The Downhill World Cup season got underway officially today at 8:30 am local time here in Maribor, Slovenia. Riders took to a muddy course that quickly dried and turned to hero dirt by timed runs at 2:45. The roots, the rocks and the corners are all back, with a few extra twists.
Check out some quick snaps below of the first day of practice of 2010 - inside you'll see the new Specialized DH bike, the Yeti Prototype, and the Intense M9 Prototype!
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Let's get it out of the way. Specialized has a prototype downhill bike under Sam Hill and, seen here,
Brendan Fairclough. It's black, it's light and it goes good and fast. No closeups allowed! |
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| It's the only day of sun we will have all week. No flashes, and Mick still glows in the dark! |
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Bryn has been doing tons of riding in the PNW. He is used to mud and roots and ruts now.
Apparently, he can slay rocks as well. |
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| The infamous rocks are back, with a twist. A couple actually. Riders now weave back and forth to make it through them, no more straight shot at mach 5. Skills will be tested when the mud gets dragged onto them. |
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| One of the French POC team riders was easily the most stylish person to boost this root ball all practice long. Lines were all over, left, right, high, low. It'll be interesting. Sam Hill even manualed it, where last year he turned it into a massive triple. |
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| Yeti has a new bike as well, and Aaron Gwin has been abusing it all day. |
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| Chris Kovarik's Intense M9 Prototype. Look for a feature on it soon. |
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