Manon Carpenter | World Champion - Interview
Not many people in this world will ever get the chance to say that they’re World Champion at something, fewer still are those who race bikes. Yet at just eighteen years old Manon Carpenter can already do so having clinched the 2011 Junior Women's Downhill title. She did so in challenging conditions on the even more challenging slopes of Champery which turned out on the day to be a true giant slayer. Having watched Manon since she first started racing alongside her dad in the valleys of her nearby home in South Wales it was simply spellbinding to watch her be crowned World Champion just a few short years later. Pinkbike recently took some time out with the Welsh girl to see what drives her and what she has planned for 2012. Thanks to Keith Valentine for the images.
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First things first, where’s home and are you ever there?
Home is a town in South Wales although last year I wasn’t there much, no. It feels good to be back for a bit though as it’s not far from Cardiff and surrounded by plenty of mountains, so it’s pretty ideal really!
Is there a clear time you can remember it all started for you with riding bikes?
Honestly, I can’t remember the first time I rode a bike which probably shows just how long I’ve been doing it. I do have plenty of memories however of riding when I was younger, such as one of my first ever Downhill races at Garway in 2002. I must have been 9 and can remember falling in every hole and ditch my Dad told me to avoid! It took me just under 7 minutes to get down a 3 minute track and I guess it was more of an experience than a race, but it was so much fun. When you’re a kid you don’t really crash, you just bounce!
Was that first race your suggestion or your dads?
I can’t remember why I wanted to have a go, it was an easy track so it was a good opportunity and I guess I just wanted to see what it was like!
(For those who don’t know, Manon’s dad Jason was the man behind the very successful Dragon series in South Wales for many years and is no slouch on a bike himself). What influence has he had on your riding? Do you ever feel pressure from him?
My Dad has had a massive influence on my riding. He’s always encouraged me to ride all types of bikes so I don’t have a background in any one type of discipline, I’ve always ridden everything from BMX to motorbikes, skate park, trails, XC and DH, and this has had a huge impact on my success. As for pressure I do get a sense of confidence in my ability from him and therefore an expectation for me to do well. However I’ve always pushed myself to do the best that I can in anything I do, so most of the pressure comes from within.
![photo by phunkt.com]()
Was there a clear point where you made the decision to go for the number one spot?
Again I can’t really remember first wanting to win, I’ve just always had a drive to reach the top in school, riding and anything else I do. I suppose the first time I realised I had the potential was at my first World Cup in Maribor in 2010. I’d been really nervous before qualifying and really just wanted to make it to the final, but I actually qualified 11th which shocked me, in a good way, as I hadn’t expected to be so close to the top women.
Is there anybody you look up to in the world of bikes, or perhaps further afield?
I don’t think I could single any one person out; I have so much respect for anyone who works hard to achieve what they want. Whether it’s recovering from injury like so many athletes we know, reaching a goal others have said is unattainable or going out of your way to help others. I like the philosophy that you make your own luck, and if you make the most of opportunities you can do whatever you want.
To many it must seem like a dream come true, being able to ride your bike all day and train to race the World Cups, but the reality’s a little different for you isn’t it? You’ve recently decided to postpone your entrance to Uni so that you can concentrate on racing for a year or two. Were your parents supportive of this?
Ha it’s definitely an interesting subject in my house. My mum is a teacher so is a strong supporter of the educational side of things whereas my Dad supports the riding side. Although I think they both trust me to do what’s best for me at the time. I’ve balanced school and racing for a while now and want the chance to focus myself 100% on training to see what I can do, and I know that whenever I do go to Uni in the near or distant future I’ll want to focus on that then as well. For the moment the guys at Madison Saracen have given me a deal I couldn’t resist and I’m happy just riding my bike for now.
![photo by phunkt.com]()
It must have been some challenge last year to combine your A levels and racing?
