The Jim Beam Air Downhill took place on Wednesday here in Whistler at the Kokanee Crankworx Festival. One of the most famous and most celebrated tracks in mountain biking, A-Line consists of nearly 100 jumps throughout it’s length=great fun to ride but very difficult to race. Thousands of spectators watched the action on the big screen in the finish arena of the village and the racers definately put on a show.

Many World Cup pros were competing in this event such as Andrew Neethling, Cedric Gracia, Nico Vink and Matti Lehikoinen. Chris Kovarik showed his power and skill as he hammered the track to the hot seat, knocking U.K. rider Marc Beaunmont off by one second. But there were 2 more powerhouse riders to come, 3 time Air DH winner Brian Lopes and former World Champ Greg Minnaar. Lopes, riding his little bike, came slingshotting down the final stretch knocking 5 seconds off Chris’s time (rumour has it the 4X star was prejumping and skimming the tops of most of the jumps-crazy!)and Minnaar was just one second off of Lopes’ time.

Overall, it was an impressive performance from Chris who usually shines on the wide open gnarly courses. The Air DH track is VERY physical, a sprint from start to finish and with this caliber of riders, there was no margin for mistakes. Well done Chris!

Here are the results for top 15 Pro Men:

1       6       Lopes   Brian   Laguana Beach   CA      USA     OAKLEY,MARZOCCHI ,KENDA, IBIS   04:22.10
2       3       Minnaar Greg    Murrieta        CA      USA     SANTA CRUZ,ROCKSHOX     04:23.42
3       12      Kovarik Chris   Whistler        BC      CAN     CHAIN REACTION, INTENSE 04:27.60
4       14      Beaumont        Marc    Craven Arms Eng         UK      TEAM BIKE       04:28.77
5       36      Keene   Curtis  Ventura CA      USA     SPECIALIZED     04:30.00
6       16      Neethling       Andrew  Somerset West           RSA     MONGOOSE BIKES  04:30.13
7       10      Gracia  Cedric  La Massana              AND     COMMENCAL, OAKLEY       04:30.50
8       131     Mitchell        Andrew  Victoria        BC      CAN     COVE,   04:30.60
9       41      Turpen  Evan    Aptos   CA      USA     KONA BIKES      04:31.80
10      22      Rando   Jared   Ainslie         AUS     GIANT BICYCLES  04:32.97
11      24      Voreis  Kirt    Bend    OR      USA     ALLRIDE -       04:33.81
12      13      Lehikoinen      Matti   Espoo           FIN     MS- INTENS      04:34.24
13      33      Smith   Steve   Cassidy BC      CAN     COVE    04:34.30
14      42      Vanderham       Thomas  North Vancouver BC      CAN     MARZOCCHI,SHIMANO,TROY LEE      04:34.50
15      27      Donoghue        Neil    Shrewsbury              UK      BIKE RADAR      04:35.74

Report by Claire Buchar. Photo: Distilledmag.com

(NEW YORK) – Brooklyn, NY has always been a place of radical change; in the past decade there have been a number of small businesses that have pledged their allegiance to begin in Brooklyn and thrive in Brooklyn. One of these companies is NYC Freeride, which, is amongst some of the premier mountain biking component companies claiming refuge in the heart of Brooklyn.

As a progressive company NYC Freeride has been open to exploring new ideas and ways to promote their brand as well as streamline their operations. One of these new ideas is a partnership with a radical new company Xpparel. The premise behind the partnership is the delegation of all NYC Freeride branded apparel to Xpparel. NYC Freeride gets to produce their products and Xpparel manages the apparel lines from start to finish; all the while leaving NYC Freeride to focus on what they do best; making components.

Founder and President of NYC Freeride Andrew Grossi commented on the importance of branded apparel saying, “It’s become clear in the extreme sports industry that apparel sales drive a brand. As much as we love seeing our components as a platform for our brand, there’s no doubt that branded apparel builds brand recognition”.

Xpparel founders Matt Wilson and Rob Ianelli are eager to develop the construction and enhancement of apparel lines for the extreme sports industry.  Wilson was quoted saying, “We are looking to build Xpparel.com into a one-stop shop to find clothing from your favorite niche action sports company”. Xpparel provides both a streamlined apparel solution for extreme sports gear manufacturers as well as provide a distinct website for niche extreme sports enthusiasts to purchase apparel they identify with and want to represent.

At the iXS European Downhill Cup’s third stop in Châtel, France, Nick Beer and Floriane Pugin rode to not entirely surprising victories. A total of 200 racers from no less than 14 countries participated at France’s race under virtually perfect conditions.

Situated within the Portes du Soleil region, Châtel’s bike park lived up to its reputation as a mountain biking paradise, offering both a perfect organization and infrastructure. The ŤBike Patrolť course had been discussed heavily before the race, and although the opinions varied all riders agreed on the fact that this was one of the hardest courses on the iXS calendar. Friday’s training sessions showed that even in this terrain everyone could have some fun thanks to the course’s excellent preparation.

For Saturday’s seeding run, the conditions were almost perfect. The course that had been wet in the morning was drying quickly in most places, which promised times around three minutes. Once again Andreas Sieber (GER – Solid A-Class Factory Team) proved his class, being the sole rider to slip under the three minutes barrier. Nick Beer crashed and decided to roll to the finish. His brother Marcel (both from Switzerland and competing for the iXS Sports Division team) on the other hand placed second, closely followed by Samuel Zbinden (CH – Argentina Bike). Being considered as a pre-race favorite by many, Nathan Rankin (NZL – Iron Horse) did not take full risk and finished in eighth.

On Sunday, the weather was splendid and the sun was shining, so everything was set for a thrilling race. Due to his crash in the seeding run, Nick Beer was one of the first elite men’s riders on the course. Nevertheless he posted a blazingly fast time with 2min53, thus occupying the Red Bull Hot Seat for a very long time. It was not until Nathan Rankin missed the fastest time by two seconds that Beer’s ride showed its true quality. All the riders that followed could not touch the fastest time either, and even Sieber who had posted the fastest seeding run had to admit defeat, finishing in third behind Rankin.      

The women’s race was won superiorly by Floriane Pugin (FRA – Playbiker/Ironhorse) who put more than seven seconds on Miriam Ruchti (SUI – Sport Promotion), who still felt the effects of surgery on a wisdom tooth, and Caroline Sax (FRA – Sport Promotion). Joseph Smith (GBR – Tomac Factory Racing) was the fastest junior in Châtel, pushing Yannick Colomb (FRA – Lizon Mountain Cycle) and Malin Wind Disse (ECU – Akira) to second and third respectively.

After three of the five races have been ridden, Marcel Beer is leading the men’s overall by a margin of twenty points on his brother Nick, who has only competed in two races thus far due to his participation at the world cup races in Canada. In the women’s overall standing, Miriam Ruchti has kept her lead, followed by Caroline Sax and Harriet Rücknagel.

The serie’s next race is scheduled for 23^rd/24^th August 2008 in Ilmenau, Germany, which has been the venue of Germany’s national championships in 2007.