The year is 2005, the location is a hotel room in the tiny tax free haven of Livigno, nestled at almost 6,000 feet, high up in the north of Italy just near the Swiss border. Myself, Dirt writer Steve Jones and Dirt team rider Vanessa Quin were there for the final round of the World Cup series, but having just travelled from the World Championships in Les Gets the week previously we were on an emotional high. Something special had happened in France, Vanessa had ‘only gone and bloody won it’. I should never have doubted her, but it was somewhat unexpected…

From Dirt Issue 137  – July 2013

Words by Mike Rose. Photos by Mike Rose.

Back then Vanessa was a ‘journeyman’ (woman) racer, spending various periods of time in the UK, Europe, US and her native home of New Zealand. At the time I was thinking about folding the then Dirt team, but when Vanessa crossed that line, as last rider down, she was over two seconds ahead and was the new Women’s Downhill World Champion…rainbow stripes, gold medal, the lot.

We spent the next week on the road frantically trying to get some Dirt logo iron–on transfers made…not easy when you are travelling into one of the remotest parts of central Europe. I can’t actually remember how we did it, but we did. The logo’s arrived and we borrowed the iron from the hotel. Neither of us really knew what we were doing, but we managed to muddle our way through it with out destroying the logos or melting a hole in the jersey.

Funnily enough I also seem to remember the whole Seagrave family visited us that day, Tahnee must have only been about 9 years old, and brother Kaos next to nothing. Vanessa retired in 2007 and went on to get married and is currently the mother of two beautiful kids. Good times indeed.

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