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Photos by: @freeridenewzealand
The off-season training put in by the Fox MTB team paid off big at the kickoff to the 2019 season - Crankworx Rotorua. Threatening skies held off most of the week and the dirt was prime for racing and ripping all week long. With 2 wins and 10 podiums across the 7 different disciplines the Fox athletes made Rotorua feel like a second home for Fox fans in attendance!
For the second year in a row, Brett Rheeder started his season off with a bang. Adding multiple new tricks to his program, he rode a nearly flawless run to capture the top step of the podium in the annual Maxxis Slopestyle in Memory of McGazza.
Anthony Messere was riding on the limit all week and put together a great run to place 6th in the Maxxis Slopestyle in Memory of McGazza. His top six finish means he's punched his ticket into the next round at Crankworx Innsbruck!
Finn Iles put in a blistering run in the warmest conditions of the week in the men’s Crankworx Rotorua Downhill. He rode clean and in control and his performance left him just 0.09 seconds off the top step of the podium. It was a great performance, but being so close left him a little frustrated - something he will use as motivation for next month's Maribor!
It was a disappointing start to the year for current UCI DH World Champ Loic Bruni as a flat in the top section of the course derailed his chances in Friday's Crankworx DH race. He looked good in training and was ready to compete in his first test of the 2019 season. Always a fan favorite, Loic lightened a bad moment as he asked a spectator for his pump and tried to bring the tire back to life. "I just wanted to finish," said Loic moments after the race. This has motivated him even more for the first UCI DH race in Maribor.
Tahnée Seagrave battled through multiple injuries throughout the week to put together a great set of results. She rode multiple disciplines and ended up with three third-place finishes - Dual Slalom, Downhill, and Pump Track. Truly an all-around talent, Tahnée is also a crowd favorite who made the Rotorua fans feel special all week long!
Speaking of fan favorites, local boy Keegan Wright was the hardest working athlete in Rotorua. Competing in nearly every pro men’s division race, he finished the event with a silver medal in both Pump Track and EWS as well as taking the top step in the Crankworx Dual Slalom. His amazing overall performance finds him in second place overall for the King of Crankworx points!
Bas van Steenbergen was another all-around performer in Rotorua. He finished second behind teammate Keegan Wright in the Dual Slalom and was the only Fox athlete to podium in the Rotorua Air DH. These points have him in the running for the overall King of Crankworx title.
Look for Fox MTB athletes at the start of the UCI DH World Cup season in the historic Maribor, Slovenia and then at the second stop of the Crankworx series in Innsbruck, Austria.
Shop MTB New Arrivals
Durability, Versatility or Mobility? For Kirt, riding in the high desert of California, with varying temps, sharp rocks, cacti, and the occasional zombie apocalypse, led him to select this kit. Like Kirt, you can mix and match our purpose-built collections to form a kit perfectly suited for your ride.
“Conditions can change quickly in the desert. Having gear that has complete protection from the terrain but can keep your temperature controlled is a must!"
Kirt Voreis – MTB Legend
Every rider is different, and no two rides are the same. So, to meet your individual needs, we created three purpose-built lines of gear – each providing you with a unique set of benefits. Whether you need gear with a focus on durability, versatility or mobility, we’ve got you covered. Use our all-new kit builder tool to create a kit tailor-made for your next ride. Use our all-new kit builder tool to create a kit tailor-made for your next ride.
TOUGHER THAN DIRT
Rugged conditions, abrasive trail overgrowth, the occasional fall: These are certainties on the mountain. The Defend Mountain Bike Collection stands up to this trail-related wear and tear – ride after ride. Using super tough Kevlar fabric and reinforced taped seams, this range of MTB jerseys, shorts, and gloves will be the most durable in your arsenal.
PERFORMS EVERYWHERE
The look and feel of your favorite t-shirt packed with technical features and cut for comfort in a mountain bike riding position. Introducing the all-new Ranger Mountain Bike Collection. With natural-feeling fabrics concealing technical features, this range of jerseys and shorts allows you to hit the trails on your lunch break and get away with it.
