Traveling on the UCI World Cup circuit is quite a cultural experience. The GT Bicycles MTB team has the good fortune to attend these exciting international events all while taking in the local charm and sites. As diverse as the international cultures the team encounters, there is one thing in common that brings everyone at these events and it is the love of cycling. This passion for cycling and racing is what drives the world’s best mountain bikers and brings them together for the yearly UCI Mountain bike World Championships. This year the event was help in the Australian Capital city of Canberra at Stromlo Park.

 

GT Bicycles professional riders Mick Hannah (Australia), Mark Beaumont (United Kingdom), Kevin Aiello (USA) and Luke Madill (Australia) all made the trek to Canberra to compete against the world’s best racers in the downhill and 4X events. The riders were not the only ones who put in a great deal of preparation and training to get ready for the event - so did the mechanics and staff as they too had to ensure that everything was ready to for the race. The behind the scenes organizing is every bit as critical as the rider’s preparation. If there are no hiccups or issues surrounding the athletes it helps build their confidence instill a positive energy surrounding the team.

 

Training continued and a timed training session was scheduled for the downhill so the racers could review their split times to see what they needed to work on for the final and also get a glimpse at who was on top of their game leading into the finals. Mick, Marc and Kevin’s goals were to ride a fast but conservative pace so they could see where fatigue would be factors. Kevin would lay down a top-10 time in the Juniors category and Marc a top-20 time in the super-stacked Elite men’s field. Mick barreled down the course with the fastest time of the day letting everyone know what to expect out of the fast Aussie on the custom yellow GT Fury. The bright yellow GT bike was like a beacon summoning everyone within sight to come and catch a glimpse making it the premier attraction of the week with the media hovering about the bike taking hundreds of pictures and using it for the back drop for numerous video and television interviews.

 

On Friday evening the 4X finals were held under the lights on one of the most interesting courses of the year. The track layout lent to great spectating so the sidelines were filled with stoke-crazed Aussie fans. Luke Madill qualified in the top-10 and his early rounds were stacked with some the fastest racers in the field. His first round saw Luke snap out to an early lead only to get bucked on the doubles down the second straight causing him to veer into the chasing riders but would hold on to the qualifying spot. Back at the top of the course it was discovered that Luke had bent his derailleur hanger and when trying to straighten it broke off. A chaotic relay race would ensue with the staff rushing up a new hanger and the derailleur was quickly reinstalled getting Luke back on the gate barely in time for his second round. He would get another great start but was the victim of bad luck when his tire went flat on the second straight taking him out of contention for a World Championship. Luke is one the most genuine and nicest guys on the circuit so he took the misfortune in stride thanking everyone for helping him out.

 

Downhill finals were scheduled for Sunday afternoon and everyone was treated to one of the nicest days of the week with blue skies and sunshine along with mild temperatures. The mechanics checked and double checked each rider’s bike ensuring that the race machines were tuned to perfection for the most important race of the year. The riders and mechanics geared up and make their way to the top of the mountain for their start times. The Juniors dropped the hill first and GT’s SoCal ripper Kevin Aiello rolled out of the start house only to be halted by a flat early on in his run halting his chances and a medal. Next up was the “Slugger” Marc Beaumont. His run looked strong and he flowed the course well putting him 23rd.  Everyone waited for Mick to come down knowing he would make a strong showing. He would cross the line with a 2:31.02 taking over the Nissan Hotseat and the lead. There were still five riders to go so anything could happen. MTB icon Steve Peat and South African Greg Minnaar would narrowly edge out Mick by .69 of the second giving Mick 3rd place on the day. Mick showed great sportsmanship in saying “I rode my best lap and was happy with it and if anyone was to beat me I wanted it to be Steve”. It was a legendary day for mountain biking.

 

For more information as well as some great pictures and video of the UCI World Championships, be sure to check out VitalMTB.com

 

The UCI Mountainbike Championships was an extraordinary event and GT Bicycles was proud to be a part of it. The entire GT staff would like to express their appreciation to the team mechanics Terry Chanethomvong and Mark Maurissen for their dedication and hard work. It is honor to work with such skilled support as well as such great friends. Additionally a big thanks goes out to Michael “Mog” Drofenik from Australian GT distributor Monza Imports for all of his valued assistance during the week.

 

The team now takes a short two week break and heads to Schladming, Austria for the final round of the UCI World Cup schedule. Be sure to check it out on Freecaster.tv.      

 

GT Bicycles is proud to be supported by:
SRAM, Kenda, Champion Systems, Mavic wheels, UFO, SDG, Funn and e.thirteen.