TEAM NORCO INTL. - 2014 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS- HAFJELL, NORWAY. After an exciting conclusion to the World Cup season, World Championships were scheduled two weeks later in Hafjell, Norway. Hafjell had previously hosted World Cup events in both 2012 and 2013 with great success, so 2014 would lure the best riders in the world to the venue once again for the coveted Rainbow stripes and honor of being World Champion. With nearly perfect conditions for race day, the dry, hard packed, rocky terrain made for some incredible speeds and action packed racing down to the very last rider. Norcos own Bryn Atkinson set the fastest speed of the weekend at 82.5 km/h , which might be the fastest speed trap of any venue. A mix of bike park terrain, good jump sections, technical rock gardens, high speeds, a couple steep spots, and a bit of line variety, riders enjoyed the challenges and flow of Hafjells trails. Team Riders Jill kintner, Bryn Atkinson, and Isak Leivsson were in attendance representing their respective countries of USA, Australia, and Norway. Lorenzo Suding of Italy couldnt make it due to injury, but followed along on Redbull Tv supporting both his team and country. Bryn Atkinson was riding incredibly strong, clocking some impressive speeds, keeping it loose, and had solid results with an 11th in timed training and 18th in the final, posting his best results of the season. His riding was on point and got a lot of attention from peers and media alike. Isak Leivsson was back to racing after a 6 week hiatus after a collarbone break, but he would not be denied racing in his home country for the biggest race of the year. He paced himself in practice, threw in some style over the big jumps for the fans, and also managed to put together a good run on finals which put him in 37th position. Jill kintner rode strong all weekend, improving on time and adapting to lines. She set a top 5 result in timed runs with a crash, and in the finals had a fantastic run, improving by 7+ seconds and scored another 5th in the finals to finish the season really strong for the team. JILL KINTNER - 5th “One day pressure cooker races are my favorite, so I was happy to put together a pretty dialled run when it counted. With the full support from USA cycling, Fox Shox technicians, Reg our mechanic, Bryn, etc, I was relaxed and knew the moment I woke up on sunday that I was fresh, and ready for a good one. The course here was so much fun, it had a nice flow, high speeds, was dry, and also challenging at the same time. Top 5 is a really positive way to end the season, so thank you to everyone who made it possible. BRYN ATKINSON - 18th “I love world champs, its a special event and for sure the race of the year for me. I am really proud of the way my run came together; I left nothing on the table, threw it in, and rode with the intensity I was searching for all year. Speed trap world champ too, with the Norco galloping at 82.54km/h. I want to extend a huge thanks to our mechanics and riders for the year, also our awesome group of sponsors. We have a great bike and Im looking forward to what the future brings for our team. ISAK LEIVSSON - 37th “Coming in to the Worlds in my home country, I was on the bubble with my collar bone injury right at 6 weeks. I did as much therapy as I could, and started riding as soon as possible. My collar bone ended up not being an issue, but I wasnt used to riding such a high pace and I struggled to get into it. By race day I had made huge improvements and was feeling good about my riding. The result wasnt quite what I had hoped for, but just racing in front of a massive home crowd was a definitive highlight! A gnarly race to watch made me happy I got out of there un-injured. Was nice to see some good results from the team capping off the season! Thanks guys!
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:33:25 +0000
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