MAXIMUM MOBILITY
Flexair is our lightest and most breathable MTB gear. It’s so light, airy and flexible, in fact, you might forget you're wearing it. On your hottest rides, the Flexair Mountain Bike Collection of shorts, jerseys and gloves will keep you comfortable with ventilation, advanced moisture wicking, and limitless mobility.
MADE FOR REVOLUTION
The introduction of the Proframe helmet was a radical new direction for the mountain bike helmet industry. Taking everything we learned from that endeavor, the Spring 2019 MTB Helmet Collection builds on the rebellion with a new version of game-changing innovation for riders in every discipline.
WELCOME TO THE ARMORY
Aiming for endless improvement, our design team gave our collection of mountain bike guards a serious update. Our best-sellers have been modernized with CE certifications, we've launched our revolutionary Fox F3 Armor, and a host of brand-new styles are here to fill any gaps. This collection of guards is our most comprehensive ever, featuring everything from hard-plated guards and pedal-friendly slip-on styles to armored shorts and base layers.
GET A GRIP
As the most important connection between rider and bike, gloves have been a focus for us since day one. For 2019, we’ve raised the performance level yet again with all-new gloves and completely re-engineered versions of some of our best-performing styles. Partnerships with iconic manufacturers Kevlar®, D3O™, and Clarino®, combined with a forward-looking design philosophy have resulted in an MTB glove collection which is truly made for your ride.
MADE FOR WOMEN
For women, by women. At Fox, we're lucky enough to work with some of the most talented athletes in the world. Our all-new Women’s Collection is here thanks to intensive research and development in partnership with our women’s racing team. This range features women’s Defend, Ranger and Flexair Collections with a female-first design and specific fit.
ALL-NEW HYDRATION PACKS
Fox hydration bags are designed to take you from your house to the top of the trail and back again. Every ride is different, so we offer packs in three key sizes - equipping you for everything from all-day epics to quick local loops. Select your perfect pack based on your individual hydration and storage needs.
When we set out to develop class defining products, our intention is not awards, metals or other accolades. However, it still feels good to be recognized for our efforts. We are honored that our Flux MIPS received a 2019 Design & Innovation Award for offroad equipment – an achievement reserved for the bike industry’s highest-performing products. Not only does this award validate our efforts but it motivates us to continue to provide you with the best gear possible. That's our promise to you.
“With the adjustable visor and the easy Fidlock magnetic buckle, the Flux [MIPS] is extremely convenient in everyday use. The intuitive adjustment system also ensures an optimal fit for almost all head shapes. Fox Racing has given its previous bestseller a fundamental update. With success: the new Flux is a stylish and modern helmet with all-round convenience.”
ABOUT THE AWARD
The Design & Innovation Award is both a seal of approval and the benchmark achievement for the bike industry’s highest-performing products. The Design & Innovation Award is more than just a title-giver or a round of applause for brands. It’s the definitive award that decisively tests products in the real world, assessing them in their entirety and reaching considered verdicts. This year once again saw select international journalists, professional test riders, and industry experts invest more than 6,000 hours of their time to partake in the DI.A process.
Domination. Fox riders Brett Rheeder, Andreu Lacondeguy and Ethan Nell sweep the podium at the world’s toughest mountain bike event!
BRETT RHEEDER - 1ST PLACE
In his sixth trip to Red Bull Rampage, Brett Rheeder showed the perfect combination of speed, amplitude, and his patented style to take the top step of the podium and his first Rampage win. His huge styled out flat 360 was done on a line only he attempted and helped to separate him from the competition with a final score of 89.66. He only needed that first run score and his second became a victory lap after waiting out the runs of his competitors. Brett adds this victory to a stunning list of achievements in the sport of Freestyle Mountain Biking. Congrats Brett!
