Hill Takes Back His Jersey, Rachel Extends Her Lead in Bromont

Another muddy weekend of racing in Canada is on the books, with e.thirteen athletes now holding onto both leaders' jerseys for the elite downhill overall points chase. Sam Hill has been looking for another win since his dominating victory in Slovenia at the World Cup opener. Sam has been having a strong season, but after handing the leader's jersey to Minnaar last week in Mt. Ste. Anne, it was obvious that the Australian pinner was going to be putting it all on the line to snatch it back. Unfortunately for Sam, he came down with a bad case of the flu during the week between events, and was feeling ill all week in Bromont. Hill overcame the flu and yet another muddy course to shut down his rivals in both qualifying and the finals. Not even a case of the flu was able to stop Sam's desire for the leader's jersey! Gee Atherton landed in fourth place at Bromont, leaving him still in contention for the overall title. Marc Beaumont took fifth place, and for the second weekend in a row, an American racer was in the top 10! Yeti's Aaron Gwin took tenth last weekend in Mt. Ste. Anne, and this week it was Maxxis rider Luke Strobel (fresh off of a broken wrist) who took tenth. Rachel Atherton continues to dominate the women's elite downhill, with the intensity and aggressive riding style that hasn't been seen since the days of Anne-Caroline Chausson. After a bad crash in qualifying, she was still in third, and Rachel was able to put it all together for the final to beat out Sabrina Jonnier for the win. Jonnier is only 83 points short of Rachel's lead in the overall, so with two races to go this season, it could still go to either woman in Schladming. Four cross was once again dominated by MS-Intense's Anneke Beerten, who holds over twice as many overall points as her nearest competitor, Yeti's Anita Molcik. Interestingly enough, this week's top three female 4X finishers are also in the same order as the overall standings. Anneke in first, Anita in second, and MS-Intense's Mio Suemasa in third. Cedric Gracia made the big final in Bromont after getting stuck in the small final in nearly every other World Cup race. His riding has been some of the most incredible and crowd-pleasing of the year, with absolutely insane passing techniques (the triple jump in Andorra, for example). His second place finish in Bromont was enough to bump him ahead of Dan Atherton for third place overall. Another notable finish in men's 4X was e.thirteen's very own Heikki Hall, who took twenty-first at Bromont. In the freeride world, Cameron McCaul has been having some great successes on his direct mount bashguard–equipped Trek bikes. He took the win at the e.thirteen-sponsored "Claymore Challenge" at Highland Mountain Bike Park last weekend, followed by a third place finish at Crankworx Colorado this past weekend. Brandon Semeuck, another Trek rider using e.thirteen chain retention systems, was the winner at Crankworx Colorado, marking his first big win as a professional freerider. The e.thirteen support truck heads home after three successful race weekends. e.thirteen is the only chain retention company to have a booth at all three events. Although the e.thirteen pit is not the biggest on the circuit, good vibes mean that it always seems to become a gathering place for pro and amateur riders. We would like to thank the racers and fans who stopped by the tech truck to see the prototypes of the Staccato pedals, check out the latest e.thirteen technology, and throw out thousands of high-fives to their favorite e.thirteen riders. e.thirteen is proud to support the world's best racers through the World Cup series, putting our products to the test on the most grueling downhill and 4X tracks that the world has to offer. e.thirteen components is a small, rider-owned and operated company that strongly supports dozens of grassroots races, series, contests and other riding events all over the world every year. Founded in 2001, e.thirteen's innovative, functional, simple and lightweight chain retention systems have made them a world leader in this category, and the choice of top pro and amateur riders and mechanics alike. They support a worldwide distribution network and take great pride in offering devoted customer service. www.e13components.com