With 30 World Cup victories, two Olympic titles, five World Championship titles and six overall World Cup victories, introducing Julien Absalon would be an insult. Absalon has prevailed on a variety of bicycles, every type of race course, and in any imaginable weather, so he probably knows a bit about race-prepping his bike. We caught up with Absalon in the pits leading up to the 2015 UCI Mountain bike World Championships to see if he would share some of the pre-race setup and preparation that he and his mechanic, Sylvain Golay, do to ensure that there will be no surprises on race day. | Everything is checked before each race and after each practice session. As for the race (depending on the weather), tire pressure or suspension might be changed a bit, as well as the tires. Plus, as I'm riding a single ring setup, I have to choose a front ring, which also depends on the course and weather conditions. Julien Absalon |
About the PhotographerIrmo Keizer • Age: 36 • Years Shooting: 10
Irmo Keizer has been mountain biking since high school. Irmo loves nature, technical trails and landscapes and dislikes too many race lines and fire roads. Irmo has a strong passion for all sorts of mountain bike disciplines ranging from cross country, to enduro and downhill. Combining his passion of mountain biking and photography ten years ago, Irmo has been working as a photographer/editor in mountain biking ever since.
And he doesn't think it is enough, at this moment of the race he is bitting the Schurter's ass.
......... It is good to see a post about the mechanics of XC.