Watch Brett Rheeder Winning Run
ANDREU LACONDEGUY - 2ND PLACE
Always a fan favorite, 2014 Redbull Rampage winner and Mountain Bike legend Andreu Lacondeguy showed passion and precision as he pulled out all the stops and pushed his Fox teammate Brett Rheeder to the limits with his final run. Adding his iconic style to giant airs during his second run he was on a burner until a late crash cemented his second place position with his incredible first run score of 87.33 - only 2 points behind Rheeder. Another Rampage podium adds to his already astonishing competition history, and you can bet he'll be back with his eyes on the top step for 2019!
Watch Andreu Lacondeguy Second Place Run
ETHAN NELL - 3RD PLACE
At only 21 years of age, Ethan Nell has already positioned himself as one of the most exciting new stars in the world of Freestyle Mountain Biking with his second podium at Rampage. Only 2 years ago, Ethan was digging for competitors like Andreu Lacondeguy. He got his first shot at the event in 2017 and made the most of it with a 3rd place finish. He had to up his game dramatically this year to maintain that podium position. His aggressive riding style and in-depth knowledge of the terrain in Virgin, Utah set his first run apart and came in at 86.33 - good enough to best everyone except his two Fox teammates. Big things are on the horizon for Ethan, and we expect him to keep climbing that podium in 2019 and beyond!
Watch Ethan Nell's Third Place Run
Brett, Andreu, and Ethan are part of the Fox MTB Global Freestyle team and compete in our podium proven products including the Rampage Pro Carbon helmet and Flexair jersey's, pants and gloves.
Defending UCI World Champion, Loic Bruni, put on a magnificent performance to claim his 3rd UCI MTB DH World Champs title in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. In the closest of contests, Bruni edged out his nearest competitor by 0.2 seconds to take his 2nd consecutive World Champs title.
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The fourth and final stop of the Crankworx World Tour made its return to the epicenter of mountain bike culture, Whistler Mountain Bike Park. Being the largest lift-accessed mountain bike park in the world boasting over 1,500 meters of lift-serviced terrain, the two-wheel culture and lifestyle is like no other.
This year, the Crankworx festival celebrated its 15th year of two-wheel epicness, and the stage was set to draw in the world’s best mountain riders competing for the top honors in their respected disciplines. Throughout the week, riders competed in a variety of events such as Downhill, Enduro, Slalom, Pump Track, Whip-off, and Slopestyle.
The Fox MTB global team was in action all week delivering outstanding performances with multiple podium finishers earning medals. Among the solid results, the notable highlights of the week were the all Canadian podium sweep during the Fox Air DH race and Brett Rheeder's Crankworx FMB World Slopestyle Championship title win.
The Fox MTB global team was in action all week delivering outstanding performances with multiple podium finishers earning medals. Among the solid results, the notable highlights of the week were the all Canadian podium sweep during the Fox Air DH race and Brett Rheeder's Crankworx FMB World Slopestyle Championship title win.
Fox Air DH
- Gold – Finn Iles (CAN)
- Silver – Magnus Manson (CAN)
- Bronze – Bas Van Steenbergen (CAN)
Garbonzo Downhill
- Claire Buchar (CAN)
Slopestyle World Championship
- 1st Place – Brett Rheeder (CAN)
Canadian Open Downhill
- Silver – Connor Fearon (AUS)
- Bronze – Magnus Manson (CAN)
Throughout the week of Crankworx, the Fox brand was also activating on site and engaging with consumers, fans and fellow bike bros to create and share the memorable ride. Events included Custom hat pressing to raise funds for the Stevie Smith legacy foundation, an Ultimate MTB Prize pack that included head-to-toe gear and a GT bicycle, athlete autograph sessions allowing fans to meet & greet with their favorite Fox rider and of course, the infamous Chill N’ Grill hosted for our bike bros.
For live MTB coverage, follow Fox Racing on Instagram at @foxmtb
Ride Mountain Bike Day is coming! On July 20th, we will join mountain bikers around the world by blowing off all other obligations and simply riding our mountain bikes. We encourage riders everywhere - in all regions and skill levels - to join in on the fun.
The first annual International Ride Mountain Bike Day will take place July 20th and continue annually thereafter. Otherwise known as Ride MTB Day, this yearly movement is composed of community-based events that will take place around the globe with mountain bike brands, media, professionals, retailers, parks and local riders everywhere - each showing their love and support for the sport of mountain biking by holding group rides, fundraisers, races and demos.
