Pinkbike Celebrates International Women's Day
From racing, to freeride, to adventure—the women's MTB scene is more vibrant and badass than ever. Looking back at the past year, here are some of the notable moments.
Kate Courtney stands on the top step of the Elite podium at the international level for the first time, and it just so happens to be at the World Championships. Pinkbike's 2018 award for Best Performance went to Kate Courtney for her gutsy race in Lenzerheide. Watch the full race replay here.
Caroline Buchanan comes back from a horrific injury car crash, having spent most of the season recuperating, to win the Pump Track Challenge at Crankworx Whistler. Jill Kintner is crowned Queen of Crankworx for the third year in a row, receiving equal prize money to her male counterpart.
Unofficial privateer of the year in 2018, Monika Hrastnik, earns herself a spot on the Dorval AM team. The Slovenian rider turned heads when she grabbed her first podium in Leogang and backed it up with a third in Val di Sole. She ended the year fifth in the overall all while riding without the support of a full team.
Jolanda Neff gets two flat tires in the La Bresse World Cup and comes back to win the race. Watching Neff, Batty, Prevot, and Langvad battle it out and change positions so many times kept us all on the edge of our seats. It was a true grand finale to an incredible season of racing.
Cecile Ravanel has the perfect season, winning every round of the Enduro World Series. She wins the EWS overall, with Isabeau Cordurier in second and Katy Winton in third. Not only does she win every race, but she goes above and beyond to help Katy Winton when she suffered a flat in Olargues. We wish Cecile all the best with her recovery from her recent injury.
Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesja wins the Andorra XC World Cup at the age of 45 and retires. She ends her career with 30 World Cup wins, four World Cup overall titles, 10 World Championships and an Olympic gold medal.
Valentina Holl has the perfect debut season, winning 7 World Cups & World Champs in her first year racing World Cups.
Casey Brown retires from racing and announces that she'll be focusing on Crankworx, content creation and freeride in 2019. Casey built for the first time Rampage this year but her first time attending was ten years ago. "I was seventeen and it totally inspired me and changed the way I think about mountain biking, so it's always been a huge inspiration to me. As for competing at Rampage one day, Casey said that she doesn't know if it will ever happen but "it's definitely cool to have a goal in life. If I never get into Rampage it's fine, all I really want to do is be good enough to ride top to bottom on one of these sites and send it as hard as the guys do. It could be a pipe dream, I don't know."
SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE VIDEOS FROM THE PAST YEAR
Watch one of the slickest female riders on the planet, Veronique Sandler, fly down Welsh trails in the latest episode of Sound of Speed.
ALN rides her hometown trails at lightning speed.
Joey Gough straight sending it on her trail bike.
Brought up in near solitude within the New Zealand wilderness, Casey Brown and her brother kept themselves entertained by honing their bike skills with the aim of making it pro.
Rob Warner ventures into the wilderness of Wales for a candid encounter with one of the greatest downhill racers of all time, Rachel Atherton.
Heather Munive, Jamie Freese, Ivanna Estrada and Laura Slavin want to redefine the term "Ride Like A Girl".
Mountain bike across Slovenia with Juliana Bicycles ambassadors Rachel Walker and Julia Hobson.
Casey Brown & Vaea Verbeeck hit the new Dream Track jumps for the first time.
A look at Tahnee Seagrave's downtime schedule.
2017 DH World Champion Miranda Miller announces she will be focused on enduro in 2019.
The best XC MTB female athletes in the world including Jolanda Neff, Maja Wloszczowska, Emily Batty, Annika Langvad, and more, tell you why they love what they do!
As an artist and professional mountain biker, Micayla Gatto finds inspiration in her surroundings, be it at home in British Columbia, Canada or somewhere as distant as India.
Former DH World Cup racer Claire Buchar heads out for a ride on her local trails.
TECH:
Canyon Spectral WMN CF 9.0Specialized Women's Power Saddle With Mimic Technology
An Interview with Ergon Women's Saddle Designer Janina Haas
Liv Intrigue Advanced
Summer Gear Guide - 5 Women's Kits Tested
Summer Gear Guide - 6 Women's Shoes Tested
Sea Otter 2018 Women's Round Up
INTERVIEWS:
Anneke BeertenMiranda Miller
Rachel Atherton
Monika Hrasnik
Kialani Hines
Ellen Noble
Elayna Caldwell
Lea Davison
Rae Morrison
Katy Winton
Christina Chappetta
Kaylee Gibb
Rachel Pageau
Veronika Widmann
What were your favorite moments from the past year? Leave a comment below and let us know!
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PS counterfactual are fun aren't they
lmgtfy.com/?q=Counterfactual
Celebrate everybody, everyday!
Because we're all equal right?
I just thought we didn't need this day.
But judging the rest of the comments and how my comment was received, it is now apparent to me there is a real need in society to have one day to celebrate all women.
The more you separate people the bigger the divide becomes. Funny enough all the teen and younger girls who race locally ride with the boys and think woman's only races are odd so hopefully the, sexist, empowering for insecure women, (which by the way is an insult to women who don't play that game) mountain biking movement will die out.
If women are genuinely intimidated by men riding around the forest at varying speeds, and that they don't have just as much right to compete at whatever level they're at, their parents have failed them.
www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/world/jade-hameister-epic-sandwich-response-trnd/index.html