CRC/Intense Windham WC Report

The team has done it.... we won the World Cup overall no.1 Team title at the UCI world cup finals in Windham, USA! It has been a hard season of ups and downs for individual riders on the team but everyone has performed really well throughout the season and as a team we have been really consistent which gave us enough points to take the top spot in the team rankings. We are all delighted, It was goal for the team this season to finish top 3 and to actually win the title is amazing. We hope it is good news for all our great sponsors that have supported us this year and over the last 3 years since the team started. The final round of the World Cup in Windham was amazing - on a shorter, less steep track that we have had in Europe but with some really technical sections and the high speeds made it a close race for the Finals. Claire had a big crash on the first day of practice and was not looking great to be able to race but she toughed it and and incredibly managed her sixth 7th place finish and 7th overall in the Womens series. With the other top 10 girls swapping places week in week out, Claire remained super consistent on all the different race tracks and proved she is definitely one of the top women racers in the world. Well done Claire from all of us on the team. The worst news of the weekend for us was Matti Lehikoinen who had been having a fantastic season laying in 8th place in the world cup standings. With the last few seasons of bad injuries and recovery time Matti just wanted to put a full season together injury free to build his confidence for the World Championships next week. However Matti being the fierce competitor that he is was pushing hard in practice and went down huge on the fastest part of the track when his front wheel just skipped over the top of a rut. Matti plowed his left shoulder right into the ground and the impact was just too big. It looks like Matti has snapped some ligaments in his shoulder and unfortunately was unable to race the finals and it is lucking unlikely he will be able to compete in next weeks World Championships in Canada. This is a huge blow for Matti and he is really devastated to get injured again so we wish him the best of luck and a quick recovery. Matti still ended up 13th overall in the mens world cup standings even after missing this last round. We would like to thank Matti for his awesome results this season and it has been great having him on the team this year! Ruaridh didn't get the result he was looking for. After his 10th place in Champery and a top 40 in Val Di Sole with a mechanical he was looking for a least a top 15 - 20 result this weekend. The nerves got to Ruaridh a little in the morning and then he just tried too hard in the finals and made some big mistakes on the track which you just couldn't do here and he was disappointed with his 47th place finish. Still not a bad result by any means but at the level Ruaridh is riding at he is capable of much better. He still finished the season ranked 36th in the World Cup which is fantastic. Hopefully he can take this into next week where he has earned a place on the super hard to qualify UK world championships team. We are all going to be behind you next week Ruaridh. Chris Kovarik was looking strong this weekend and was hoping for a good top ten finnish but some mistakes on the first half of the track in his final run cost him this. Chris put in a super fast 2nd half making it back to finnish 20th for the day but it was not what he was looking for or capable of. Chris is hoping to turn it around next week at the World Championships on a course where he has won 2 World Cups in the past. Chris 20th position here at the finals gave us some great points though to achieve our team overall win so thanks mate and good luck next week. Matt Simmonds has been a star this season and he didn't disappoint again here at the finals finishing a fantastic 17th position. At the start of the season Matt told me his goal was top 20 overall and he has worked so hard to achieve this. Matt didn't just finnish in the top 20 he made it into the top 15 overall in 15th place which is amazing in the super close and competitive mens class. Well done Matt you totally deserve your overall result we are all really proud of you. Julien Camellini has not had the season he was hoping for by his standards. He finished a solid 16th place for the finals and along with his 7th place finnish at the Fort William round of the world cup he definitely has the speed. But with some big crashes at the races this season and last year out with injury, Julien is still getting back up to his full potential he showed in 2008 when he was 2nd in Maribor and finished top 10 overall! Julien is racing for France next week at the World Championships and we wish him the best of luck. So on the whole it has been an amazing season, thanks to all our great riders - Claire Buchar, Julien Camellini, Ruaridh Cunningham, Chris Kovarik, Matti Lehikoinen and Matt Simmonds for winning the No.1 team prize and your individual results. Thanks also goes to our mechanics Dave, Paul and Carl for keeping the bikes in top working order and a huge thank you to all our sponsors for the great products and support. I hope us winning the Team title has made it worth while for you all. Also thanks to our videographers and photographers at MTBCUT.tv for our great podcasts and images. UCI World Cup Team Standings 1. CHAIN REACTION CYCLES/INTENSE 432 points 2. SCOTT 11 411 3. SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE 356 4. COMMENCAL 352 5. TREK WORLD RACING 314 6. MAXXIS - ROCKY MOUNTAIN 293 7. MS EVIL RACING 249 8. SUSPENSION CENTRE 196 9. COMMENCAL SUPERRIDERS 190 10. GT BICYCLES 181 UCI WOMENS Individual Standings 1. Sabrina JONNIER 1130 points 2. Emmeline RAGOT 1045 3. Tracey MOSELEY 909 4. Floriane PUGIN 906 5. Myriam NICOLE 810 6. Rachel ATHERTON 685 7. Claire BUCHAR 556 8. Mio SUEMASA 536 9. Céline GROS 469 10. Petra BERNHARD 411 UCI MENS Individual Standings 1. Gee ATHERTON 1229 points 2. Greg MINNAAR 1185 3. Sam BLENKINSOP 864 4. Aaron GWIN 757 5. Marc BEAUMONT 633 6. Brendan FAIRCLOUGH 606 7. Steve PEAT 491 8. Danny HART 482 9. Fabien PEDEMANAUD 480 10. Steve SMITH 478 13. Matti LEHIKOINEN 415 15. Matt SIMMONDS 379 27. Julien CAMELLINI 303 28. Chris KOVARIK 301 36. Ruaridh CUNNINGHAM 245 On behalf of the whole team we would like to congratulate Gee Atherton on taking the mens overall and Greg Minnaar on 2nd place. These 2 riders have swapped 1st and 2nd places at nearly every world cup this season and have made it super exciting for everyone. The finals were unbelievable, with only 3 points between them they both kept their heads and raced into 1st and 2nd place with only 0.37 seconds between them - Amazing guys..... Good luck at the World Championships next week. Nigel Page Team Manager - ChainReactionCycles/Intense Please keep up to date on the team at www.crcintense.com