“The sport of Mountain Biking has an incredible culture and Ride MTB Day is a great way to celebrate it. Ride MTB Day is not a Fox-owned event, but our goal is to have the concept adopted by the entire industry and raise mountain bike awareness and participation. We look forward to more and more brands and retailers supporting Ride MTB Day year after year.” - Dave Ahumada, Global Marketing Manager, Fox MTB.
On this day, each year, mountain bikers will gather together at local trails, bike parks, and bike shops and even enjoy solitary rides, helping to bring riders all over the world together.
For more information and to find an event near you, visit www.ridemtbday.com
Follow International Ride MTB Day on Instagram: @RideMTBDay
World Cup DH#4, Val di Sole: This is a beast of the track. It's among the hardest and most technical courses on the DH MTB World Cup. Add heavy rainfall in the into the mix and then you have a course that's even more unpredictable than usual.
Tahnee Seagrave took the win in the women's downhill World Cup! She won by a hair at a tenth of a second to claim her second win of the year and re-ignite her title challenge. She had this to say following her win, “It’s been the best win so far because it was so tight and you have to work really hard for it, and that’s exactly what I had to do.”
Laurie Greenland is on fire! Back to back podiums for the Brit. He put in a fast and direct run where he took all the risks, nearly going over the bars at the start. He finished second.
You don’t have to wait long for the next DH World Cup Race. We’re back racing this weekend, July 14-15 in Vallnord, Andorra.
World Cup DH#2, Fort William: This race never disappoints! Fort William - Round two of the UCI Downhill World Cup series. This place always delivers an amazing show and we had plenty of great action for this edition! Our riders absolutely killed it, Tahnee Seagrave won, Loris Vergier and Loïc Bruni finished 2nd and 5th! Check out all the Fox Head riders' reactions here:
Tahnee, 1st Women
This is her first victory of the year and the first time she has won at Fort William! She has been dreaming of it for ages and has proved she is fit and she'll fight for more wins this year. She is now 3rd in the overall: “This feels different to my other wins - it's at home, the crowd is gnarly, and it's a hard track to win on as well - I think I've ticked off the hardest one so I'm very happy with that! And now, on to Leogang. I think the girls are going to be pushing so hard this year so anyone could win it. It's faster and the times are always so tight so I'm excited! I've had a real bad week so for me to come out and that happen, I wasn't expecting it. It's amazing!”
Loris Vergier, 2nd Elite Men
He was so so close to 1st place, only 0.270 seconds back but still super happy! He is definitely one of the strongest riders this year and now stands 2nd place overall, only 4 points behind the leader: “I was a little bit disappointed and it really sucked what happened to Luca (his team mate), but I suppose that is racing. Other than that, it was a cool race. The fast guys were going all out and the guys who really deserved it, like Mo-mo (Amaury Pierron) stole the show and he took the win. I was almost going to cry, it was crazy! And Loïc (Bruni) was there at the podium like 'Hi guys, I'm back!' And I had a look at the general classification and it is scary! I'm 4 points behind Aaron Gwin, in 2nd place! It is all so crazy and I am really happy!”.
Loïc Bruni, 5th Elite Men
He got injured at the first round in Croatia with a dislocated elbow and has worked really hard to get back for this race. He was careful with his elbow all week, with lots of time on the massage table so he could give his best on race day. A 5th place, only 2.587 seconds behind the winner is an incredible comeback! He said: “There were so many times when I wasn't sure I would be able to ride this weekend. Even just last week, I was stiff with a painful arm and had had no riding time so I had no idea how it was going to be. I wasn't riding to win, I wasn't riding to come 5th, I was just riding to get down in one piece. So I was really happy with my result and above all absolutely over the moon for Amaury!”
