World Cup Rd 2 Cairns

The world cup season is well underway! I can’t believe we have already had the 2nd round.

Local Aussie Tracey Hannah put a stop to a British 1,2 &3 grabbing 2nd place and her best result since Wyndham 2012, Rachel Atherton continued to dominated securing the win by a huge 7 second gap.

There wasn’t any major surprises in this race. We had previously predicted that Tracey Hannah would do well on her home track and that Atherton would continue her domination.  Carpenter however seems to be struggling to get out of the start gates, after dominating back in 2014 she has never quite got that flow back.

Rd 3 sees the World Cup to head back to the old favourite that is Fort William on the 4th/5th June!

Full Womens Results

 

Current Standings 

 

 

Lourdes Full Results

Lourdes

Lourdes was never going to be an easy race, but the continual rain for days before certainly didn’t help. The three British riders, Manon Carpenter, Rachel Atherton & Tahnee Seagrave looked like the top contenders right from the off and with Myriam Nicole out with her 3rd broken collar bone and Raggot retired the field was looking a little more bare than usual. All the French hopes were on 2012 World Champion Morgane Charre.

Australian National Champion Tracey Hannah was looking pretty fierce on track despite having a nasty crash in Lourdes last year. She is one to watch out for this season, after a few seasons of lacking in form and being riddled with injury it is clear she is thirsty to be back on that top step.

Qualifying & Race

Switching the snowy French Alps this winter for the muddy Welsh countryside has clearly paid off for former junior World Champion Tahnee Seagrave after she smashed qualifying by almost 5 second, even with a crash.  But on the day no one could hold off Rachel Atherton as her good form from 2015  looks set to continue into the 2016 season. But Seagrave was hot on her tail with a gap of less than 5 seconds between the two.

Surely this is the year Seagrave will get that first World Cup Win.

The next round is just under two weeks away in Cairn Australia and my prediction is that Hannah is going to pull something special out of the bag for her home round, she is clearly hungry for a win!

Full Womens Results Below!

Transition Factory World Cup Team

FMD Racing join forces with Transition too form Transition Factory Racing in 2016.

“Having spent a good few days testing and having fun with Transition, it has been so refreshing to see how passionate and involved they are about our sport. I strongly believe that FMD and Transition are an amazing match and together can make big steps in the right direction. They are eager to see us develop as a team and do anything they can to help, which is such a positive feeling going into the season. Let the journey begin!” – Tahnée Seagrave / Transition Factory Racing

“2011 was the last year a Transition Factory supported team competed on the World Cup circuit. And I am absolutely psyched to have this crew representing us and how our partnership has come together. From the first instant I spoke with Tony Seagrave, it was apparent to me how parallel our motives and expectations were. Having just returned from a week in Wales working with the full team, I’m amazed and inspired by their passion for racing and all things related.

Being able to work so closely with their mechanics on their race bikes and assure they have absolutely everything they need for success was invaluable. Working directly with the mechanics and athletes is as streamlined as it gets. There are so many nuances involved with equipment and race-craft at this level, and being able to tap into my racing and inner bike geek eliminates all communication barriers as we’re speaking the same language. I have no doubt that it is going to be an exciting year and I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do on the TR500!” –  Lars Sternberg / Transition Bikes

Pink Bike Photo

“For the first time in FMD Racing’s history, we have been able to work closely with our main sponsor – the mechanics, riders and I have just had Lars spend a week at ‘FMD Towers’. He was able to visit MoJo whilst the mechanics and riders were setting up their TR500’s with their new Fox suspension and was also on hand to advise and assist at testing the following day… Lars’ input has been, and will continue to be, invaluable. We also found out he sucks at karting!

We are so stoked to be part of the Transition family – the whole FMD team wanted to partner with a company that believes in what we are doing and where we are going. After speaking to several companies, there was one company who’s enthusiasm stood out, a mutual respect followed and a new ‘bromance’ was formed. This partnership allows us to continue our development of young riders so we can ensure there is a proper structure that gives the correct support and opportunities.

Tahnée tested several bikes at the end of 2015 and the Transition TR500 – straight out the box – was the only one that instantly had her grinning. I will not say “the bike is faster, the company is awesome” like everyone else but what I will say is that the riders love the bike and the company is full of people that truly love to ride bikes – all bikes. This love gives them the ability to build the bikes everyone wants to ride.

The ‘stoke’ factor is mutual and long may it continue!” –  Tony Seagrave / Transition Factory Racing

The Team

Continuing FMD’s development heritage the Team consists of two programs. World Cup and Development – Tahnée Seagrave and Neil Stewart make up the Transition Factory Racing roster. Whilst Kaos Seagrave, Joe Parfitt and Jamie Edmonson comprise the Transition / FMD Racing roster.

Team Video

Team Schedule

2016 Transition Factory Racing & Transition / FMD Schedule:

02-03 April – BDS Round 1: Ae Forest, Scotland
9-10 April: WC Round 1: Lourdes, France
20-24 April: WC Round 2: Cairns, Australia
14-15 May – BDS Round 2: Fort William, Scotland
28-29 May – BDS Round 3: Rhyd-Y-Felin, Wales
4-5 June: WC Round 3: Fort William, Scotland
11-12 June: WC Round 4: Leogang, Austria

15-19 June: CrankWorx Europe: Les Gets, France
25-26 June – BDS Round 4: Moelfre, Wales
9-10 July: WC Round 5: Lenzerheide, Switzerland
6-7 August: WC Round 6: Mont Sainte Anne, Canada
27-28 August – BDS Round 5: Revolution Bike Park, Wales
3-4 September: WC Round 7: Vallnord, Andorra
17-18 September – BDS Round 6: Llangollen, Wales

 

British Team Announced For Andorra

It’s that time of year again when all different countries announce the riders that will be racing in the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.

This years worlds event is being held in the breathtaking Vallnord, Andorra. World Champs is always one of the more entertaining races of the season!

The British team has just been announced, with the Top 4 UK female riders being selected to represent the UK!

Elite women

Manon Carpenter (automatic as reigning world champion)
Rachel Atherton
Tahnee Seagrave
Katy Curd

Manon Carpenter is currently the reigning world champion. But with Rachel dominating the whole 2015 season Manon will have one hell of a fight on her hands if she is looking to keep the rainbow stripes.

UK National Champs

This weekend saw the UK national champs descend on Llangollen, North Wales.

With Atherton, Carpenter & Seagrave all going for the title it was bound to be a battle till the end. However Atherton’s streak of success seems to be never ending at the moment, as she stormed ahead to take the win by a huge margin of over 5 seconds and was crowned national champion for the 4th consecutive year in a row.

Photo from instagram @rachybox

Senior Women’s Results

1. Rachel Atherton
2. Mannon Carpenter
3. Katy Curd
4. Tahnee Seagrave
5. Jessica Greaves

Highland girl Elena Melton has had some amazing success this season. We are sure this weekend was just the icing on the cake to a great season as she was crowned Jr Women’s National Champion. Congratulations Elena!

Junior Women’s Results

1. Elena Melton
2. Aston Tutt
3. Rona Striven
4. Hope Jensen
5. Gemma Taylor

Masters National Champion – Hazel Wakefield

Youth National Champion – Maya Atkinson

Juvenile National Champion – Rosy Monaghan