Yes, of course. Him and Nico Vouilloz, they always do things in a professional way.
Are you like those guys at all? Like Nico (Vouilloz) and Fabien, they get suspension and take it apart and they’re always doing this and doing that. How would you compare?I’m interested in what they do. I think it’s their way. I don’t do the same, I don’t feel the need, and it doesn’t match with my feelings. But they do what they think is right, so if they do it, there is a reason. As long as the reason is because they want to, not just because the other riders do the same.
So this year then, we’ve seen some of the downhill racers come to Enduro almost naively. They don’t totally understand that it is a specialist sport. Do you think it’s almost disrespectful?Enduro isn’t what you do every day. When you ride your bike you go riding with your friends. They come into it with this mentality, and they are surprised that we’re looking for the limit and trying to push.
I don’t ride like this when I go riding on a training ride. I ride normal tyres, like cross–country casing, but when I go to races, because we ride flat–out and we don’t know the trail, I put on downhill tyres, a full–face helmet, knee pads, etc. because I want to go full–on. Some riders didn’t think the stages were that long, they just thought we were cruising down.
It was obvious that some riders, either World Cup downhillers or newcomers, had an idea that Enduro was maybe…I spoke with many riders, for example Greg Minnaar. He thought the time between stages would be shorter and tighter, so he had a lightweight bike to save weight. But in Enduro the main thing is to go fast on the stage, not on the transition. They were wrong… but they also didn’t want to get injured before the DH race season.
But some of them have been here in Finale and they had a lot of practice, it’s the end of this year’s racing, but they still got smoked.Yes, it’s not the same sport. If I go to downhill racing I’ve got skill, I can do well. But last year I did the Air Downhill in Les 2 Alpes and I finished 22nd. That’s not bad.
…and maybe because you didn’t want to get injured?A little bit. It’s riding your bike, but I’m not used to riding bigger bikes. It makes so much difference.
Did it cross your mind when Jared came third at the Pietermaritzburg World Championships in the downhill, you must have been thinking in your head “maybe I can too…”No, no. Last year when I went to New Zealand I thought about this. But I did two downhill races in New Zealand and I finished fourth and seventh.
Not bad.No, it’s not too bad, but they didn’t give UCI points. So I couldn’t enter Pietermaritzburg. But no, no, Jared is something else.
So it did cross your mind?For the World Cup… I was thinking about it, but the World Champs is run by the National Federation, and you need to race the whole DH series. It’s more serious.
It’s been a pretty good adventure this year with all the races. You’ve probably done some of the best riding ever.That’s what is great. You go to some places, you race, but you also discover a new area and a lot of new trails. We were pretty lucky that we had so many amazing venues. All the organisers tried to show us the best trails in their area.>>
