whats about skinsuit?

pic and quotes from velonews

Moseley on her Fort bill race:

"I just tried to improve upon the things I did in the semifinal," said Moseley. "There was nothing big, just little bits here and there that made the difference."

However, one difference Moseley did make was to don a skinsuit for the final - something that is causing a lot of controversy in the downhill community. The Mojo Orange team has been testing the suits and claim they can shave six to eight seconds off a run. Moseley's winning margin was four seconds.

My opinion is you can wear anything for the race, as long you wear all the safety gears - helmet, protector and so on - and nothing in it big enough to causing up any controversies. If you dont like it, dont wear it. Just remember, the fastest is the winner.

And for Indonesian downhill team, they already wear this this shameful skinsuit for ages. I think it brings luck sometimes!

DH RESULTS - Fort Bill

Men
1. Greg Minnaar 4:43.52
2. Gee Atherton
3. Steve Peat
4. Nathan Rennie
5. Sam Hill

Women
1. Tracey Moseley 5:20.87
2. Sabrina jonnier
3. Rachel Atherton
4. Mio Suemesa
5. Melissa Buhl

Fort. William World Cup - 4x REsults

FORT WILLIAM, Scotland (transcendmagazine.com) -- Jared Graves made his only World Cup appearance of the year here in fort william, and took home gold. " I have been riding BMX 6 days a week and training my ass off. I just wanted to come have fun on my mountain bike." Graves was followed by Joost Wichman and last week's winner, Dan Atherton. Michal Prokop went down in the first corner and was 4th.

For the women it was Jana harakova followed by Rachel Seydoux of Switzerland in second. Fastest Qualifier Melissa Buhl has a bad start and was left behind on the first straight. Anneke Beerten was 3rd.

Men
1. Jared Graves (AUS) Yeti
2. Joost Wichman (NED) Cannondale
3. Dan Atherton (GBR) Animal Commencal
4. Michal Prokop (CZE) Author

Womern
1. Jana Harakova (CZE) Suzuki
2. Rachel Seydoux (SUI)
3. Anneke Beerten (NED) MS Intense
4. Melissa Buhl (USA) KHS

This week: Fort William

from bikeradar

Fort William, Scotland is gearing itself up for a return of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on 6–8 June.

500 of the world’s top riders will battle each other on challenging courses in front of the usual large and enthusiastic Fort William crowd.

This year there will be added interest in the cross country races as the main Olympic contenders will be in their final preparation phase for Beijing.

New for this year's event is a move of the Four Cross race to Friday evening, a full programme of big screen action and some very unusual entertainment. Fort William will rock on Saturday evening with the biggest mountain bike party in the UK, the Party in the Fort.


pic from cycling.visitscotland

The Athertons

pic from bikemagic

Commencal Supreme DH

An interview with the Athertons, September 6, 2007 - cyclingnews

The Atherton family home is located on the side of a spectacular mountain valley and is shared by Dan, Gee, Rachel and their mother - and of course a constant stream of transient mountain bikers. Life for the family team of Commencal Animal began a lot further south, near Exeter in Devon, as Dan explained, "We lived in a small village, and I started riding BMX, then Gee and then Rachel began to come along and got into things. We began building tracks; there wasn't much else to do."

Indeed building tracks is still a passion for the trio - especially Dan who said, "We've got the dirt track, complete with start gates at home, as well as numerous downhill tracks here in the mountains; one's even ten minutes long. I'm really into that side of things, I love figuring it out and building stuff."

The family home would be the envy of any mountain bike team, with a huge workshop, a gym and store-rooms as well as the back "yard" dirt track, and this is where much of their race preparation takes place. "What we do on a daily basis depends some on the weather," said Gee. "In the morning it's usually straight into the gym for training. Then we recover some and do the admin type work, and then go riding."
Riding is a surprisingly mixed bag for the Athertons, and Dan is keyed into the training element. "Sometimes we spend a lot of time here at home on the track, practicing starts and dirt skills, largely for four cross; other times we take the pickup and go downhilling. If there is time between races, we go cross-country riding, and sometimes even on the road. We often take the moto-cross bikes out."

Training and preparation have always been something that they have been rumoured to take more seriously than others. "I think most riders train hard really," said Dan. "We do put a lot of time in. But we also work on three things - downhilling, four cross and freeriding - others often just focus on one or two. I think if we chose to focus on just one thing, then we would do a lot better."


"At the end of the day, we're paid to race downhill, but we enjoy the other stuff and it's also really important for the sponsors," added Gee.

The following morning the boys were due to head to Paris for a last minute call up to compete in a street race, something that is increasingly popular. Many of these races are organised by Red Bull, and are effectively a closed shop to any outsiders, including the media. This year Gee and Rachel are sponsored by the Austrian drinks manufacturer, and so are committed to a certain number of events. "Fortunately they have been great with understanding the need to focus on downhill racing, which is the most important thing overall," said Gee.

This year saw a new direction for the Athertons as they switched to Commencal as bike sponsor. "The deal is for three years, which is great. It cuts some freedom to be able to focus on long-term goals and development. We don't just have to think of publicity for the next few months," said Gee, who is very much at the head of commercial things.


"We're all very different characters, which helps things to work," said Gee. "Dan is very much into teaching and the technical side of things. I'm really interested and involved with the sponsorship element, and Rach is great with the media and words."

The differences appear on the bike, too. Dan, the eldest, was the not only the first to take up BMX, he was also the first to start downhill racing, and the other siblings followed suit, learning from his mistakes, and developing their own styles along the way.

"I started racing first, as a junior," said Dan. "At first we knew very little, especially about bike setup. I would set my bike up and ride it like a BMX, as rigid as possible, so we had a lot of broken bikes and bits to start with. I got a job in a bike shop, and they had a good mechanic who taught me about suspension, and that's when I started getting results, and the others, too."

Training and riding together on a daily basis is a huge bonus for them, and a major part to spurring them on and raising the pole. "There is definitely rivalry there, everywhere - even in the gym," said Gee. "I get really fired up if I can't do something Dan can. Last week he pulled off a move on a trail. I tried for ages and just could not do it, it really frustrated me - but that's what pushes us on."

And there's no doubt that the effect of riding daily with her brothers has made a huge impact on Rachel, the youngest of the three. "It's great; riding with the boys is the best thing I could do. They constantly push me, and seeing them do things gives me the confidence to try things for myself."

DH RESULTS - Andorra

Men
1. Gee Atherton (GBR)
2. Sam Hill (AUS)
3. Greg Minnaar (RSA)
4. Steve Peat (GBR)
5. Sam Blenkinsop (NZL)

Women
1. Rachel Atherton (GBR)
2. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA)
3. Floriane Pugin (FRA)
4. Tracy Moseley (GBR)
5. Emmeline Ragot (FRA)

vid from freecaster

Results 4x World Cup Andorra

VALLNORD, Andora (transcendmagazine.com) --
Dan Atherton (Animal Commencal) took home his first career world cup win here in Andorra. Atherton edged out Brian Lopes (Ibis Oakley) and Guido Tschugg to take home the victory.

For the women it was Anneke Beerten (MS Intense) putting another notch in her belt. Teammate Mio Suemesa took second.

Men
1. Dan Atherton
2. Brian Lopes
3. Guido Tschugg
4. Rastislav Prirman

Women
1. Anneke Beerten
2. Mio Suemasa
3. Fionn Griffiths
4. Diana Marggraff