e*thirteen Andorra report

News Source: e*thirteen components
The third round of the Nissan World Cup action took place last weekend in the snow covered mountains of Vallnord, Andorra. Steve Peat and Sabrina Jonnier carried their momentum from last weekend’s World Cup in La Bresse, France and earned top spots in their respective categories. Fionn Griffith wins the Women’s 4X.The 4X race was up first as usual, and Saturday’s proved to be another fast and rough one. e*thirteen's Jill Kintner battled Jana Horakova in the first turn but the two riders collided in the second turn, leaving a wide open door for e*thirteen's Fionn Griffiths. Fionn, representing NORCO World Team, made the best of her opportunity, with points leader and e*thirteen rider Anneke Beerten riding a safe race to secure the silver and, most important, the second place awarded points. The men’s final consisted of four riders with strong BMX backgrounds. Point’s leader Jared Graves, of the Yeti-Fox team, snapped the gate aboard his new Yeti hardtail equipped with the LG1+. He drifted a bit wide and Joost Wichman took the lead and eventually the win. E*thirteen’s sponsored Luke Madill rode his GT hardtail across the finish line next. Graves finished third, just ahead of Roger Rinderknecht.


On Sunday morning, the stage was set for downhill in Andorra on a rocky and blown out track, where every rider knew that the win was going to the racer who could put down the power and nail a mistake free run. Fresh off of her win last weekend in La Bresse, France, Rocky Mountain/Maxxis rider Sabrina Jonnier pinned it on her way to another win, besting the next competitor, Emmeline Ragot, by nearly four seconds. Jonnier’s win catapulted her to the top spot in the overall point series by two points over fellow competitor and this weekend’s bronze medal winner, Tracy Moseley of the Trek World Racing team.


An amazing 18 of the top 20 men's finishers put their trust in e*thirteen's new SRS+ and LG1+ chain retention systems, including the man, "forged from Sheffield steel," winner Steve Peat. Steve wasn't letting up after tying "the Alien" Nico Vouilloz’s (another e13 rider) record of 16 World Cup wins last week in La Bresse. Steve put the hammer down in his race run, pedaling hard and everywhere, and hitting corners at a maniacal pace. His win in Andorra cemented his place in history with 17 wins, an amazing feat. "Sik Mick" Hannah (who battled flu symptoms all week) had another great day at the track, pulling a fourth place finish and sitting in the hot seat for most of the day next to his all carbon GT Fury. Justin Leov put down a solid run for Martin Whiteley's Trek World Racing team, and netted himself an impressive fifth overall for the final podium spot. One rider after another looked like they might be able to match Mick's pace, but the man from Australia must have had some kind of ninja line in the bottom woods section of the course, because one rider after another stacked up behind him until Minnaar snuck by with three riders to go. Gee Atherton got on track with Peaty in the hot seat and put down a blistering time on his Commencal, finishing a ridiculous 0.02 seconds behind Peat for second place. Last man on the track was Sam Hill, and his new offseason training regimen was really paying off, as he sprinted his way to the fastest speed of the day right out of the gate. Sam was pedaling like a madman, and it looked like he might pull off the win, but a crash in the "Mick Hannah woods section" put him off the pace for the day. After the race, the celebration began for Steve Peat. His victory, an amazing 17th of his career, set a new UCI World Cup record. Peat was “Stoked to take my e*13 equipped Santa Cruz V10 to the top of the podium again. The track here at Andorra was tough and my run wasn't the best I could do so it made it even more pleasurable to take the win. Thanks to Santa Cruz Syndicate and e*13 for making me fast!”


A couple of other notable finishes for the day included "the man with the best name ever" Nick Beer, who put his Scott Gambler in sixth spot, the best finish of his career, the return of Matti Lehikoinen, who is starting to find his speed again on his Evil Revolt after some tough injuries last year, and finally Steve Smith in tenth and Brendan Fairclough in seventh, two young bucks who are starting to look like superstars in the making.

With the Vallnord’s results on the books, e*thirteen sponsored athletes continue to lead in the point standings. Dutch rider Anneke Beerten and Aussie Jared Graves maintained their lead the 4X action. France’s Sabrina Jonnier has a narrow margin over Britain’s Tracy Moseley in the women’s downhill category. Brit’s Steve Peat, and Saab/Solomon/Lapierre Junior rider Danny Hart increased their leads in their respective downhill categories. With the next World Cup being held in three weeks at Fort William, some of the riders will compete in this weekend’s Lisbon Red Bull Downtown event. Other riders are coming across the pond to race in the US OPEN, where the e*thirteen East Coast Technical support vehicle will be in attendance. e*thirteen will be at Diablo’s US OPEN, so please stop by and say Hi. Meanwhile, our West Coast Technical Support Vehicle, led by e*thirteen factory rider and race technician, Heikki Hall, will be pitted at the Chile Challenge of Angel Fire, New Mexico for the third round of the Mountain State Cup Race series.


About e*thirteen components
e*thirteen components is a small, rider-owned and operated company that strongly supports dozens of grassroots races, series, contests, and other riding events all over the world every year. Founded in 2001, e*thirteen’s innovative, functional, simple, and lightweight chain retention systems have made them a world leader in this category and the choice of top pro and amateur riders and mechanics alike. They support a worldwide distribution network and take great pride in offering devoted customer service.

http://www.e13components.com/