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Fabien Barel finishes 2nd only 0.46sec behind the win. Another amazing result for the SUBARU MTB PRO TEAM as Fabien continues to battle the best riders in the world and show he back at the top.

After 3 days of mixed weather and a great 1st place in qualification for Fabien, the sun came out and the mountain dried up making the rough technical track into a fast demanding raceway. Damien was well placed after his 21st in qualification and he knew he could pull out a good result if he found the correct balance between aggression and flow. The track had dried so he was able to push hard in the top section but he was surprised by a blown out turn that sent him off track stopping into a tree, this cost him a few seconds but he managed to focus again and come back strong for the bottom of the run finishing in 31st place.

For Fabien the track was really dry and being the last man down he was going to have to battle more with the mental pressure than the track conditions. He did not have a very good start and made the same mistake as his team-mate Damien, making him 1.5sec slower at the first split. He managed to put the mistake out of his mind and control the middle section of his run, hitting all his lines and pushing the limits of his skills to the max. By the second split he had narrowed the deficit to just 0.15sec and was in with a chance for the victory. The crowds were going crazy as the tension mounted, however for Fabien he realised it was time to calm his run, going for the secure option and limiting the risk of injury on the bottom fast sections. This cost him some time and he missed first place by less than half a second!

After his run he was a little disappointed to have made the mistake in the upper part of the track but the satisfaction of knowing he rode the most technical sections fast and that he was able to control his aggression more than made up for not taking the win. Fabien said that this result has again boosted his confidence and motivation to go even harder in the coming races, now he has the speed and maturity to stay at the top for the rest of the season.

Final results:

1. MINNAAR Greg 2:31.65

2. BAREL Fabien 2:32.11

3. HILL Samuel 2:32.28

4. ATHERTON Gee 2:32.68

5. GWIN Aaron 2:33.06

31. SPAGNOLO Damien 2:41.93 

Legendary mountain bike racer Brian Lopes designed this signature, limited edition Silverado saddle with the help of his friend, renowned artist Paul Meraz. “I wanted to incorporate a clock into the graphic,” Lopes stated. “My career—actually, my whole life—has revolved around the stop watch.” Lopes’ meticulous attention to detail shows in these saddles, the white version of the SL55 even has a white Flex-Tuned shell. The Silverado SL55 is available in black or white.

The title wasbeautiful and full of promises for this 2nd trophy of the nations in thehistory of the enduro MOUNTAIN BIKE. Indeed, after a first edition won by Francein 2008 in Les 2 Alpes, everything was in question in Vars, it is the essenceof a beautiful race.

Nine teams ofthree pilots each finally appeared on Saturday morning on the starting line ofthe first timed run.

And the qualitywas there, with simply the best of MOUNTAIN BIKE Enduro planet. Three teamshighlighted the warned forecasters. The team France 1 was the favourite withRemi Absalon, Alex Balaud and Jérome Clementz, but everybody distrusted the USA1 composed with Brian Lopes, Mark Weir and Jason Moeschler, while Switzerland 1looked like the very big outsider with René Wildhaber, Florian Golay and FredRul.

Other teamsseemed less well-balanced but included some big names of the discipline such asRoss Shnell, Chris Van Dine, Marco Rodolico,Olivier Guincêtre, Greg Noce or Maurin Trocello.

The action camevery fast. Alex Balaud got flat tire in the 1st special and lost almost 4minutes. Not more was needed to motivate the Swiss and especially the Americanswhich, with Lopes and Weir performing very very close to the Frenchies, and soFrance began doubting.

From the 2ndspecial, Switzerland 1 lost however all its illusions with the fall and thefracture of Fred Rul’s wrist: too much pressure, haste or misfortune, in allcases Switzerland 1 was out, with a part of the suspense.

Almostsimultaneously Italy abandonnned the classification after a mechanical breakageof one of the members of the team. Then, Ross Schnell felt and injured histhumb, abandoning and so condemning USA2 who however, with Chris Van Dine inoutposts, could legally hope for a podium.

From the middleof Saturday, at the end of the 3 runs on the special 1, only 6 teams stayed incompetition. It is necessary to note that this special, which  required around 14 minutes, was selective,physical and technical and really illustrated this 2nd trophy of nations.

The 2nd specialof the day had to be runned twice and required a little more than 10 minutes.

Long specials,that allow pilots to make the difference and so, with small seconds patientlywan on Lopes and Weir and some more on Moeschler, France 1 took back its 4minutes and went back in head.

At the end ofthe day, the departure of the third special is given, for a single chrono. Thetrack was perfect for Lopes who won the first scratch for the USA, but it wasnot enough so that the team ended the first day in front of France 1, which isthe leader, in front of thus the USA 1 and France 2.

One good nightof rest and the 6 surviving teams were ready for the start of the 4 runs of specialnumber 4. Let us clarify that the 4th run will be a mass start.

French continuedto push the nail and knock out the race with the best scratch time of Absalonand Clementz while Balaud went each time into the top 5, which also includedWildhaber and Weir. Here are the 5 strong pilots of this E-MTN. Naturally Lopesalso fighted in this top 5 but got one flat and so lost some invaluableminutes.

