Great news from the SUBARU mountainbike pro team is that Fabien Barel is back in action and on top of the podium in DH REGIONAL DE ROUBION.

The team travelled to the regional downhill hosted by team partner, Roubion. Damien Spagnolo made the trip down to the south of France to get some more time on the bike in a “no-pressure” environment and to ride with his team-mate Fabien. The riders were greeted with perfect weather and a great track and a full field of almost 300 riders.

 The training went well for the team and eventhough Fabien was not 100% comfortable riding downhill with an extra 1.2kg’s worth of knee braces he felt good on the bike and realised that his recovery goals are realistic. Damien was also enjoying the track but struggling with the conditions. The extremely dry hard pack track riddled with holes and dusty turns was proving to be a challenge for a rider who prefers the wet.

As is the case of most regional DH races the best run of two is taken. Damien performed well in his first run despite numerous mistakes due to washing out on the turns he finished second, 6sec behind Fabien who had a good smooth run. The second run did not go as well for Damien as he decided to calm his pace in the hope of eliminating the mistakes of his first run, unfortunately this did not work out and he ended up a sec slower which cost him 2 places. Fabien was able to replicate his first run almost identically showing that he really is within his current capacity and is taking every precaution to recover 100%.

After the race Fabien was really pleased with his performance and especially with his progress over the past week. The team will now travel to the 1st French Cup in Lac Blanc and then to the 4th world cup in Fort William, the next 2 races will be critical steps for Fabien deciding if he will continue the season or undertake knee surgery.

Final results:

1. Fabien Barel 3:00.02

2. Paul Rovigo 3:05.44

3. Yohan Barelli 3:05.83

4. Damien Spagnolo 3:06.73

5. Richard Marini 3:09.20

Damien Spagnolo moves into the top 30 overall world cup ranking, Fabien Barel back on the Bike, And Florent Payet out for the season! A good weekend for the SUBARU mountainbike Pro team saw the progression of Damien finishing 30th overall in the UCI world cup ranking due to consistent riding so far this year. The world cup pace has considerably increased for 2009 and the times are closer and closer every round, with only 2 seconds separating 15th and 40th place.

Damien had an overall good run but rode a little cautiously on the upper section of the track and then pushed a little too hard on one of the technical sections trying to catch up lost time, unfortunately this lead to a couple of mistakes loosing valuable seconds. The next few weeks will be important for Damien as he tries to increase his speed by pushing the limit of his riding a little past his current “safe pace”. This is a step that he is prepared for and now will have Fabien to help him pass it.

 Fabien spent the weekend supporting Damien and was also able to get some time on his enduro bike, he was happy to have been able to get back on the bike and do some runs in the bike park, all went well his knee was feeling strong. Fabien’s next goal will be to prepare for the Fort William world cup. More news about Fabien next week.

Another big news this weekend has been Florent Payet pull out for the season. Racing is requiring Technical but also mental skills to perform. The riders are under pressure all year long to give the best of them self. As a big surprise for the all team, Florent decided to pull out racing. He precised to us that he was not capable to hold the pace of a full World cup season, and that he would need to refresh himself to come back stronger next year. The all team is very disappointed of the situation but wish him all the best in the new challenge that is facing him.

On the team side, we will find out during the week, if we will hire another rider for the rest of the season.

Final results:

1. Steve Peat 2:22.05

2. Gee Atherton 2:22.07

3. Greg Minaar 2:23.46

4. Michael Hannah 2:23.71

5. Justin Leov 2:23.93

41. Damien Spagnolo 2:28.84 

Santa Cruz Syndicate rider Steve Peat made history last Sunday, winning the second round (2:07:14) of the World Cup series in La Bresse, France. The victory marks Peat’s 16th World Cup win, tying him with legendary Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz. The charismatic rider from Sheffield, England is one of the most recognizable and popular personalities in downhill racing. Peat is known for his consistency and has been performing at the elite level for more than 15 years. Peaty’s saddle of choice is the WTB Rocket V SLT in white and red.

 And other hell rider, supported by WTB, Adam Vagner (CZE) with the time 2:13.73 has finished 20th.Adam was on Hot Seat (backside of Nissan car =) ) for the best racer in temporary ranking around 20 minutes. He was the first non proffesional rider in top 20, what underlines his success!!

 CONGRATULATIONS from WTB!!!!

A tough week-end for the Subaru Mountainbike pro team ended well with a solid performance from Damien Spagnolo.The Team was faced with a two rider shortage, Fabien, still suffering from his knee injury,  was there to support his team and offer some important advice to Damien and Florent was unable to attend due to his educational commitments leaving only Damien to represent the team. Damien felt the pressure during Friday’s training and was not feeling very confident on the track but he managed to focus his attentions on improving his lines and riding skills to finish the day with a smile on his face. The track was new so it was continuously changing and it was difficult to know which lines would be the fastest come race day.

Sunday was hot and sunny for the morning’s training and Damien was feeling confident he could knock 3 or 4 seconds of his qualifying time, unfortunately for him and about 15 other riders, there was a short rain storm before his start. The rain came at the worst moment causing chaos under the start tent whilst mechanics rushed to change to wet tyres.  Damien decided to do the same but unfortunately the storm did not last long enough to warrant the use of spikes, after a good top section Damien had a few scary moments in the rocky parts of the track, this caused him to loose focus a little and make 2 big errors.?The times were exceptionally close and with only 5 seconds separating the podium from 40th place there was no room for mistakes.?Damien was very disappointed with his run finishing 42nd, however he was able to console himself that he had improved his time by 4 seconds from the qualifying with a much deteriorated track.

Final results:

1. Steve Peat            2:07.14

2. Sam Hill            2:08.41

3. Mick Hannah        2:09.00

4. Brendan Fairclough    2:09.99

5. Gee Atherton        2:11.15

42. Damien Spagnolo    2:15.55