Pinkbike's Top 10 Stories of 2019
In a year that has seen us post nearly 5,000 stories from the world of mountain biking, some of them grabbed your attention more than others. Based on page views, here are the ten top stories from the news feed this year:
1. Jordie Lunn Passes Away After Crash in Mexico
![Photo by Ale Di Lullo]()
On October 9th, 2019, racer-turned-freerider Jordie Lunn passed away after a crash while trail riding in Mexico. We count ourselves lucky to have known Jordie and his relentlessly positive presence in mountain biking. Jordie's friendliness, gentle nature, and exuberance for life will be remembered by the entire mountain bike community.
2. Video: Yet Another Mountain Biker Jumps Over the Tour de France Peloton
In what is rapidly becoming an annual tradition, a mountain biker jumped over the Tour de France peloton again this year. 19-year-old Valentin Anouilh was the rider to step up this year as he gapped the yellow jersey on stage 10 between Saint-Flour and Albi. The video above has multiple angles of his huck that is pretty sizeable at 16 meters. While we admire the tenacity and ambition of these stunts, we can't help but feel like one is going to go horribly wrong one of these days.
3. Must Watch: Danny MacAskill is the World's Best Babysitter
Wipe away the New Year blues by re-watching Danny MacAskill's latest edit. In this one, he turns his hand to babysitting Stu's daughter and revisits some of his most famous video locations with her in tow... literally. Keep your eyes peeled for some more Danny madness coming soon, as he has a new Red Bull edit dropping in January.
4. Quiz: Can You Guess These Bikes From Their Silhouettes?
![photo]()
The most read of our bike nerdery tests this year was the bike silhouette quiz. 30 bikes with only their outlines to tell them apart and not a single Session in the bunch. Most of you seemed to know your Konas from your Knollys so we made an even harder retro quiz for you the month after.
5. Confirmed: Cannondale's New Downhill Bike Has 2 Shocks
You can always trust Cannondale to think of out of the box solutions in mountain biking, especially when it comes to their downhill team. Cannondale returned to the top table of mountain biking this year and did so with the most interesting World Cup bike since the Honda RN01. The new bike uses two shocks, one with a piggyback in the downtube and one without in the front triangle to separate damping and spring duties as needed. It's a totally wild design and we can't wait to see where Cannondale take it next.
6. Walmart Launches High-End 'Viathon' Bike Brand
![Viathon M1 HT]()
We don't spend much time worrying about Walmart's bikes on Pinkbike because, more often than not, they aren't really fit for the kind of riding we enjoy. That might all change this year though with the interest surrounding the introduction of Viathon bikes and their new M.1 XC hardtail. The Walton Brothers are enthusiastic riders and have poured millions of dollars into trail construction around their Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters so it's not a surprise to see them move into high-end bike manufacturing. The real story here though is that a brand with the scale and power of Walmart could grow mountain biking significantly and potentially shake up the industry too. We'll be watching them closely from now on.
7. Final Results: Mont-Sainte-Anne DH World Champs 2019
![Myriam Nicole went down early and would have a lengthy wait in the hot seat as she watched rider try and fail to beat her time.]()
A combination of the excitement of World Champs and the fact that the broadcast was limited in certain countries so some viewers could only follow along with our live updates probably contributed to this being our biggest race results story of the year.
8. First Ride: The 2020 Specialized Enduro is Bigger & Burlier Than Ever
![specialized enduro 2020]()
With more than a passing resemblance to the new Demo downhill bike, it was pretty clear where Specialized were pitching the new Enduro when it was released in August. We gelled with the bike as soon as we swung a leg over and it has remained a favourite through the second half of the year as it was nominated for our Mountain Bike of the Year Award.
9. Industry Veteran Michael Bonney Passes Away After Announcing Decision to End His Life
![photo]()
Bonney was injured in a road biking accident in 2013 at age 54 and spent over six years since living with almost total paralysis. He shared a beautiful, heartfelt letter explaining his decision that was rightfully one of the most-read stories of the year. If you haven't already, we really do recommend reading the note in full and the memorial from his wife Linzi. It's powerful stuff and speaks volumes about a truly great man.
