Brendan Fairclough To Ride For Scott 11

Following the wrap up of yet another amazing season of Downhill racing, a number of interesting rumors involving Claudio’s 11, Swiss cheese, pump tracks, and Brendan Fairclough’s next move have been circulating online. SCOTT Sports is delighted to put an end to the speculation and to proudly welcome professional DH racer, and all round pinner, Brendan Fairclough to the Scott11 team. 

Brendan is widely recognized as one of the most well rounded riders on the DH circuit with a unique style that has captivated and inspired his many fans. Whether he is racing competitions or ripping with friends, his natural ability and bike control make him one of the most exciting riders to watch. Brendan is a regular top ten rider with an impressive 4th place finish at the recent 2011 Champéry World Championships, despite a torn ACL, and has featured in multiple highly acclaimed mountain bike films such as Clay Porter’s 3 Minute Gaps and Anthill Films’ Follow Me. Now, after having undergone reconstructive knee surgery, Brendan is ready to come back next season to continue working with top bike film producers and to take on the UCI World Cup DH series with a new knee and a new bike.

SCOTT Sports and the SCOTT11 team will give Brendan the opportunity to take his racing to the next level by providing him with unparalleled support and the finest equipment to reach his goals. Brendan will also play an instrumental role in developing and testing SCOTT products including SCOTT’s Gambler and Voltage FR bikes. 

“I’m really happy to have the opportunity to join Scott11 for the 2012 and 2013 seasons,” says Brendan. “It’s going to be a big change from the last few years since I’ll now act as the lead rider on the team, but it’s a role I feel I am ready to take up and feel it’s going to be good for me in my fight for a championship. It’s going to be good to progress with SCOTT in the downhill market and hope we can get the bike on the top step of the podium and beyond. Very happy to have signed and can't wait to get stuck into the season.”

“With Brendan on board, we can finally play a major role in the men's field,” adds Team Manager Claudio Caluori. “The whole team is totally excited and will work flat out to get Brendan where Floriane Pugin has been since joining Scott11: On that podium!” Welcome to SCOTT, Brendog! 

Brook MacDonald Signs With 23 Degrees

23 Degrees Sports Management announced today that it has finalized an agreement to represent 2009 Junior World Champion and World Number 6, Brook MacDonald of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. After an impressive 2011 that included 3 World Cup podiums and an overall 6th place in the series, Brook who turns 20 next week, has a big future ahead of him.

Brook had this to say: "Next year is a really important year for me. I want to build on the experience I gained this year and chase down my goals of being one of the top Downhillers on the circuit next year and hopefully gain a medal at the World Champi onships. To be honest, I struggle a bit with the admin and paper work side of the sport and just want to focus on my training and racing. I’ve seen what Martin and 23 Degrees has done for Sam (Blenkinsop) and other riders, and so I asked him to help me out with my career. I’m looking forward to it.”

Founder and Owner of 23 Degrees Sports Management, Martin Whiteley, commented on Brook’s signing.

"There’s no question that Brook is on the verge of something big in our sport and we’re very happy that he’s asked us to assist him. We’ll help him evaluate his sponsorship deals and take some of the burden away so he can put more of his focus into preparing for the season and racing at podium level in 2012. This brings our athlete management roster to 7; we don’t expect to add any more athletes going into next year as we have a great stable to work with for now".

Brook’s profile page can be found here: http://www.23degrees-sports.com/athlete.php?athlete_id=26

Uci launches 2012 European Series In Cooperation With IXS

The iXS Downhill Cup organisation has been working very closely with the UCI for several years now. This cooperation has now been strengthened even further with the iXS European Downhill Cup recognised as the official UCI European Series.

A number of UCI decisions have received a lot of coverage from a wide range of media recently and there has been much discussion about the sport’s future. Even if the reasons behind developments are not 100 percent clear to laymen, it should be emphasised that the International Cycling Union has done a lot for the Downhill discipline in recent years. There has been a World Cup series for two decades now and its value is priceless, despite some ups and downs. Without a doubt, not everything is perfect but the success story can only be continued through a constructive partnership.

And that’s exactly what the iXS Downhill Series organisation is trying to capitalize on by continuously expanding the cooperation. It is, furthermore, taking advantage of the opportunity to provide the UCI with important grass-roots input – in other words from competitors, teams and, of course, the individual venues – based on the experience gained from putting on up to 20 races a year in order to reach a general consensus.

