Canyon Factory Freeride Team: One Year In - Video

Anyone who can’t wait for the 2015 season to start should (re-)watch the team edit “Hashtag Goodtimes”.

The Canyon Factory Freeride Team definitely did not fly under the radar in its debut season. Packed full of huge tricks, buckets of style and a couple of crashes along the way, the team competed in the world’s biggest contests, filmed a new edit and shot in epic locations to make their first year together one to remember.

Thomas Genon (BEL), Anton Thelander (SWE) and Peter Henke (GER) kicked the season off back in February with a roadtrip to ride and shoot together on the iconic red dirt at Terre Rouge, France. Later in spring, Pete hosted Thomas and Anton at his local spot in Germany to produce the team’s first ever edit, “Hashtag Goodtimes”. The film is just a taste of what’s to come and showcases the riders’ huge talent and unique styles. To coincide with the release Canyon launched the long-awaited “Stitched”. The guys were heavily involved in the development of the bike and spent hours with the engineers at Canyon testing out new ideas until they finally came up with the ultimate dirt jump setup.

When the 2014 FMB World Tour kicked off, Canyon Factory Freeride Team shot straight to the top of the rankings with impressive results in the early season contests. The guys held their lead for weeks until injury took Anton (broken collarbone) and Pete (cracked rib) out of the game. That left Thomas to go at it alone in a way that only he could, racking up four wins and four further podium spots across the season to finish fourth overall in the FMB Diamond Series. The guys also took a solid third spot in the FMB Factory Team rankings. When back at full strength next year, they’ll be gunning right for the top.


We caught up with the riders and Team Supervisor, Flo Goral, to find out what they had to say about 2014:

How was your first season as part of the Canyon Factory Freeride Team?

Flo: The season was full of ups and downs in every sense. With Pete now on board, we probably have the strongest slopestyle line up out there. What’s even better is to see that the boys don’t just work together well on paper but also hang out all the time and always push each other on. After a solid start bad luck struck and took out two of our riders. That was a real downer but the guys are recovering well. It’s just cool that we were able to create the Canyon Factory Freeride Team and we are now mixing it up with the world’s best.

Thomas: It was good but unfortunately my teammates were injured in the contest season. We still managed to shoot a video and that was pretty cool!

Anton: It was awesome. I mean, it's really cool to be a part of such a huge brand like Canyon and it feels great that they believe in us and in everything we do.

Pete: I think we make a great team and we get on really well. We always have a great time training and going to contests together. In past years I was basically always riding alone.



What do you think about your own performance?

Thomas: I rode a lot in the winter and felt good on my bike during the year. I am happy with the progression I accomplished compared to last year. The first half of the season went so well for me. I had some trouble in between when I left Europe but I am going to work on that for 2015.

Anton: I'm happy with my performances at the beginning of the year but then unfortunately I got injured and missed a lot of the season.

Pete: From a rider’s point of view this season did not work out quite the way I imagined it. I was injured quite often and could not show my best at the contests. In terms of media and other stuff it was a really exciting year. I participated in the series “Wild Ones” for German TV. That was fun and I’d like to do more things like it in the future.


How did you deal with your injuries and what did you learn from them?

Anton: Injuries can come at any time but they happen most often when you ride tired or after a lot of riding. It was definitely hard for me to sit on the sidelines at events but I still enjoyed supporting my friends and teammates. I focused on taking it easy to let my body heal up and regain strength for rehab training. We were really lucky with the weather this summer in Sweden, so I spent a lot of time with my family and hung out at the beach.

Pete: We all know that injuries are a part of our sport, but it's still not cool if you miss important contests. I distracted myself with other things, but after two weeks I just wanted to get back on my bike. In my case, I was too eager and began riding too soon which then delayed my recovery even more. Our sport is demanding, you have to be patient and recover from your injuries completely before riding again. It certainly helps to draw motivation from your break. It is a good opportunity to pay attention to your body and recognize your weaknesses so you can develop them and come back stronger than before.



What’s the plan for 2015? What are you going to target next year?

Flo: Third in the FMB Factory Team Ranking was definitely not too bad, but with full manpower we can do even better. First of all I hope that Thomas, Anton and Pete stay fit and healthy. Of course injuries are a part of this sport, but I am sure the boys learnt some stuff this year. Now in the off-season we will be focusing on physical training and overall fitness so that when next season comes we are ready. I can’t wait to see them ride the first contests in 2015.

Thomas: Hopefully I can develop my weaker areas and strengthen the things I’m good at. I want to stay injury-free and have as much fun as possible.

Anton: I'm really excited for next season since I missed a big part of it this year. I think 2015 is going to be great. I can't wait!

Pete: I’m not going to do as many contests early on in the year. I’ve got a couple of big film projects lined up which are going to take up a lot of time so I want to commit to those, but I don’t want to give too much away just yet. We’ve got loads of backing from the sponsors so they’re going to be pretty awesome… I’ll be back doing contests again in May, but I’ve done so many over the last couple of years so it will be cool to have the chance to do some other projects, just not right in the middle of the season though. Going on road trips, travelling with my team and getting some filming done, that’s what I look forward to the most, being able to see the world a little beyond the same contests each year. Now I have the chance to do that so I really want to make the most of it.

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