10. Video: The FIM eMTB "World Cup" Race in Imola, Italy Was Embarrassing
If eMTB racing is going to be a thing (and the jury is still out on that one), it can't be this...
1. Jordie Lunn Passes Away After Crash in Mexico
On October 9th, 2019, racer-turned-freerider Jordie Lunn passed away after a crash while trail riding in Mexico. We count ourselves lucky to have known Jordie and his relentlessly positive presence in mountain biking. Jordie's friendliness, gentle nature, and exuberance for life will be remembered by the entire mountain bike community.
2. Video: Yet Another Mountain Biker Jumps Over the Tour de France Peloton
In what is rapidly becoming an annual tradition, a mountain biker jumped over the Tour de France peloton again this year. 19-year-old Valentin Anouilh was the rider to step up this year as he gapped the yellow jersey on stage 10 between Saint-Flour and Albi. The video above has multiple angles of his huck that is pretty sizeable at 16 meters. While we admire the tenacity and ambition of these stunts, we can't help but feel like one is going to go horribly wrong one of these days.
3. Must Watch: Danny MacAskill is the World's Best Babysitter
Wipe away the New Year blues by re-watching Danny MacAskill's latest edit. In this one, he turns his hand to babysitting Stu's daughter and revisits some of his most famous video locations with her in tow... literally. Keep your eyes peeled for some more Danny madness coming soon, as he has a new Red Bull edit dropping in January.
4. Quiz: Can You Guess These Bikes From Their Silhouettes?
The most read of our bike nerdery tests this year was the bike silhouette quiz. 30 bikes with only their outlines to tell them apart and not a single Session in the bunch. Most of you seemed to know your Konas from your Knollys so we made an even harder retro quiz for you the month after.
5. Confirmed: Cannondale's New Downhill Bike Has 2 Shocks
You can always trust Cannondale to think of out of the box solutions in mountain biking, especially when it comes to their downhill team. Cannondale returned to the top table of mountain biking this year and did so with the most interesting World Cup bike since the Honda RN01. The new bike uses two shocks, one with a piggyback in the downtube and one without in the front triangle to separate damping and spring duties as needed. It's a totally wild design and we can't wait to see where Cannondale take it next.
6. Walmart Launches High-End 'Viathon' Bike Brand
We don't spend much time worrying about Walmart's bikes on Pinkbike because, more often than not, they aren't really fit for the kind of riding we enjoy. That might all change this year though with the interest surrounding the introduction of Viathon bikes and their new M.1 XC hardtail. The Walton Brothers are enthusiastic riders and have poured millions of dollars into trail construction around their Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters so it's not a surprise to see them move into high-end bike manufacturing. The real story here though is that a brand with the scale and power of Walmart could grow mountain biking significantly and potentially shake up the industry too. We'll be watching them closely from now on.
7. Final Results: Mont-Sainte-Anne DH World Champs 2019
A combination of the excitement of World Champs and the fact that the broadcast was limited in certain countries so some viewers could only follow along with our live updates probably contributed to this being our biggest race results story of the year.
8. First Ride: The 2020 Specialized Enduro is Bigger & Burlier Than Ever
With more than a passing resemblance to the new Demo downhill bike, it was pretty clear where Specialized were pitching the new Enduro when it was released in August. We gelled with the bike as soon as we swung a leg over and it has remained a favourite through the second half of the year as it was nominated for our Mountain Bike of the Year Award.
9. Industry Veteran Michael Bonney Passes Away After Announcing Decision to End His Life
Bonney was injured in a road biking accident in 2013 at age 54 and spent over six years since living with almost total paralysis. He shared a beautiful, heartfelt letter explaining his decision that was rightfully one of the most-read stories of the year. If you haven't already, we really do recommend reading the note in full and the memorial from his wife Linzi. It's powerful stuff and speaks volumes about a truly great man.
10. Video: The FIM eMTB "World Cup" Race in Imola, Italy Was Embarrassing
If eMTB racing is going to be a thing (and the jury is still out on that one), it can't be this...
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A red cyclist paves his own road?
And yes, I admit I had seen all of them when originally published.