Sam and Sabrina victorious at Sainte Anne – July 2, 2007

The legendary Mont Sainte Anne downhill was host to the third UCI Mountain Bike downhill World Cup of the season on June 24. The Monster Energy/Iron Horse team topped the podium in both the men’s and women’s events with team riders Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) and Sam Hill (AUS) both taking big wins.

The 2007 edition of the classic was faster than previous years. The upper section of the legendarily brutal Mont Sainte Anne downhill course has been landscaped and bermed, allowing for much higher speeds to be carried in the woods. Much less of a toll is taken on riders bodies in the upper sections, and it shows as everyone was on the gas lower down the course.

Jonnier cruised to victory to take the win on an incredibly rough, beat up course. Jonnier qualified first and lived up to everyone’s expectations as she stopped the clock at 5:04.45 minutes, over 2 seconds ahead of second place finisher Tracey Moseley (GBR).

After her run, Sabrina said “I was more nervous than usual and I felt I did a big mistake on the flats at the top of the course. I did the first turn drifting on my front wheel! There were some good and bad things about my race. I had trouble with the lights in the woods. It was all on and off (shadows and sun). I nearly went off track in one turn because I forgot to turn! 5:04 isn’t that good. I wanted to do a 4:48. It was a win though.”

Hill qualified second, just behind then series leader Steve Peat. Hill missed several lines in the woods and rode it safe on the bottom section to avert any sort of catastrophe in the loose, high speed corners. In the final, Sam put down a run that no one could match, breaking the finish line beam with a time of 4:29.58 minutes; just under 2 seconds behind eventual second place finisher Greg Minnaar (RSA).

Hill explained afterwards that he just tried to look ahead and pedal wherever he could. “I was a little bit disappointed being 3rd in Champery. I would have preferred it not to rain, but that’s racing. I didn’t feel as strong here as I did on course in Champery so coming back here and getting the win is a big confidence booster. Hopefully I can stay healthy and get in some good training.”

Sam added, “The course was fun to ride but I preferred the older style; technical, the rocks and the roots. I can’t complain winning on it though. I think it helped some of the bigger guys that can carry speed through some of the corners. I said I’d be happy to come out of here second behind Steve, so to win it, that’s awesome.” When asked about the rainbow striped World Championship jersey Sam said that keeping it was “the biggest goal this year”.

After a weekend of product testing and training in Bromont, Quebec the Monster Energy/Iron Horse team heads to Schladming, Austria for round number 4 of the UCI World Cup Series, where Sabrina carries a 150 point lead in the women’s field, and Sam a 32 point lead in the men’s field.

The Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team thanks the following sponsors for all their support: Monster Energy, Iron Horse Bicycles, Mad Catz, Alligator Cables, Avid, Crank Brother, DT-Swiss, e-thirteen Components, Five-Ten Shoes, FSA/Gravity, FUNN, Maxima Lubes, Maxxis Tires, Minoura, mtbidsystems, RockShox, SRAM, THE, Troy Lee Designs, and WTB.

For more Monster Energy/Iron Horse Team news and information visit the team website http://www.madcatzracing.com.

Sabrina…

Sam Hill…

The legendary Mont Sainte Anne downhill was host to the third UCI Mountain Bike downhill World Cup of the season on June 24. The Monster Energy/Iron Horse team topped the podium in both the men’s and women’s events with team riders Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) and Sam Hill (AUS) both taking big wins.