At the massstart of the spectacular 4th run, there was almost no stake for the podium,time differences were too important. Nevertheless, two men were fighting likecat and dog for the glory and 1000 € of bonus on this run. Lopes made theholeshot, as a specialist, but, in spite of all his efforts, he did not succeedto face the assaults of Absalon, intrinsically faster on this track.

The final resultcrowned once again the French Team 1, which however did not dominate any moreso extravagantly as they did in the first edition, even if it remains thenation number 1 of the Enduro. The team members of France 1 won the 5000 € ofprize money.

The USA werewhere they were waited, on the 2nd step of the podium, near the robust France 2Team (Wedding, Navaro, Gally) on the 3rd step.

Jérome Clementzwon the scratch of this trophy of nations in spite of the assaults of RemiAbsalon and René Wildhaber. Mark Weir is a solid 4th in front of Alex Balaud5th, returned by far after his flat.

Fabien Barel on the podium again with his 5th place in the 6th round of the world cup series in Canada.

After only his 2nd world cup of the season Fabien shows he is fast this year and a serious contender for the rest of the seasons races.

A well known venue on the circuit again welcomed the worlds best, this time to a slightly modified track with some faster sections and the addition of 2 new parts in the woods the track was set to be faster and rougher then ever. To add to the difficulty of the track, intermittent rain kept the already soaked mountain from drying up.

The Qualification went well for Fabien as he finished 5th despite some mistakes in his run and being very tired by the bottom of the track. For Damien it was not as good, he rode over cautiously and was disappointed with his place, however he ensured a qualification with no risks.

Race morning welcomed the riders to a very wet track after a night of heavy rain and with the cloudy sky it would not dry. So the tyre choice was set and the riders spent the last few hours of training setting the lines for the race.

Damien was the first down and he was feeling confident despite still nursing his injured hand from the French National champs the week before. He again rode conservatively trying to save his energy for the bottom fatter parts of the track. It paid off as he was able to push right to the line and finish in 24th place. Slightly of his target of top 20 but still a good result. After the race Damien said it was very difficult to hold the pace and he was not physically strong enough for such a long track.

Fabien was amongst the last riders left warming up at the top of the hill, the clouds were clearing but the track was still wet so Fabien decided to stay with mud tyres. He took a powerful start but soon settled into a conservative pace for the upper parts of the track, trying to stay loose on the bike and not make energy sapping mistakes so he could hold on to the finish. In the last rock section he hit his derailleur on a rock which lessened it and caused his gears to jump to the finish line, this did not cost him much time but didn’t allow him to put down his power in the last straight. Fabien was really happy with his run and especially his ability to control his pace to suit his physical capacity. The goal for the weekend of a podium finish was achieved and the combined results moved the team up to 10th place in the overall standings.

Damien and Fabien both moved up in the standings, placing 31st and 14th respectively. For Damien the objective is to finish with 2 more solid races to try and pick up maximum points to get him into the top 20 overall. For Fabien the overall is no longer a target after missing the first 3 rounds, so he will just try to keep pushing harder to stay on the podium until the end of the season.

Final results:

1. Sam Hill: 4:38.44

2. Steve Peat: 4:41.48

3. Aaron Gwin: 4:42.91

4. Gee Atherton: 4:43.51

5. Fabien Barel: 4:44.63

24. Damien Spagnolo: 4:55.00

Fabien Barel National Champion…

The weekend started with an heavy rain on a very technical track. Few Technical drops with hard off cambers was alternating with a very rough permanent track in the ski resort of Oz en Oisans by Alpes D’huez.?Damien and Fabien realize on the first day that the weather was going to bring a lots of changes to the lines and the terrain. After commiting themselves on the hard section they finally found the flow before qualification. But both of them have been surprised by the 4 min length of track. Starting in a really pace on their run, they both fall at the end of their run. Dam finished 7th and Fab 5th… Nothing important except some cuts and ematums but it was important to reset theirself for the next day.?The sunday morning training has been challenging. Even if the sun came out to dry the track it was hard to define the lanes and trajectories with permanent evolution.?It was time to get focus and get ready to give all the intensity into the run the get the national title.?Dam is doing an amazing run before hitting a rock and have a slow puncture. He passed the finish line in a 7th place. He is for sure disappointed but knows that the speed was there. On the other hand Fab was really focus, resetting its mind to perform based on its consistency in the Run. He knows that Fabien Pedemanaud and Mickael Pascal are on the top of the game technicaly and that hitting all his lines can make it to the win.

At the end of the day, Fab gets the national title back after a year off because of injury. A Big satisfaction after the hard beginning of the season but also a good continuation after his World cup win. The hard preparation of the last weeks will hopefully pay off.

Next stop for the team will be Mt st Anne in Canada for the next World cup round. Time to Fly Monday 10 am so hard a Schedule!

A weekend 25. - 26.7. only for women, girls, ladies and simply all females. The sport area has prepared for the gentler sex a special offer for the whole weekend. 

