Pinkbike World Cup Preview

Pietermaritzburg. Fort William. Leogang. Mt St Anne. Windham. La Bresse. Val di Sole. A mix of old and new, with venerable tracks like Ft William and Mt St Anne mixed in with legends in the making like Val di Sole as well as tracks that have a bit of character like Pietermaritzburg, Windham, and La Bresse.

There are seven stops on this year’s World Cup tour and given how richly talented the top twenty riders are, it looks as if it’s going to take one hell of a season for any rider to claim that coveted overall title. The tracks - some are wheel wreckers, some are power pedaling, and some are pure punishers - will favor riders of different strengths. It will take a truly deserving rider with proper team support to claim the coveted overall. Consequently, guesstimating a winner this early in the season is next to impossible. But given the nature of the teams and the riders, a quick team preview might shed a bit of light on who will be contending this year during the World Cup.

Santa Cruz Syndicate: nothing critical has changed with the Syndicate. The team is the same, the pit crew is the same, and - most importantly - Momma Sessler continues to oversee the whole enchilada. It’s a system that just works. Look to see Peaty and Minnaar going toe to toe with the rest of the field.





Atherton-Commencal: Again, the key components are still in place with the team, the crew, and team director (Dan Brown). Dan Atherton is back on the bike, as is Rachel, so the Atherton team will be in full force, although Dan won’t be racing until Ft William. Gee was able to rise up and take the World Cup overall title last season at Windham against Minnaar, so we can probably expect Gee and a healthy Rachel Atherton to come out swinging at Pietermaritzburg.





Trek World Racing: Pretty much “the” off-season acquisition of talent was TWR snapping up an available Aaron Gwin. That move added a lot of horsepower to what was already a strong squad. With Martin Whiteley at the helm and Monkey Vasquez spinning wrenches you can guarantee that TWR will be a team to contend with this season.




Specialized-Monster Energy: Sam Hill’s World Champs win was unexpected to say the least, even he was surprised. Sam has always done well at Mt St Anne, but with his time off the bike last season due to injury, many people including Sam had low expectations. With a full off-season of healing under his belt, look for Hill to be on form and in contention. But you can’t overlook the other riders in the Monster Specialized stable either. Both Brendan Fairclough and Troy Brosnan have the ability to do well, especially Brendan. Often overlooked behind Sam, Fairclough is an incredibly gifted top five rider just waiting to take that top step, and Brosnan is not the reigning Junior World Champ by luck, he has some serious skills on the bike. Other than adding Renthal as a team sponsor this year all the key components remain the same.




GT: Hannah and Slugger (aka) Marc Beaumont. Proven talent. Proven team structure. Proven race sled. Sick Mick and Slugger are legit top ten contenders on any given day and both are familiar with the podium.




Devinci Cycles: An army of two, but this is Devinci’s first foray into a committed World Cup Racing program. So focusing their attention on only two racers - Steve Smith and George Brannigan - is a wise move. Stevie needs no introductions, but Brannigan may be a stranger to many. Coming from Italian team Ancillotti Racing, who seem to have a nose for top talent (Wyn Masters, Brook McDonald), young Brannigan was one of the top ranked juniors last season. Devinci have made a wise move in picking up the young racer to understudy with Smith for the season. This will be a formative year for Devinci’s new DH sled/team combo, so while the team may shine, a World Cup overall may be out of reach for 2011 given the firepower that the Syndicate, TWR, Specialized, and other established teams have at their disposal.




Lapierre: Sam Blenkinsop, Cam Cole, and Jack - a low key but renowned WC wrench - and Nico Vouilloz. With Nico’s mind for suspension and methodical track analysis on tap as well as Jack’s ability to turn wrenches, Blenki’s and Cole may be the two dark horse contenders for the season. Nothing else need be said.





MS-Evil is again in the mix, and despite the loss of Steve Smith to Devinci Cycles and Lewis Buchanan to CRC we can look for a strong showing from the team this year. With the new “Undead” Carbon race bike coming out to replace the Revolt, as well as MS-Evil’s immaculate race prep, look for great results from the Austrian/US team. Their army of five - Luke Strobel, Brook McDonald, Filip Polc, Markus Pekoll, and Wyn Masters - is laced with top talent that is just a hair away from podium contention.





Chain Reaction Cycles: CRC pretty much sacked the entire squad with the exception of a couple key riders. More importantly, they stepped away from long-term partner Intense in favor of racing the newly resurrected Nukeproof brand’s new Scalp DH bike. Team results on the new sled have been good, but having two riders already down for a chunk of the season with injuries does not bode well for an overall win.




Giant Factory Racing: until last season’s acquisition of Danny Hart and hot/cold Duncan Riffle, Giant has had the technology and the race support but not the talent to pull in a podium. The off-season acquisition of Andrew Neethling (aka Needles) as well as Riffle’s dedication to off season training in the NW slop instead of Santa Barbara, may see Giant finally rise from the occasional threat to a regular podium contender.




Rocky Mountain-Maxxis: Another army of two - Sabrina Jonnier and Ruaridh Cunningham (formerly of CRC). Sabo will be right in the thick of it straight out of the gate. She’s not only a strong technical rider, but she can put some power to the pedals. And Cunningham’s not only a gifted rider, he’s also a former junior World Champ, the kid’s got talent. Look for Cunningham to be a seamless replacement for Cam Cole.




Yeti Factory racing: Losing Gwin was a blow to Yeti’s racing program, no doubt. But Yeti retains Jared Graves, and has acquired Elliot Jackson-an unexpected diamond in the rough ala Gwin. Yeti—like Ancillotti Racing—has proven time and time again their ability to sniff out talent, so acquiring Jackson was a calculated move. Grubby Graves will be racing DH and 4X again. How long that will last this season is anybody’s guess. But if Graves steps away from gated racing to focus on DH and can bring his talent to the fore… things might get interesting. And make no mistake: Jackson—is immensely talented. With Graves as a mentor…



There are loads more DH racers of note that could be mentioned here, but without a proper team structure supporting them most will never be more than the occasional wild card podium spot. We’re just not talking regular podium contenders.

In the ladies Sabo, Tracy Moseley, and Rachel Atherton are undisputed contenders, but away from the big team structure there is also Emmeline Ragot, now riding for GR Racing (Griffiths-Ragot). Ragot will be aboard a familiar sled - Intense’s finest - and will have a dedicated mechanic. She's not a power rider but Ragot is an undisputed technical handler and knows how to carry speed on courses that do not favor her limited power output. Look for her to fill the podium out with the rest of the ladies. Podium spot number 5, however, will be up for grabs.






Gated racing is not the sport it was ten years ago, more and more this is the age of the specialist. Racers who pull double duty generally do not do well against a specialist, and RSP 4X Racing is a team of specialists. Few teams and even fewer individuals can stand up against the power this team exerts on a WC 4X track. Look for them to literally dominate as a team. However 4X is not a team sport, so while RSP may have numbers and talent on their side, Jared Graves (Yeti), Michal Prokop (Specialized), and Roger Rinderknecht (BMC) are all racers who can pull a “W” on any track in the world.




For female gated racing, things just haven’t been as exciting as when Jill Kintner was kicking ass. Anneke Beerten is an amazingly gifted racer, as are Caroline Buchanan, Anita Molcik and Jana Horakova. But in an era of 11-12 female racer fields, seeing these four vie for the top spot gets dull in a hurry.

And that’s a wrap for a 2011 World Cup season preview. Look for the Pietermaritzburg preview on Wednesday.