People of the World Cup: Part 3
There are so many people who make World Cup DH racing what it is. The hardest part of this project was not being able to get shots of everyone. There are, unfortunately, a ton of people I missed for one reason or another. My apologies to everyone I left out--members of the UCI, riders, photographers, videographers, course marshals, and volunteers. My focus was getting as many as I could, but I quite obviously left a ton of people out. But these are the last of the portraits I did manage to get. Part three of three...
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 The official time keeper for the UCI. This man is responsible for making sure we know who got the green light for every single race over the season. Fort Willam, 2014. |
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| Christian Schandl has been the driver/lead mechanic for MS-Mondraker team since back when they were MS-Intense, and spends enough hours behind the wheel to have earned the nickname "Der Autobahn Kaiser". I recall asking him what his biggest bitch about being a mechanic was for a piece on bikemag.com back in 2008, and his immediate and succint reply of, "rock star attitude". He's a man of few words, but always well chosen words. Somewhere in the Alps, 2012. |
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| That grin says it all: stoked to be racing. Ruaridh Cunningham on his home turf--the same turf where he claimed the 2007 Junior World Champ title. Fort William, 2014. |
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| Jason Marsh--aka "Marshy" is one of the handiest wrenches on the circuit. When you buy a "Marsh Guard" fender, you're investing in Marshy--he's the creator of that particular 'must have' piece of foul weather gear. He's also been the mechanic for Greg Minnaar for the past 3 seasons. Enough said. Fort William, 2014. |
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| Jill Kintner: BMX Olympian. multiple 4X World Champion and US National DH Champion. And Sudoku addict. Leogang 2014. |
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| Taylor Vernon, the young lion for GT. Quiet, unassuming, and extremely talented. He's faced a fair bit of adversity at a young age with the horrific injury suffered in 2013, but he's back and on track. Fort William, 2014. |
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| I'm not going to say Sam Hill owes all his success to this man, Jacy Shumilak, but it was distinctly odd to see Jacy NOT wrenching on Sam's whip in 2013. And it was an equally distinct pleasure to see him once again entrusted with Sam's steed during the 2014 season--arguably Sam's best season in recent memory. Fort WIlliam, 2014. |
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| It was a rough season for the 2011 silver medal winner in Champery, Damien Spagnolo; some injury and the passing of his father kept him off the track for most of the season. Fort William, 2014. |
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| Markus Stoeckl is the "MS" behind MS-Mondraker. He's a pretty busy man, running a multitude of businesses that revolve around events like the World Cup and the Red Bull Air Races, but mountain biking and speed are his passions, and he's had MS Racing on the circuit since 2003. He's got some of the biggest balls around, too, having ridden an Intense M6 down a ski slope in La Parva, Chile at 130.74mph (210.4kmp) back in 2007, and more recently (2011), an Evil Revolt down the slopes of a Nicaraguan volcano at a speed of 102.5mph(164.95 kph). That last is a world speed record for a production mountain bike not on snow. Leaguing, 2013. |
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| If you've ever ridden a Maxxis Minion DHF--arguably one of these most popular gravity tire tread patterns of all time, then you have this man to thank for that sublime design: Colin Bailey. The one time gravity racer spent this past season turning wrenches for Giant Factory Racing. Racing is in every thing he does. Fort William 2014. |
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| One of the crop of young guns on the World Cup Circuit, Paris Gore has a long career unwinding ahead of him. If he can stay focused... Squirrel! Fort William, 2014. |
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| Bryn Atkinson. The quiet Aussie is winding down his career, but his time in the speed trap at World Champs shows he's still one of the fastest men out there. Fort William, 2014. |
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| Wyn Masters is that kid who has never really subscribed to all the rules one needs to follow in life to succeed and has somehow managed to succeed despite that. Fort William, 2014. |
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| Cedric Gracia discovered Marcelo Gutierrez back in 2010 and took the young Columbian under his wing. Since then, Marcello has blossomed, getting the Red Bull pick up as well as becoming the centerpiece for the Giant Gravity team for 2015. Fort William, 2014. |
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| Tracy Hannah first caught my attention when she stormed down the track of the 2007 edition of the Champery World Cup. I can't recall how she did, just that she was giggling as she rode by. Leogang, 2014. |