On Saturday and Sunday, the girls can make use of this unique offer:

  * 50% discount on bike rental (mountain, tracking, downhill and children bikes)

  * 20% discount on tickets (all summer tickets from our offer)

  * 15% discount on clothes in our shops (Fox, Kona, Spicak)

  * 15% discount on bike parts and accessory (protections, gloves,tyres..)

  * Strudel and coffee at 50 Cent (in mountain huts Hanicka and Blazenka)

  * Cool prizes to raffle off - each woman or girl can fill in one ruffle ticket. The raffle draw will take place on Sunday, 26 July at 1 p.m. at cash desk. .

You can win:

- a weekend stay for 2 persons with half board

- 1 day bike rental according to your choice

- lunch for 2 persons

- T-shirt of bike park Spicak

Let the men at home, it would be like carrying coals to Newcastle!!!

The training started with bright blue skies and a dry track but afterFridays practice the scene was set to change, with torrential rain predictedthe riders were not sure how the already technical and fast track would evolve,but for the Damien and Fabien one thing was clear, they would give it all nomatter what.

Damien Spagnolo showed he was riding well after heposted the second fasted timed run, this helped him regain some of his lostconfidence from the first part of the season and also helped motivate histeam-mate Fabien. After a very wet start on Saturday morning the training wascancelled and the qualification postponed to Sunday – making a tight scheduleand no room for uncertainty.

Sunday arrived and as promised the sun was out,training was difficult as the track was still soaked but drying quickly. Damienwas the first down for the team and he posted a good time even though he rodeconservatively. For Fabien it was a slightly different story, he had somemechanical issues at the start which cost him some time and then rode slightlyoff form, he was not satisfied with his run but pleased when he saw hisposition of 13th.

After a few hours the final started and a tough choice had to be made –wet or dry tires, the track was constantly drying but wouldit be dry enough? The riders decided to stick with wet tires and concentrate on exploiting the good points in the technicalsection. Damien had an awesome run, only 3 days afterswitching to the new ZERO suspension prototype he confirmed that it works byplacing 18th.?Fabien was confident in the start, hoping for a podium finishhowever he knew it would not be easy on such a technical track. He startedpowerfully, hitting all the right lines and saw that he was back on form, bythe halfway mark he was flying making it look easy and he decided to let thebrakes go and see what happened, for sure it all happened for him, he posted anamazing time that no other rider could match and stayed firmly seated in thehot seat right to the end.

An amazing comeback for Fabien and his first worldcup win for his own team gave him and immense satisfaction which was added toby performance of his team mate Damien securing his first top 20 for the season. Overall an exceptional weekend for the team and the start of good thingsto come!

Final results:

1. Fabien Barel 3:03.33

2. Sam Hill 3 :04.04

3. Greg Minaar 3 :05.36

4. Justin Leov 3 :07.65

5. Brendan Fairclough 3 :08.50

18. Damien Spagnolo 3:11.68 

Fabien Barel showed last weekend that he is well on schedule with his recovery by his amazing performance in Scotland.

It was just 2 years ago that Fabien suffered a similar challenge on the same track, the challenge to come back and race after a serious injury. As in 2007 where he finished 2nd in the world championships he can be pleased with his performance. The training was difficult for Fabien, firstly due to his knee injury causing him to fatigue after more than 2 min of downhill and secondly due to the limited training hours for him. Being placed out of the top 80 ranking in the world cup he was not entitled to the additional training hours. The bike setup had to be finalized on the first day so that he could concentrate on line choice and raising his riding speed to match world cup level.

On the other hand, the training went really well for Damien who was able to quickly settle into his lines and obtain a good pace. The qualifying went well for Damien and he was able to place 32nd, he was motivated for the final and knew he could ride faster. Fabien did not have a good qualifying round as he made some mistakes on the upper part of the track, which cost him some time.?For Damien the race run was going well and he was feeling really confident, hitting all his lines and carrying good speed, however it all suddenly went wrong as he felt his front wheel slide out from under him on one of the turns. He went down and broke his front brake lever so was unable to continue riding. Fortunately for him he was not injured.

Fabien showed his experience by his consistent, fast top section passing the first split within the top five, however he started to feel that he would not be able to keep up the pace all the way to the final due to his physical condition, so he controlled his run conserving the maximum energy by riding smoothly. He entered the pedalling section feeling really tired and knew he was not going to be able to push as he had done 2 years ago, however he knew that he had already ridden the top section well so managed to keep his motivation right to the finish line, giving it his all.?He crossed the line in top spot and stayed in the hot seat for 25min before he was beaten, with the knowledge that only 14 of the worlds best were able to beat his time he was pleased to back racing and confident that soon he will be back on top.

Next stop Maribor! 

Final results:

1) MINNAAR Greg 4:38.98

2) HILL Samuel 4:40.43

3) BLENKINSOP Samuel 4:41.85

4) ATHERTON 4:41.97?

5) HANNAH Michael 4:43.13

15) BAREL Fabien 4:49.89