What is In Pursuit? All I know is that it’s coming soon.
Trek World Racing Team Launch
With new bikes, new kit and 2 new team members in Emily Batty (CAN) and Neko Mulally (USA), the Trek World Racing team camp which concluded Sunday in Arizona, set the tone for the upcoming season. In pursuit of key goals that revolve around the World Championships in September and the summer long World Cup season, the 7 rider team will also be supporting other key events throughout the year, in particular this weekend’s Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California, the Swiss Racer Cup Series, the new US Pro Gravity Tour, Crankworx and other selected events.
Fresh from their two stage victories in South Africa at the Absa Cape Epic, Swiss brothers Mathias and Lukas Flueckiger joined their new team mate Emily Batty for the first time in Arizona and enjoyed their time out riding the trails on their new Top Fuels. The new bike (pictured below) has a very distinct appearance and is once again loaded with the performance technology needed for podium results. Both Mathias and Emily have the Under 23 World Title as shared major goals for 2010, while Lukas wants to finish top 5 overall in the World Cup, something he narrowly missed doing in 2009.
Lukas: “For me having two World Cup podiums last year was a great start on this new team for me, but we have learned a lot and the engineers have done some great work over winter and we’re excited by the developments we have seen at camp, so I would really like to get my first World Cup win this year.”
Emily: “I have been so impressed and amazed at the team set up, this is a such a dream come true for me and I know I will have the greatest support as I set out for the 2010 race season. I’m excited about racing in the new colors this weekend at Monterey”.
Mathias: “I’m really looking forward to Champery, at the middle of the season. That’s for 2 reasons. One is because that’s where Luk and I made history as brothers on the podium last year, in front of our family and friends…but also because from Champery onwards, I become a full time racer having completed my studies and other work!”
On the gravity side, last year’s trio of Tracy Moseley (GBR), Justin Leov (NZL) and Andrew Neethling (RSA) are joined by US phenom Neko Mulally for 2010, as the team aims for the number 1 ranking in teams classification. Riders are once again aboard the Session 88 (pictured below) with its race proven geometry and class leading weight.
Tracy: “It’s been a pretty harsh winter in the UK this past few months, but I’ve been working as hard as ever. It was nice to be in the sun in Arizona and now I’m looking forward to repeating my win at Sea Otter from last year, as well as doing the Dual Slalom. The World Cup promises to be the most competitive for a long time in Women’s DH, with a new World Champ in Emmeline, Sabrina (Jonnier) always a tough competitor and the return of Rachel (Atherton) to the mix. Can’t wait!”
Justin: “I’ve been working hard in the off-season, but I’m all about racing. Getting back with the team at camp and seeing all the new gear just gets me amped for the race season ahead. Looking forward to hitting the tracks again and hopefully some more podiums this year.”
Andrew: “Out training with the boys in Arizona and I feel as fresh as ever and I’m ready to take on a new season. I’m ripped and raring to go!” I actually raced less in the off season than I planned to, mainly due to earthquakes and such, which in a way has worked out pretty well or me, coming in a lot fresher.”
Neko: “I was really happy to be at camp in Arizona and meet all the people from Trek, Fox and the team that do all the hard work behind the scenes, and I’m stoked to hang out with my new team mates. For Sea Otter this year I really want to improve on last year, and I’m counting the days to my first ever World Cup in Maribor. The support of the team is amazing and I’m hoping to make them proud this year.” Team Director: “So much work has gone in over the off season with the bikes, the upgrading of our team vehicles, and a bunch of other cool stuff, that it’s almost a feeling of relief to get on the road and start the season. All of the riders have very specific goals we’ll be helping them to achieve and with the arrival of Emily and Neko, we have a very full program ahead of us. The new bikes look amazing, and together with the new kits and the testing we’ve been doing with Fox Racing Shox, as well some other surprises we have the fans, it should be an amazing season”.
The team’s partners continue their commitment to the global program. In particular JBL, Shimano for drive train and brakes, Fox Racing Shox, Bontrager components, clothing and tires for XC, Bontrager rims and Hope hubs for Downhill, FUNN bars and stems for gravity as well as SDG seats and i-Beam, e*thirteen chain-guides, Alpinestars clothing and bags, Maxxis Downhill and Slalom tires, and long standing 23 Degrees supporter, Motorex, with their Lubricants and Cleaning products.
Tracy Moseley Wins Opening Pro GRT, Justin Leov 2nd in Mens
Trek World Racing ventured north from the Sea Otter Classic in California, to race yesterday’s opening round of the Pro Gravity Tour, the premiere US series for downhill racing, in Port Angeles, Washington. It seems that TWR was not the only large World Cup team to elect to race, and support this growing US series, as was evident by the start list. Also racing were Commencal, Yeti/Fox, Giant, Santa Cruz Syndicate, Evil Bikes, Dirt/Norco, among others.
All four Trek World Racing riders loved the track. Fast and slick at times, narrow in places, and generally very fast. The local crowd too was super supportive of all the World Cup stars that had made the trip to the opening round.
In the women’s race Tracy Moseley was up against a world class field and managed to edge out 2nd placed Rachel Atherton (GBR) by more than 2 seconds on the sub 3 minute track. Melissa Buhl (USA), the winner last week at Sea Otter, had to settle for 4th.
In the men’s field, all three Trek World Racing riders qualified on the same second, in the top 6, and all knew they had to step it up for the finals, yet the conditions were tricky with rain coming and going over the weekend. The track was slick and the margin for error very small indeed. In the end all three finished inside the top 10 of a stacked field, with Justin taking 2nd place.
Tracy said: “It was great to be back racing in a US National Series! We’ve been made so welcome here in Port Angeles and the track was the perfect preparation for the World Cup season – flat out all the way! It was the first real test for me and the bike this year with a big women’s field on a proper downhill, so I was really happy to take the win ahead of Rachel. A great start to the season and a great start for the team with the boys all getting great results. Bring on Maribor!”
Justin said: “Fun weekend and bloody close racing! I really felt good on the bike today, it was working damn good, and I felt so comfortable on the Maxxis High Rollers on the slightly slick conditions. It was super tight racing today and with a quality field, so I’m glad to have ridden well and more importantly to have got some quality time on the bike before the World Cups start. Congrats to Bryn (Atkinson) today, he rode super well. The crowd atmosphere here in the North West was awesome, I’ll definitely be back!”
Andrew said: “Practice went well for me, and I felt really good on the bike. Quali was solid but I knew I had a bit more. I had a pretty good final and pushed hard but knew I lost momentum in a spot or two. I’m very happy to be on the box with a stacked field heading into Maribor.”
Neko said: “The track was really fast and fun to ride. In practice I crashed into a tree and bruised my shoulder but I was OK to race. I just didn’t do any risky full speed runs until race time. I had a great qualifying run into 6th. The track seemed to be rolling about 3 seconds quicker in the final so my plan was to do another solid run like my qualifying run but push a little harder to try and crack the top 5. I ended up making a few crucial mistakes trying to take off time in the technical sections. I ended up 9th which wasn’t too bad. I’m still healthy and have learned a lot from this weekend’s experience.”
