Back to Enduro and the series. A decade’s worth of downhill racing in one year, but did you have any dark moments? There must have been a place during the series where you were really not in a good place. Maybe some bad moments during some stages?
Yes, always, like in Val d’Allos last year.
What happened in Val d’Allos?I flatted on stage 4. We did two stages in the morning, two in the afternoon.
Can you go back to that moment in time and think what was going through your mind?When I knew the World Series was going to happen, Val d’Allos was the one I marked in my schedule because my goal was to win one race, and that would be it. Because I raced there, I loved the trails… really natural, long downhill. So being there and having a puncture, I was like, “damn. Maybe I missed the opportunity”. I was fast all weekend, but finished seventh.
So after that, I was a bit down. I was happy to save points, because I knew everybody would have a problem at one point in the season. But I was like, “Shit”. So it was hard for me to get back into a positive mode before Les 2 Alpes.
But you did pull yourself back?Yes, I was down for a week. After that, because I didn’t reach my goal of winning in Val d’Allos, the rest of the season was easier, there was less pressure.
What are your thoughts on the points system? Because when we came to Finale, there were still 20% of the stages to be raced. Do you think the points system is right?20%?
Yes. There were 20% of the stages yet to be raced.OK, I didn’t know that. At the beginning of the year I really thought that there was no way the final overall winner would be known before Finale. But as I said, everybody had trouble at some point over the year, and maybe I managed to minimise them.
Let’s talk about trust in riders. There’s an element of trust with Enduro racing. Some people broke the trust this year.I don’t think so.
Do you think Fabien’s penalty in Whistler was deserved (Barel was controversially given a 5 minute time penalty for breaking the ‘outside assistance’ shuttling/uplift rules)?It’s hard to say really. There are two points. It was clear that there would be no shuttling. Personally I didn’t want to use my car, but at the same time it was in the Whistler valley and maybe he was leaving his car there and using it to go home. Who gave the penalty, who took the pictures? This is something we need to sort out for next year. With the UCI, it’s clear. There is referee, and they can decide. But it was a grey area. If he hadn’t had a penalty, the other riders would have said it wasn’t fair, because it was borderline. He got the penalty, so I can also see his point of view that it was not really clear. That’s what we need to make clear.
What about Tracy Moseley? She was given a 30 second penalty for not having a number pinned to her jersey.It’s the same. It’s a bit hard. The referee could have told her to just make a number, use a bit of paper and put it on. The EWS have to make things more clear next year. I think this year they wanted to try all the rules and leave it quite open. We should make it tighter. Like Nico Lau this weekend and his time penalty. It changes every race, so it’s hard to follow. I think it will be better if this kind of thing stays the same for each race.
Nico Lau didn’t concentrate this weekend did he?I don’t know. You should ask him. It’s a stupid mistake, and I’m sad for him, because he was fastest on the track.
Do you worry about him next year?Oh yes. In 2012 I really put it at the top of my list, because he had a brilliant end of the season, he was strong, he also had a lot of experience in Enduro already. I think he just had some delay on his training this winter, so next year he’ll be strong.
Trans–Provence was crazy, you came second four times . You should have won it. But he won four days.He’s good and consistent.
He did struggle at the beginning of the year.Yes. I don’t know why. He has a new bike, maybe, or maybe you should ask him.
All right, let’s wrap it up, then. Good to see your family here?Yes, it’s good. They are a big part of my success. I am lucky that they have always been supportive. They never pushed me to do it, but if I wanted to do something they were always with me. So thanks to them. It’s good to celebrate it with them. They are good people. I can now retire without pressure, the job is done.