Fearon Connor, 13th Elite Men
He came 7th in Qualis and put in a solid run for Finals. He came 13th but only +3.922 back from the winner: “Yeah, I was happy with my run, just a bit further back than I wanted to be. The times are so close - I was under 4 seconds off 1st place so it just goes to show how tight everyone was - that was all the way back in 13th. I was happy with the run, just it would have been good to be one or two seconds quicker here. As for next week, I've always done well at Leogang - I got the 2nd there in 2015 and I haven't been out of the top ten for the past 3 or 4 years or something, so yeah, I'm looking forward to Leogang. It's early next week so not long to wait, everyone's driving over and I think the race will be exciting there as well”.
Laurie Greenland, 16th Elite Men
Not the result he was looking for but it is still very good and he has learnt a lot this weekend! He's now 10th overall which is great: “I was pretty nervous actually, it's really weird. I normally pride myself on being quite head-strong for racing but I was actually a bit nervous. I rode it a bit tight out the gate, braked hard in the top few turns, something I didn't do through the whole of practice and then kicked myself a bit for that. I found the flow and got into it and then started pushing on a bit too much because I knew my top was not as good as I would have liked. So I pushed on a bit too hard and started getting a bit loose and made a few mistakes. It still kind of surprised me, on a day like today I can still come down in 16th but yeah, not happy. I learnt a lot today though so that's all that matters really. As for Leogang, I just like racing. Last year, I was in the mindset of liking one track and maybe not the other. But I like racing my bike, so while I obviously prefer some tracks more than others, I am pretty keen for whatever race comes and keen for whatever it throws at me!”.
Finn Iles, 19th Elite men
This is his first-year racing Elite and he is still learning. His results are impressive and we can't wait to see him riding the rest of the season: “I felt really good all weekend leading up to my race run, well, leading up to this morning. And then this morning I felt a bit stiff on my bike and I still felt pretty fast but when my race run came around, the only thought I had in my head was that I wanted to win. I think I took the wrong approach a bit to the race - because I felt so good on my bike yesterday, I needed to keep that same mindset of just riding and having fun. But today I took it a bit too seriously almost, and I think I was just too focused on trying to win instead of just trying to ride my bike. I ended up riding really stiff and making stupid mistakes and breaking in bad spots and I ended up 6 seconds back but I still pretty happy with that and it is my first top 20. For sure, my goal this year is to win a world cup - if you are racing, you are here to win - if anyone tells you different they are probably lying or just trying to be modest. That is the ultimate goal but I think I need to become a better rider first or just better at racing against the big guys like Loïc and Amaury and Loris. It takes time. I'm really excited!'
All the teams left Scotland yesterday and are heading down to Leogang (Austria). We're already super excited for this one!
Welcome to Olargues, a very pretty French village a bit lost between big mountains. The local organisation shaped and used their best and most difficult trails for Round 3 of the Enduro World Series. The rain didn't make it easier and all the riders had to ride through a lot of tough sections with safety and speed to have a chance to perform. The show didn't disappoint and our riders managed their effort on the best way possible!
DAMIEN OTON, 5th PLACE
“Taking into account the mistakes I made, I'm happy with my result! It's very motivating for the next rounds! These mistakes cost me my place on the podium but I think I was a bit too stressed and I couldn't concentrate properly! I was almost racing at home and I wanted to do too good! But like I said, I'm happy and I got some good points for the overall so it's a great weekend all in all!”
MARK SCOTT, 7TH PLACE
“I'm happy with my consistency but I got tired at the end, on the last stage I had two big crashes but I held on to my position. I was tight with Sam Hill and I just lost some time at the end but this didn't affect the result. I got 8th in Colombia and 7th here so yes, it's going in the right direction, I'm stoked!”
KEEGAN WRIGHT, 34th
“I felt good riding my bike on all the stages and had a very fun weekend but unfortunately on Stage 6 I got a front flat tyre about 20 seconds into the track and just rode and lost about two minutes on this stage! It's a shame but it's all part of racing and it's what we love! I go home for a month now and I'm gonna work on a few things and come back stronger!”
The next round will take all the enduro riders to Austria and Slovenia for a double country destination on the 30th June and 1st July! They're all