Well to start off I didn’t make it as easy as I should have, I decided to carry on with 4 A levels instead of just doing 3 like most people... this wasn’t too much of a problem until it came to revision time before my final exams and I started to regret it a bit! The hardest part about doing both was accepting that something had to suffer, in this case my riding. As I only had one year left of school I wanted to do it well, but it did frustrate me last year when I wasn’t really doing any better than in 2010 because I hadn’t been able to train any harder that winter. I also had to miss out on the Leogang World Cup to do an exam which sucked as I love that track!
Are you doing any more specific training now that you have some extra time on your hands?
Yes definitely, mainly spending quite a bit of time in the gym and focusing on strength training. I know my lack of strength has held me back loads last year so I’m looking forward to sorting that out! Other than that I try and ride as many different things as possible. Looking at the top boys they’ll be able to kill it on any kind of bike; to do well at Downhill you’ve gotta be able to do everything. Aside from riding bikes I’m a black belt in Karate (believe it or not!), something which has helped me a lot. It’s good to do something different and I think Karate is one of the major factors so far that has made me strong enough for Downhill and kept my body in good condition. It prepares me for the crashes to some extent too!
Was stepping it up from Juniors to Elite in the UK a daunting prospect; did you change your approach at all to racing as a result of it?
Not really, in 2010 I was promoted to Elite early after I made a fuss to British Cycling about missing out on prize money! In 2009 I’d won the women’s overall at Fort William and would have made the Elite podium a few other times, but as I wasn’t Elite I couldn’t have the prize money. Last year was my first full season of National races so that put a bit more pressure on me as I wanted to win the series, but other than that it felt like a natural progression. I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the year when I realised how much the guys at Madison Saracen were going to put into my racing, I thought there’d be some pressure from their end to perform, but the whole season was great and I had nothing but support from them.
![photo by phunkt.com]()
To those who’ve never experienced racing at the world cup level, how would you describe it?
I’d say the step up from the national level in the UK to racing at world level is pretty significant. The tracks are longer, faster, harder and more physical and the level of riding is lot higher. I love the challenge presented by tougher tracks and always feel that I ride better at World Cups, probably because you see all the top boys going absolutely flat out and that makes you push yourself to go faster as well. I can remember going into my first World Cup, I’d raced a handful of Nationals and Crankworx in Whistler the year before which had gone well but I was still pretty nervous, mainly because I didn’t want to hold anyone up or get in anyone’s way! But it’s so different to racing on the domestic circuit, for starters there’s usually a chair lift so you don’t have to rush to get enough runs in and to some extent it’s more relaxed... however there’s always qualifying to get through first!
Does racing your home World Cup at Fort William feel any different or does having raced it more over the years help relieve some of the extra pressure?
I really enjoy racing Fort William, it’s definitely one of my favourite races and I love the flat out top section where you don’t have to worry about much other than going fast and making it around each corner! I’ve raced there 3 times now, so it does help that I know the track more than other World Cup track but I think it’s such a special race just because of the amount of Brits that turn up to support us. After qualifying 5th in 2011 I also seem to do quite well there!
Do you have a favourite venue and would you choose speed or technical?
Well I’d definitely say technical over speed. Speed is good, so long as you have to work for the speed. I’m not so much a fan of race tracks where it’s just a case of letting off the brakes and holding on, so there’s nothing to separate the riders. As for favourite venue... I don’t know. I really enjoyed sliding around at La Bresse this year, the top section was so fun and I can also remember loving Leogang last year. I think my favourite World Cup so far has been Champery in 2010. The track was kinda weird this year ‘cos the ground was really hardpack which made it lethal in the wet, but last year in the mud was so good. I love tracks that are a challenge to get down.
![photo by phunkt.com]()
The world of downhill is pretty male dominated; do you think this has had any effect on how you approach racing now or in the past? Do you think there’s a perception of egotism that perhaps puts some girls off getting into the sport?
