Kovarik places 2nd at Sea Otter classic

Chris Kovarik maintained his great form of late by placing second just behind Greg Minnaar of the Santa Cruz Syndicate. Chris looked the fastest on the top section of the course over the big jumps keeping it fast and low. The crowds loved it as he pulled a huge power wheelie coming out of the first loose drifty corner. Chris said he conserved a bit of energy for the lower flat pedalling section but felt he could have gone for it as he was still fresh at the bottom. This was a great result for Chris and the team – Team ChainReactionCycles/Intense have definitely showed that we are going to be contenders at all events this season. Julien Camellini looked really fast and powerful at the top over the jumps but unfortunately had a problem with his clips over the weekend and came unclipped over a jump. He landed on his seat with both feet off the pedals, in the middle of a fast berm - he was lucky not to have a serious crash. This did however caused him to lose all his momentum and speed for the approaching flat section. Ruaridh and Matt struggled on the flat pedally course as did a lot of the younger guys as the Sea Otter downhill requires a lot more than just great bike skills - you have to have a lot of pedal power and fitness. On the whole the weekend was a great success for our first full team outing. I would like to thank all our sponsors for helping us get our bikes together at the event and Dave worked his ass off getting everyones bikes dialled for the race. Team ChainReactionCycles/Intense team would like to congratulate Greg Minnaar on his perfect weekend winning both the Slalom and Downhill. We start the World Cup series in a few weeks time at Maribour in Slovenia and we are looking forward to hopefully continuing our early season success. Sea Otter Classic Downhill results: 1. Greg Minnaar 2:11.21 2. Chris Kovarik 2:12.05 (Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense) 3. Justin Leov 2:12.10 4. Steve Peat 2:13.09 5. Nathan Rennie 2:13.48 For more information on the MSC / Descent-Gear NPS please checkout www.crcintense.com