the elite men's downhill.
The 4X race was an extremely difficult course, with a flat and loose
first corner, followed by a tight second corner. In most cases, the
winners of each heat would be decided in the first two turns of the
extremely technical 4X track. The Maribor track also featured roots and
grass, convincing riders like Cedric Gracia and the eventual winner of
the women's 4X, Anneke Beerten, to switch over to their full suspension
bikes.
e.thirteen athlete Dan Atherton qualified first in the 4X, followed
by many other top racers. The course became even more technical and
difficult when four riders were fighting for lines (as opposed to the
single-rider qualification runs), and many top names didn't make the
final due to crashes, or riders crashing into them. This left a lot of
space open in the final for some unknown riders to shine.
Cedric Gracia was a rider who suffered from a wild crash during one
of the last heats leading up to the finals. He came back in full force
during the small final, though, winning fifth place.
The
downhill race in Slovenia was packed with riders – over 300 men were
signed up for the race on Sunday, making practice quite hectic and also
wearing the course down over the weekend's practice sessions.
Spectators of the event were able to spot every color of e.thirteen
product, as the White, Seafoam and RPM Orange Limited Colorways chain
retention devices were in heavy use during the event. Sam Hill was also
running a custom Monster green–colored direct mount bashguard on his
bike.
The women's downhill race was really between two women at the end
of the day. Rachel Atherton qualified five seconds ahead of the entire
field in Slovenia, and defending world champion Sabrina Jonnier knew
that she would have to throw down in order to compete with Rachel. The
two girls pushed each other super hard, but in the end, Sabrina was
able to put an edge of .18 seconds on Rachel for the win at the first
World Cup event of 2008.
Chain Reaction/Intense rider Julien Camellini qualified first on
the Slovenian World Cup downhill track, making his presence known in
Maribor. Camellini landed in third place at last year's event, and he
was on pace to stand on the podium again. Peat followed Camellini, then
Sam Hill qualified third. By comparing the qualifying times to last
year's final times, everyone in attendance knew that all of the top
riders had plenty of room to cut time on their race runs and waited in
anticipation for two p.m. to roll around, when the racing action would
begin.
Andrew Neethling came through the finish line at 2:56, setting the
pace for the top 20 men, but was unseated shortly thereafter by Justin
Leov (2:52), who was then unseated by Gee Atherton. Gee sat in the hot
seat for quite a while, until Fabien Barel came down with a lightning
fast time on his new Mondraker/Subaru ride.
Barel sat calmly on the hot seat while all eyes turned to the
television monitor for Sam Hill's race run. A brief silence rushed over
the crowd while Sam pinned it out of the start gate. Sam set a
blistering pace through the top half of the course, smashing Barel's
split by over two seconds! By the time he arrived at the bottom of the
course, Sam had cut nearly another two seconds off of Barel's time,
leaving Sam at 2:47, handily taking over the top spot for Maribor.
The first place qualifier and last rider to run was the prodigy of
e.thirteen athlete Nico Voillouz, Julien Camellini. Camellini has a
good history of results on the Maribor course, and felt confident all
weekend during his practice runs. He put together a great run, but no
one was able to catch Sam Hill and his Monster/Iron Horse Sunday.
Camellini came down just ahead of Peaty, bettering his third place
podium spot from 2007 to a silver medal in 2008.
The Freecaster crew interviewed Sam after yet another amazing
victory. Freecaster asked Hill how he was able to go so fast on the
Maribor course, and a relaxed Sam Hill replied, "Actually I didn't feel
that fast. I was hoping to go faster."
The e.thirteen sponsored Animal/Commencal team of The Athertons snapped up the lead for overall team points in Maribor.
Photos by Fraser Britton)
e.thirteen
is proud to support the world's best racers through the World Cup
series, putting our products to the test on the most grueling downhill
and 4X tracks that the world has to offer. Congratulations to all three
of our riders who stood on top of the podium, and also a hearty
congratulations to all of our other athletes that slayed it in Slovenia
this weekend!
e.thirteen components is a small, rider-owned and operated company
that strongly supports dozens of grassroots races, series, contests and
other riding events all over the world every year. Founded in 2001,
e.thirteen's innovative, functional, simple and lightweight chain
retention systems have made them a world leader in this category, and
the choice of top pro and amateur riders and mechanics alike. They
support a worldwide distribution network and take great pride in
offering devoted customer service.
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