I think the gap between men and women’s times has encouraged me to try harder and to go faster. I’ll always compare my times to men’s, and aim to try and ride like a boy rather than a girl! Unfortunately there are some guys who are harsh on girls who are new to the sport but they’re in the minority and whenever I ride somewhere new I’m keen to prove that girls can ride bikes. It can be intimidating for example when you go to a skatepark where girls are very rarely seen (apart from sitting on the side) and you feel you’ve got to prove yourself. You can get a lot of respect though from guys when they realise you can actually ride properly!
![photo]()
Winning the overall series in your first year of racing World Cups as a Junior must have felt pretty sweet, but that must have been an intense contrast to the bitterness of injury that took you out of contention for the World Champs?
The end of the 2010 season was a massive rollercoaster for me. I crashed out on my last practise run before the Final in the run up to the big road gap at Windham – the fastest section of the fastest track I’ve ridden I think! – and I still don’t remember the crash or really know what went wrong. I can just remember lying in the ambulance on the way to hospital overhearing the paramedics say they thought I’d dislocated my shoulder, moving my shoulder up and down and thinking ‘'hmmm it feels okay, I might still be able to race...’' It was only in the x-ray room when they told me I’d snapped my Humerous in half that I dawned on me that I wouldn’t be racing that afternoon or the World Champs. Anyone who’s injured themselves before knows how gutting it is and I was devastated. Once I’d calmed down, been painkillered and plastered up we drove back to Windham and got there just as the award ceremony finished. I’d missed the Overall Winners Podium and someone came over with my trophy, I can remember how happy and sad it made me. Although I knew I still had another shot at the title in 2011 it’s hard to think of the future when so much is happening at that moment in time. ...Luckily that was the year Tracy Moseley won the World Champs and Katy Curd made the final in the 4x so that cheered me up the next weekend when I had to watch the race on Freecaster!
![photo by phunkt.com]()
How much support do you get from your team mates, is it a help having an experienced racer like Harry (Molloy) on the team?
Haha well it was funny I ended up on the team with Harry as he was the person I was following when I crashed and broke my arm in Windham at the end of the 2010 season, so I’ve always felt slightly cautious about following him since then... plus he’s always flat out doing runs! I prefer a more chilled out approach to practise on race weekends, mainly to conserve my energy, but I have done some runs down behind youth rider Phil Atwill who’s pretty ragged but really good rider and I always seem to go a lot faster when I’m following him!
Where do you see the future of mountain biking and racing going for women?
I can only see the future of Women’s racing getting better and better. Although I’ve only been racing World Cups for two years it seems like everyone is getting faster and the competition is getting harder all the time. As with the men’s racing, there is always someone pushing the boundary and I can’t wait to see how far that boundary goes!
Is there anything you think that could be done to help push that so as to get more women into the more extreme side of mtb?
Hopefully that’ll happen naturally. I’ve heard the MTB is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK so more women should get into the sport as a result of that, as the sport itself grows. As for bringing more women into the extreme side, Fionn Griffiths and Emmeline Ragot are obviously putting a lot effort into that side of things; more girl’s weekends and coaching days will only help the sport grow even more.
With your concentration on racing this year have you anything else planned yet other than the World Cups
We'll be racing the full British National series and I know there'll be some European races in the mix with World Cups and a few other one off events, I'm hoping we'll get out to Crankworx in Whistler again. Now that I haven’t got any other commitments I’ll be racing flat out I think! This year is going to be amazing, having Will Longden as the team manager and having full support at every race is going to make things even better. I can’t wait!
Are there any favourite places you’ve ridden in your travels? Any places you really want to go to ride in the future?
Whistler is a definite favourite. We’ve travelled out to race Crankworx twice now which is such a good week of riding. You get to ride the Dual Slalom (one of the best events ever), DH tracks, pumptracks, trails and a LOT of jumps! Our Whistler trips are made ever better by the guys at Ticket2Ride. They look after you so well, doing everything expected of a MTB guiding/accommodation company and throw in the best desserts ever at meal times and a hot tub! I’d love to just carry on travelling around to new places. As I’ve just done a Spanish A level I’d love to go and do some winter training out in Spain – it’s the perfect excuse!