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| Italian shooter Ale Di Lullo has arguably one of the sharpest photographic eyes out there. His Deep Summer win at Crankworx cemented his reputation for creativity and hard work. This portrait cements his need for an electric razor sponsorship. Fort William, 2014 |
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| At age 27, Matt Simmonds is coming into his own with the Madison Saracen squad. Leogang, 2014. |
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| Pedro, the Marzocchi service tech, drinks between 12 and 16 Red Bulls a day. I'm not making this up. And everyone wonders how one guy can service so many forks and shocks at a race? Leogang, 2014 |
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| I first saw Sven Martin in 2006, trackside at Mt St Anne, camera in hand and still wearing his racing kit and wondered, "Who is this guy? He obviously just raced, but here he is--trackside--and taking pictures. WTF?!?". Since then, it's been an amazing ride to the top of the media scrum on the World Cup circuit for the "Silverback". Leogang, 2014. |
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| Ely Woody probably logs more miles on his moto than he does flying around the globe as a wrench on Trek World racing. A recent trip saw him log 1064 miles (1712 km) across the California desert in 4 days. Leogang, 2014. |
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| Morgane Charre burst onto the scene in 2012 by winning the World Championships in Leogang. She's always got a smile on her face and a ready laugh, even though it's not been a smooth ride since then.There's no arguing that she's got talent, but the right chemistry simply hasn't occurred yet. Hopefully she can pull it all together in 2015. Leogang, 2014. |
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| Another Steve Peat prodigy, Marc Beaumont may only have two World Cup wins to his name, but he's a constant threat, and his role on the GT team is not to be overlooked. Leogang, 2014. |
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| Sebastian Schiek, aka "the Hoff". One of the most incredibly modest shooters on the circuit, but arguably one of the most talented as well. Leogang, 2014. |
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| Connor Fearon is a rider that's sparked excitement with his riding style since the first time I saw him racing back in 2011. A nasty wreck in Norway at World Champs was not the way to end his season, but we'll see him back in 2015. Leogang, 2014. |
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| A mechanic for 7 years, Paul Miles works on the family farm when he's not turning wrenches for the Giant Off Road racing program. Leogang, 2014. |
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| Thibaut Ruffin and his brother run Team Commencal/Riding Addiction. The affable French man has been racing bikes for 16 years now. Not bad for a guy who just wanted to try mountain biking back in 1998. Leogang, 2014. |
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| Tahnee Seagraves took silver here in Leogang in 2012. Racing in the Elites now, she's rapidly becoming a consistent podium threat. One has to wonder how far off that first "W" is? Leogang, 2014. |
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| A new addition to Devinci Global Racing in 2014, Florent Carreyron (Flo) looks to have found a home, wrenching for Nick Beer on the World Cup circuit and Damien Oton on the EWS circuit. Leogang, 2014. |
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| As stylish as he is good natured, Lorenzo Sudding is a fun one to watch on the tracks. His unique style stands out; at a place like Fort William with it's long, open lines of sight, one can pick out Sudding from a mile away. It was a shame to see his 2014 season cut short with a car accident but we'll see the Italian back at it for 2015. Leogang, 2014. |
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A lot of people ask why I'm so adamantly 'feminist' (which I'm not really, I just believe in equality), but those folks who wonder have never seen the bullshit politics in athletics, in government or in business that clearly discriminate against chicks just for being born with a different genetic code. Having seen and heard this shit more than once inside of the MTB industry, it gets old in a real f*cking hurry. These teams are part of the problem, as are the companies who can't simply FATHOM having a woman actually be valued for something more than surface content or marketing purposes. What the UCI has even grasped by now (which is amazing that they're so progressive) is that us ladies do have value and that we bring our own personal strengths and weaknesses to the sport as PEOPLE first, and women second -- if Trek and Specialized and Santa Cruz and the other lady-less teams would start valuing people for their individual contributions instead of what gender their genitals happen to make them, our sport would change rapidly, and with it, the entire sporting world.
Excellent work. So incredible.
I would be happy seeing someone else as Sam's mechanic..Just for a change ..Anyway, that's not the point.
Any replies to this wont be answered.this is just my opinion and I am not the only one sharing and thinking this!
*edit*
In fact checking your profile, (stalker mode) I can see you only other pinkbike comment is complaining about a chainreaction on the hunt episode for not featuring anything about his "awesome" 2013 mechanic, you clearly have an issue with Sam's choice of help