Madison Saracen 2013 - UCI World Cup FIVE: Hafjell

Land of trees, trolls, Vikings, blondes and as it turns out, one of the best DH tracks on the World Cup circuit. Hafjell in Norway was home to the penultimate round of the series. We rolled into the ski town, with the team back to full force, enjoying the Scandinavian sunshine and itching to get on the bikes and up the hill.


Norway will be home to the 2014 World Championships and after last years visit, everyone had been looking forward to getting back on the Hafjell hillside for the World Cup. Straight out the start hut, the track screams fun : a series of double jumps spit you out into a tunnel of trees at speed, through rocks and roots before heading back out to fast open track, berms, jumps and an open piste section then back into trees and a tricky rock garden - made all the more interesting on race day by the addition of rain. Then another fast open section that provided some great 'speedway' style drifting on the grassy turns before the last rocky wood and a sprint down to the line. So much going on that the riders agreed, the sub four minute track felt more like double that in a full race run.


The sun stayed with us throughout practice but with an eye on the weatherman as always, we knew things would spice up on race day with rain forecast for the weekend. All was going well for the team, back together for the first time since Val di Sole due to Phil’s hand injury in July.


With the triple-header schedule, qualifying soon comes around on a Friday afternoon. Consistency was the order of the day with all the team putting in a solid performance, laying down a marker to improve on come race day. Phil’s great 4th place showed he hadn't lost any of his early season speed and Sam’s 20th place showed he too was having fun playing in the dust.


The short, sharp shock that is an hours practice on Saturday morning did not go so well. Sadly, if mistakes are the currency of experience, Phil Atwill is truly a rich man after this season and ultimately, his week in Norway. Unfortunately for the talented Junior his season ended with a collarbone braking crash at the top of the course during practice. At this level of racing, for young riders, enthusiasm, talent and focus need to be balanced out carefully and as you would expect the normal ingredient that overfills the mixing bowl is enthusiasm! We did learn from this experience that the Lillehammer hospital is incredible and they bolted him back together the same day and looked after him like royalty.

Only a day later and the dust was transformed to dirt...I guess Thor must have summoned a batch of rain to spice up Sunday’s World Cup battle.


Sunday mornings practice was the only chance the riders had to prepare themselves and the bikes for a wet Hafjell race day. So the Conti Kaiser’s came off and the Mud King’s went on, out came the Dragon roll offs and everybody was ready to go!


Manon was first up as usual and looking right at home on the very ‘Welsh looking’ track. Flying through the bottom rock section like it was still dry and sprinting home to take the hot seat, with 3 riders still to go it was back to the familiar fingers crossed routine with all eyes glued to the big screen. The two French girls tried and failed to eclipse the time of Manon which left just Rachel Atherton who looked equally at home in the ‘Welsh’ conditions and managed to squeeze out a few more seconds from the lower section of the track. Another fantastic second place for Manon, strengthening her third place in the overall and keeping the possibility of the win alive.


Harry liked the look of the hot seat and booked himself a ring-side seat, with an awesome run that put him into first spot. It was his turn to watch the rest of the action on the big screen, eventually equaling his seasons best with 25th place. Last man down for the team Sam had rolled up his sleeves and was ready for action. Attacking the first rock section hard, Sam came victim to the sharp Norwegian rocks getting a rear flat. Despite that he muscled on giving the crowd a great show and burning off some frustration.


So as ever an exciting days racing with mixed results and an enthusiastic team hungry to improve at the final round of the World Cup series in Leogang next weekend.


Madison.cc
Saracen.co.uk

Photos by Laurence Crossman-Emms // www.laurence-ce.com

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