Keep an eye out for Manon as she steps it up to the senior circuit in 2012, she’ll surely be making a big impression and be keen to do some giant slaying of her own.
Click here to 'Like' Manon's Facebook Fan Page
Stills by: Keith Valentine & Ian MacLennan
Intro & Interview by: Alasdair MacLennan
First things first, where’s home and are you ever there?Home is a town in South Wales although last year I wasn’t there much, no. It feels good to be back for a bit though as it’s not far from Cardiff and surrounded by plenty of mountains, so it’s pretty ideal really!
Is there a clear time you can remember it all started for you with riding bikes? Honestly, I can’t remember the first time I rode a bike which probably shows just how long I’ve been doing it. I do have plenty of memories however of riding when I was younger, such as one of my first ever Downhill races at Garway in 2002. I must have been 9 and can remember falling in every hole and ditch my Dad told me to avoid! It took me just under 7 minutes to get down a 3 minute track and I guess it was more of an experience than a race, but it was so much fun. When you’re a kid you don’t really crash, you just bounce!
Was that first race your suggestion or your dads? I can’t remember why I wanted to have a go, it was an easy track so it was a good opportunity and I guess I just wanted to see what it was like!
(For those who don’t know, Manon’s dad Jason was the man behind the very successful Dragon series in South Wales for many years and is no slouch on a bike himself). What influence has he had on your riding? Do you ever feel pressure from him?My Dad has had a massive influence on my riding. He’s always encouraged me to ride all types of bikes so I don’t have a background in any one type of discipline, I’ve always ridden everything from BMX to motorbikes, skate park, trails, XC and DH, and this has had a huge impact on my success. As for pressure I do get a sense of confidence in my ability from him and therefore an expectation for me to do well. However I’ve always pushed myself to do the best that I can in anything I do, so most of the pressure comes from within.
Was there a clear point where you made the decision to go for the number one spot?Again I can’t really remember first wanting to win, I’ve just always had a drive to reach the top in school, riding and anything else I do. I suppose the first time I realised I had the potential was at my first World Cup in Maribor in 2010. I’d been really nervous before qualifying and really just wanted to make it to the final, but I actually qualified 11th which shocked me, in a good way, as I hadn’t expected to be so close to the top women.
Is there anybody you look up to in the world of bikes, or perhaps further afield?I don’t think I could single any one person out; I have so much respect for anyone who works hard to achieve what they want. Whether it’s recovering from injury like so many athletes we know, reaching a goal others have said is unattainable or going out of your way to help others. I like the philosophy that you make your own luck, and if you make the most of opportunities you can do whatever you want.
To many it must seem like a dream come true, being able to ride your bike all day and train to race the World Cups, but the reality’s a little different for you isn’t it? You’ve recently decided to postpone your entrance to Uni so that you can concentrate on racing for a year or two. Were your parents supportive of this?Ha it’s definitely an interesting subject in my house. My mum is a teacher so is a strong supporter of the educational side of things whereas my Dad supports the riding side. Although I think they both trust me to do what’s best for me at the time. I’ve balanced school and racing for a while now and want the chance to focus myself 100% on training to see what I can do, and I know that whenever I do go to Uni in the near or distant future I’ll want to focus on that then as well. For the moment the guys at Madison Saracen have given me a deal I couldn’t resist and I’m happy just riding my bike for now.
It must have been some challenge last year to combine your A levels and racing?Well to start off I didn’t make it as easy as I should have, I decided to carry on with 4 A levels instead of just doing 3 like most people... this wasn’t too much of a problem until it came to revision time before my final exams and I started to regret it a bit! The hardest part about doing both was accepting that something had to suffer, in this case my riding. As I only had one year left of school I wanted to do it well, but it did frustrate me last year when I wasn’t really doing any better than in 2010 because I hadn’t been able to train any harder that winter. I also had to miss out on the Leogang World Cup to do an exam which sucked as I love that track!