In this context an important step for the future was gaining official UCI European Series status for the iXS European Downhill Cup. In the final analysis the UCI is gaining a partner who has been actively involved in the sport for 10 years and has generated unbroken success for the Downhill discipline not only at national level in Switzerland and Germany but also at continental level.

Peter van den Abeele, Off-Road Disciplines Manager, says in this regard: “We are pleased to have such a reliable partner who has been working for many years to continuously improve race events in accordance with UCI wishes and is further developing mass audience awareness of the sport through targeted PR work.”

Andreas Stöckli, event manager at iXS Sports Division, is also very positive about the close partnership: “Recognition of our Cup as the official UCI Europe Series confirms the significance we’ve developed together with our race organisers over the last four years. The goal was to create a prestigious series located between the World Cup and the national race series to thus provide athletes with an easier but nevertheless professional means of entering the world elite.”

Next year the iXS European Downhill Cup will be held in seven different countries, taking place at top level venues offering the relevant country’s most challenging courses. 2011 saw a high media profile being achieved, for example the five half-hour reports broadcast by Red Bull’s in-house TV channel Servus TV.

Last season saw 2 570 competitors from 41 countries at the starting lines of the various iXS Downhill Series. In this context the European Cup is focusing more strongly on top world professionals, as confirmed by the participation of major teams. Among others, many names from UCI elite teams appeared on the start lists, including world rank Top 20 riders such as Troy Brosnan (AUS), Brook MacDonald (NZL), Cameron Cole (NZL), Markus Pekoll (AUT), Brendan Fairclough (GBR) and Florent Payet (FRA). In order to further increase attractiveness for top class international riders there are plans to raise the media profile even more and to adjust the rules to reflect top athletes’ needs more. All additional information is available at ixsdownhillcup.com

iXS 2012 European Downhill Cup dates:

• #1        28.-29.04.2012           Rivera - Monte Tamaro (SUI)
• #2        26.-27.05.2012           Leogang (AUT)
• #3        16.-17.06.2012           Innerleithen (GBR)
• #4        04.-05.08.2012           Pila (ITA)
• #5        11.-12.08.2012           Špičák (CZE)
• #6        08.-09.09.2012           Châtel (FRA)
• #7        22.-23.09.2012           Todtnau (GER)

Tracey Hannah Is Back

I said I’d be back!

It has been 4 years since I raced overseas. The time flew by like a rocket launcher…... not!

I didn’t have anything to do with racing; it was either on, or off! If I thought about it, I’d be obsessed, but that hasn’t been a possibility… Till Now!! 

What about me? My name is Tracey Hannah. I used to race downhill mountain bikes. I stopped riding because it was too expensive to keep going overseas, and I guess a break was good. My best results were Junior World Champion, 1st at a World Cup Round, 3rd overall World Cup Series and 3rd Elite World Championships. I love riding.

Who am I? A sand miner….. Still Tracey Hannah, still love riding, still need a full time job for $, still want to be the Pro Women’s Downhill Champion of the World more than once. I still know how to ride a bike.  

Where is Australia? We need to win a Pro World Title for the Women Downhill Mountain bike riders of this Country, it has to be done. I am willing J

Why? There is born in some of us a will to win, a drive that forces action, we don’t eat, we don’t sleep, we don’t smile, we don’t breath until the win is won.

When? Now, I need to be selected to represent my country in the coming World Championships. I will race whatever races it takes to guarantee my selection into the team. I will be in Leo gang!

Determination and a will to win is my driving force, I want to race, I love riding and….. I just happen to like training.

There is only so far I can go on my own. I would like to race the Australian National Championships, and hopefully some events overseas that offer UCI points in preparation for the 2012 World Titles.

I am currently being supported by Nsdynamics, and Gt Bicycles have given me a bike to race.

If you want your brand represented by a girl at the World Champs I am the person to call.

Thank you for all your support, it is so encouraging to know that you are all out there, helping me get back up and on the scene again.

Keep updated with my racing progress on my website;

www.traceyhannahracing.com

Check out photos and random happenings, sponsorship updates and more on my Facebook page;

Tracey Hannah Racing

Follow me on Twitter;

TraceyHannah

Join A World Cup Team For 2012

Selected riders will have the exclusive opportunity to join a team setup with a world-class support structure that will be comparable to a top world cup team. Receiving this complete race season package for less than the price of a bike.

This has been made possible thanks to the support of UK distribution company Hotlines Europe Ltd, meaning we can offer young riders a custom built, World Cup standard, Lapierre DH920 race bike, plus full race support package for just £4’950.00

F8MANAGEMENT