Sam Hill has been seen in the Champery pits at the World Championships riding a Carbon Specialized Demo DH bike.
Dirt mag got the spy shot with a long lens as pit shots are currently forbidden!
More as we find it!
Courtesy of NSMB.com | Shot by – Cam McRae
The Demo started out life rather crudely – as a 50lb steel prototype that hangs to this day on the wall at Specialized headquarters. (more…)
Disclaimer; Jerry Willows is an nsmb team rider. He is also a member of Specialized’s R & D team. While I’m confident Jerry wouldn’t tell you anything that wasn’t true, the appearance of is all over this informative little piece. This is not meant to be a bicycle test – it’s an intro by a sponsored rider. (more…)
Home favourite Gee Atherton (Commencal) blitzed his way to the win in a thrilling men’s downhill final at today’s UCI Mountain Bike World Cup round in Fort William, Scotland. (more…)
From: Dirt Magazine | http://dirt.mpora.com/news/sam-hill-fort-william-smash.html
June 4th, 2010 @ 5:56 PM
Sam Hill had a massive crash during official timed practise today at Fort William.
From the gondola I saw Hill slumped on the grass looking very shaken near the fast rocky drop/left hander a few corners up from the entry to the woods.
The latest news is that he has been to the local hospital for xrays to his shoulder.
Team mate Brendan Fairclough said “Sam doesn’t normally moan about injuries but he was looking pretty bad”
Healing vibes out to Hill and hope he’s back in the saddle for Sundays final.
Photos: Szymon Nieborak
Update: Sam speaks… sort of…
from http://dirt.mpora.com/news/dirttvsam-hill-injury-interview.html
The rain slowed up and riding sped up as Finals kicked off here in Maribor. Rachel Atherton returned to her winning ways with a convincing 10 second margin over Sabrina Jonnier in second even after breaking her finger only one week earlier. A lot of riders came off trying to make the podium including top qualifier Sam Hill, but Gee Atherton stayed on and posted a great time only to be beaten by just 0.25 seconds by race winner Greg Minnaar. Great results for British riders Brendan Fairclough in 3rd and Joe Smith in 8th.
Sources: BBC, Mpora and Freecaster.tv
Britain’s Steve Peat ended a run of disappointment by securing the World Downhill Mountain Bike title.
Peat, who has claimed four silver medals in the event, finally claimed gold in a thrilling race in Canberra.
The Sheffield 35-year-old won in two minutes, 30.33 seconds, just 0.05 secs clear of Greg Minnaar while reigning champion Gee Atherton was sixth.
“I have had such bad luck at the World Championships but today I had an awesome run,” said Peat.
Australian Michael Hannah, who ended up in third, had set the fastest mark before Peat, runner-up in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2008, clocked his time on the 2.4km course.
“I’ve been trying for a long time and it’s just an unreal feeling”
World champions Steve Peat
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Peat then had a nervous wait as crowd favourite Sam Hill and South African Minnaar, winner of four World Cup events in the last 12 months, failed to beat his mark.
The last man out was Atherton, the man who pipped Peat to gold last year, but when the Shropshire rider finished down the standings – the celebrations could begin.
“Over the years it has become my nemesis,” added Peat. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, I’m still pretty overwhelmed with it all.
“I’m the oldest guy out there and I’ve been trying for a long time with a lot of second places, but I felt strong coming into this race.
“It was pretty emotional putting the jersey on, on the podium knowing I could wear it as World Champion for the next year, I’ve been trying for a long time and it’s just an unreal feeling.”
Minnaar and Jonnier take new DHI wins
There were two familiar faces on the podium for round seven of the downhill series in the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano. Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) took her sixth consecutive win in the women’s category, while Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) took his third in the men’s, at Bromont, Quebec in Canada. Jonnier has now locked up the women’s overall title with one race still remaining. Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized) retains the lead in the men’s series after finishing third, but Minnaar is only 16 points back, so this title will come down to the final round in Schladming, Austria, one month from now.
The off again – on again rain of the past week finally moved away overnight, with blue skies and bright sun appearing shortly before race time. The open sections of track dried out quickly, however, in among the trees the mud remained, forcing riders to carefully negotiate slippery rock gardens and rooted sections.
Women: Sixth consecutive win for Sabrina Jonnier
Junior World Cup leader Anais Pajot (Team Sunn) was the first to go below three minutes and 12 seconds in the women’s race, and took the Nissan Hot Seat. Jonnier was up only a few riders later, after an uncharacteristically slow qualifier that had her seeded fifth. The French rider obliterated the rest of the field, becoming the only rider to clock under three minutes. Floriane Pugin (Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker) took second, while Japan’s Mio Suemasa was third.
“I’ve been sick all week,” revealed Jonnier “and I had no energy. I was really disappointed with my qualifier, it was the worst that I have had. But the weather changes dried the track out and made it more to my liking. Even so, I was really surprised at how fast my time was.”
Men: Another win for South Africa Greg Minnaar
Mick Hannah (GT Bicycles), with 11 riders remaining, was the first to make a significant dent in the top time, taking it below 2:34. His time would hold until the young American revelation Aaron Gwin (Yeti Fox Shox) knocked a quarter of a second off the best time, to eventually take the fifth podium spot. World champion Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal) bumped Gwin, but Minnaar was only two riders later, and his time would prove to be the best, as the final two riders – Hill and number one qualifier Fabien Barel (Subaru) – could only manage the second and third fastest times respectively.
“The course was really tough after all the rain, many of the sections were just blown right out, and it was easy to make mistakes. I didn’t have a clean run; I don’t think anyone did, but I just tried to keep it clean and flowy, and be as smooth as I could. Definitely, this win is a confident booster, going into the Worlds, and I’ll be looking forward to having it all come down to the Final in Schladming.”
Mens
1 RSA MINNAAR Greg SCB 2:31.65
2 FRA BAREL Fabien SUB 2:32.11 +00.46
3 AUS HILL Samuel MER 2:32.28 +00.63
4 GBR ATHERTON Gee ANC 2:32.68 +01.03
5 USA GWIN Aaron YET 2:33.06 +01.41
6 AUS HANNAH Michael GTB 2:33.32 +01.67
7 GBR PEAT Steve SCB 2:33.48 +01.83
8 AUS KOVARIK Chris CRC 2:34.44 +02.79
9 GBR BRYCELAND Josh SCB 2:35.72 +04.07
10 GBR FAIRCLOUGH Brendan MER 2:35.74 +04.09
Womens
1 FRA JONNIER Sabrina TMR 2:58.28
2 FRA PUGIN Floriane IKP 3:00.92 +02.64
3 JPN SUEMASA Mio 3:01.23 +02.95
4 GBR MOSELEY Tracy TRK 3:02.24 +03.96
5 FRA GROS Céline MLG 3:04.24 +05.96
6 CAN GATTO Micayla 3:06.31 +08.03
7 CAN BUCHAR Claire CRC 3:06.75 +08.47
8 FRA RAGOT Emmeline SCT 3:06.97 +08.69
9 SUI SIEGENTHALER Emilie STT 3:07.55 +09.27
10 USA PRUITT Kathleen 3:09.06 +10.78
Greg Minnaar takes the win powering out the bottom section to beat Sam Hill into 2nd after barn storming the exposed peak at Fort William.
Blenkinsop comes in 3rd followed by Gee Atherton in 4th and Mik Hannah in 5th.
Steve Peat finishes 6th with a broken knuckle suffered at the Lisboa Down Town.
Sabrina Jonnier destroys the field to take the win by just over 9 seconds for the women.
fort william worldcup results