Are you doing any more specific training now that you have some extra time on your hands? Yes definitely, mainly spending quite a bit of time in the gym and focusing on strength training. I know my lack of strength has held me back loads last year so I’m looking forward to sorting that out! Other than that I try and ride as many different things as possible. Looking at the top boys they’ll be able to kill it on any kind of bike; to do well at Downhill you’ve gotta be able to do everything. Aside from riding bikes I’m a black belt in Karate (believe it or not!), something which has helped me a lot. It’s good to do something different and I think Karate is one of the major factors so far that has made me strong enough for Downhill and kept my body in good condition. It prepares me for the crashes to some extent too!
Was stepping it up from Juniors to Elite in the UK a daunting prospect; did you change your approach at all to racing as a result of it? Not really, in 2010 I was promoted to Elite early after I made a fuss to British Cycling about missing out on prize money! In 2009 I’d won the women’s overall at Fort William and would have made the Elite podium a few other times, but as I wasn’t Elite I couldn’t have the prize money. Last year was my first full season of National races so that put a bit more pressure on me as I wanted to win the series, but other than that it felt like a natural progression. I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the year when I realised how much the guys at Madison Saracen were going to put into my racing, I thought there’d be some pressure from their end to perform, but the whole season was great and I had nothing but support from them.
To those who’ve never experienced racing at the world cup level, how would you describe it?I’d say the step up from the national level in the UK to racing at world level is pretty significant. The tracks are longer, faster, harder and more physical and the level of riding is lot higher. I love the challenge presented by tougher tracks and always feel that I ride better at World Cups, probably because you see all the top boys going absolutely flat out and that makes you push yourself to go faster as well. I can remember going into my first World Cup, I’d raced a handful of Nationals and Crankworx in Whistler the year before which had gone well but I was still pretty nervous, mainly because I didn’t want to hold anyone up or get in anyone’s way! But it’s so different to racing on the domestic circuit, for starters there’s usually a chair lift so you don’t have to rush to get enough runs in and to some extent it’s more relaxed... however there’s always qualifying to get through first!
Does racing your home World Cup at Fort William feel any different or does having raced it more over the years help relieve some of the extra pressure?I really enjoy racing Fort William, it’s definitely one of my favourite races and I love the flat out top section where you don’t have to worry about much other than going fast and making it around each corner! I’ve raced there 3 times now, so it does help that I know the track more than other World Cup track but I think it’s such a special race just because of the amount of Brits that turn up to support us. After qualifying 5th in 2011 I also seem to do quite well there!
Do you have a favourite venue and would you choose speed or technical?Well I’d definitely say technical over speed. Speed is good, so long as you have to work for the speed. I’m not so much a fan of race tracks where it’s just a case of letting off the brakes and holding on, so there’s nothing to separate the riders. As for favourite venue... I don’t know. I really enjoyed sliding around at La Bresse this year, the top section was so fun and I can also remember loving Leogang last year. I think my favourite World Cup so far has been Champery in 2010. The track was kinda weird this year ‘cos the ground was really hardpack which made it lethal in the wet, but last year in the mud was so good. I love tracks that are a challenge to get down.
The world of downhill is pretty male dominated; do you think this has had any effect on how you approach racing now or in the past? Do you think there’s a perception of egotism that perhaps puts some girls off getting into the sport? I think the gap between men and women’s times has encouraged me to try harder and to go faster. I’ll always compare my times to men’s, and aim to try and ride like a boy rather than a girl! Unfortunately there are some guys who are harsh on girls who are new to the sport but they’re in the minority and whenever I ride somewhere new I’m keen to prove that girls can ride bikes. It can be intimidating for example when you go to a skatepark where girls are very rarely seen (apart from sitting on the side) and you feel you’ve got to prove yourself. You can get a lot of respect though from guys when they realise you can actually ride properly!
Winning the overall series in your first year of racing World Cups as a Junior must have felt pretty sweet, but that must have been an intense contrast to the bitterness of injury that took you out of contention for the World Champs?The end of the 2010 season was a massive rollercoaster for me. I crashed out on my last practise run before the Final in the run up to the big road gap at Windham – the fastest section of the fastest track I’ve ridden I think! – and I still don’t remember the crash or really know what went wrong. I can just remember lying in the ambulance on the way to hospital overhearing the paramedics say they thought I’d dislocated my shoulder, moving my shoulder up and down and thinking ‘'hmmm it feels okay, I might still be able to race...’' It was only in the x-ray room when they told me I’d snapped my Humerous in half that I dawned on me that I wouldn’t be racing that afternoon or the World Champs. Anyone who’s injured themselves before knows how gutting it is and I was devastated. Once I’d calmed down, been painkillered and plastered up we drove back to Windham and got there just as the award ceremony finished. I’d missed the Overall Winners Podium and someone came over with my trophy, I can remember how happy and sad it made me. Although I knew I still had another shot at the title in 2011 it’s hard to think of the future when so much is happening at that moment in time. ...Luckily that was the year Tracy Moseley won the World Champs and Katy Curd made the final in the 4x so that cheered me up the next weekend when I had to watch the race on Freecaster!
How much support do you get from your team mates, is it a help having an experienced racer like Harry (Molloy) on the team? Haha well it was funny I ended up on the team with Harry as he was the person I was following when I crashed and broke my arm in Windham at the end of the 2010 season, so I’ve always felt slightly cautious about following him since then... plus he’s always flat out doing runs! I prefer a more chilled out approach to practise on race weekends, mainly to conserve my energy, but I have done some runs down behind youth rider Phil Atwill who’s pretty ragged but really good rider and I always seem to go a lot faster when I’m following him!
Where do you see the future of mountain biking and racing going for women? I can only see the future of Women’s racing getting better and better. Although I’ve only been racing World Cups for two years it seems like everyone is getting faster and the competition is getting harder all the time. As with the men’s racing, there is always someone pushing the boundary and I can’t wait to see how far that boundary goes!
Is there anything you think that could be done to help push that so as to get more women into the more extreme side of mtb?Hopefully that’ll happen naturally. I’ve heard the MTB is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK so more women should get into the sport as a result of that, as the sport itself grows. As for bringing more women into the extreme side, Fionn Griffiths and Emmeline Ragot are obviously putting a lot effort into that side of things; more girl’s weekends and coaching days will only help the sport grow even more.
With your concentration on racing this year have you anything else planned yet other than the World CupsWe'll be racing the full British National series and I know there'll be some European races in the mix with World Cups and a few other one off events, I'm hoping we'll get out to Crankworx in Whistler again. Now that I haven’t got any other commitments I’ll be racing flat out I think! This year is going to be amazing, having Will Longden as the team manager and having full support at every race is going to make things even better. I can’t wait!
Are there any favourite places you’ve ridden in your travels? Any places you really want to go to ride in the future?Whistler is a definite favourite. We’ve travelled out to race Crankworx twice now which is such a good week of riding. You get to ride the Dual Slalom (one of the best events ever), DH tracks, pumptracks, trails and a LOT of jumps! Our Whistler trips are made ever better by the guys at Ticket2Ride. They look after you so well, doing everything expected of a MTB guiding/accommodation company and throw in the best desserts ever at meal times and a hot tub! I’d love to just carry on travelling around to new places. As I’ve just done a Spanish A level I’d love to go and do some winter training out in Spain – it’s the perfect excuse!
Keep an eye out for Manon as she steps it up to the senior circuit in 2012, she’ll surely be making a big impression and be keen to do some giant slaying of her own.
Click here to 'Like' Manon's Facebook Fan Page
Stills by: Keith Valentine & Ian MacLennan
Intro & Interview by: Alasdair MacLennan
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