RR13 News
Maribor, Slowenia
Another great World Cup weekend!
On a rough, tricky and during the finals extremely slippery track, i managed to put in some solid laps. My first straight felt better than ever. Didn't get it good in the final though and went into the first turn in second behind Graves. Both of us went for the inside line, leaving the door open for the other guys to rail the turn and pass us. Third place for me. The top 4 guys of the World Cup standing were in the main, making the ranking really tight and interesting! I'm still sitting in 3rd, only a couple of points behind Wichman and a small margin to Saladini in 4th. It's going to be interesting to see what happens next!
I'm staying in Slowenia for a week now doing some video and photo shoots until the European Champs next weekend.
www.freecaster.tv for the World Cup footage!
Fort William, Scotland
Unfortunately, no World Cup podium news that time... but at least another solid top 10 result. 6th place.
I had a night filled with little mistakes and problems. Sometimes, it just doesn't flow like usualy. I was confident after qualifying second (0.09 behind) the day before the race with a huge mistake on the last straight. I clipped out in the last turn and didn't do one pedal stroke to the line...
Come race time, I started off a little tight, but felt better from round to round. I met Prokop in the quarter final, and that's when the real trouble started. my chain started jumping out of the gate and the whole way down. i still qualified for the semi with an open chain link... lucky! New chain on, and off to the hardest semi final so far in that season. Graves, Prokop, Mechura and me. I was ready, but right after the snap, chain starts to jump again... There was no way to beat out those guys without pedaling right, so i dropped out. It wasn't untli after the race that we realised, that I somehow bent a sprocket on my cassette which caused the chains to jump and nearly break.
Somewhat unlucky. Still, it could have been worse. I'm still sitting in 3rd overall, only 5 points behind Saladini. check freecaster.tv for the semi- and small final!
Andorra
4th world cup- 4th final!
I know that I got to be happy with doing all the world cup finals so far this year. But after finishing second in qualifying, winning all the rounds and leading the final until the second- last turn, I was hoping for a little more than 4th place that time... I really left the inside open too much, which allowed Joost Wichman to pull the move on me. It was a clean pass, so no hard feelings on that side. I'm a bit mad at myself right now. Graves was in the back at that point, so I threw away a good opportunity to gain some points on him in the overall.
I'm still sitting in second position right now. I'm going for it again in Fort William!
Gt Bicycles had a great day. Luke ended up second, and with me in 4th, we won the team- comp of the day. Not bad!
Go to freecaster.tv for all the action!
Copenhagen, Danmark
Third world cup- third final!
It was time to start into the BMX season after my great start into the MTB 4x season with a 4th and 3rd place. It's tough to switch bikes within a week, even harder if the wheelsize goes from big to small. I feel really strong and healthy right now, so wasn't really worried about that task this time. The track and venue in Copenhagen were great. Smooth, fast, big jumps and all around fluid. It's was just fun being there.
I did a couple of stupid mistakes in my qualifying run, but still made it into the main race easily. Come race day, i started with three 2nd places in my motos. I struggled a bit on the gate in my quarter but made it through the pack to another 2nd place there as well. Semifinal was probably my best lap of the day. Solid start and smooth lap- finally another main event appearance at a BMX World Cup, yeahh! I was pumped to say the least! Unfortunately, I just barely tapped the gate which put me out of balance and cause me to wheely down the starthill. I fought back until 5th/4th position into the second turn where i got shut down by one of the many fast Dutch guys. After that, I had nothing left in me to accelarate for the third straight... 8th place for the day.
Like all the 4x World Cups, the BMX Supercrosses get better and better and the the online coverage and live TV on Eurosprort 2 make those events plain amazing!
Check out the semis and the main on freecaster.tv and all the rounds on bmx-videos.com
Next up: 4x World Cup in Andorra next weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!
Houffalize, Belgium
I had a great weekend in Belgium. Already my 2nd place in qualifying, 0.02s behind Graves, was a solid start into the race.
The track had some extremely slick and open turns which made for a lot of interesting race action. Loud music, big crowd, spot lights, fire works- overall, simply an awesome event!
I had a couple of consistent runs and made it into the final without too much drama. 3rd place at the end for the day, and 2nd place in the overall World Cup standing- got to be happy with that!
check some nice pre-race/race coverage and videos on freecaster.tv and dirtmag.co.uk
Next up, BMX Supercross World Cup in Copenhagen next week. Better get on the little bike asap!
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
What a race. This was definitely an intense track to race on. Fast and slippery!
I ended up taking a 4th place today. That's a pretty good start into the season. I punctured my rear tire in the final while sitting in third position. A little dissapointed for sure, but I'll try again next time!
I keep that update short because I'm about to head to the hospital to visit the Swiss 4x rider Adi Weiss. He had a big crash during practice yesterday and has some serious spinal injuries. Nothing confirmed yet, so we're all still hoping for the best. Things like that just make results so irrelevant. Keep him in you thoughts!
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
I finished 5th in qualifying yesterday. Not a bad start to the season. I had to wait a long time up at the start, since I was the second last guy going down. It was getting a little dark already by that time, so I might have been riding a bit too conservative.
I’ll be against Cedric Gracia and last weeks winner Cousinie in the first round. Not an easy draw, but I feel great and ready for the battles!
Have fun watching the action on freecaster.tv!
Qualifying results:
Graves; Prokop; Fischbach; Wichman; Rinderknecht; Tatarkovic; Atherton; Saladini; Tschugg; Beaumont
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
First practice session yesterday was pretty rough. A lot of drifting, crashing and tire blow-ups! Well, i knew what to expect from last week and made it through the session without problems. The track is fun and feels easy while cruising down. But as soon as you go on the gas, it gets pretty tricky.
Qualifying is on tonight. Since my registration didn't go through, i'll come down as one of the last guys. I just hope that it won't start raining as predicted... Wish me good luck!
Check the SrSuntour website for some cool shots. Hoshi is doing a great job!
Don't forget to follow the action on freecaster.tv , starting saturday around 4pm. It's going to be exciting!
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
The South African National went pretty good for me. I was leading the final into the first turn when all of a sudden my tire jumped out of the rim.. autsch! Well, that race was all about trying stuff out for the World Cup next week. So now i know, MORE PRESSURE into the tires!!
Did some training and a little photoshoot with Hoshi yesterday on the downhill track... yes, you heard right, you can probably ride 90% of the DH on a hardtail, and fast as well!
We had a bunch of Monkeys chilling in the yard this morning. One of them was even eating out of my hand! Pretty cool!
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
I'm already in South Africa at the moment for the first 4x World Cup of the year. Man, the sun feels so good after a couple of miserable months in Switzerland.
We already had the first training session on the course, plus a qualifying run for todays National. I qualified first with a time of 1min13sec (??). That track is fun, but extremely long, it took me 45min to walk up and down once! The German an Dutch guys are here already as well. Eventhough everyone is taking it easy so far, it's going to be a good warm-up race tonight.
I'll keep you posted.
Here's some pics (by Hoshi Yoshida/SrSuntour) and a video to enjoy in the meantime. Winter session in a greenhouse.
Winterthur, Switzerland
We're having quite a hard winter this year. Luckily, there's a couple of different bmx tracks around, and it seems that there is always at least one that is ridable. I've had a couple of really good training weeks and start to feel fast again.
In case it gets to cold and miserable outside, i have my little indoor set-up on hand. The ProGate is really helping me through rough winter days!
St.Etienne, France
It was time for the legendary St. Etienne indoor race again. As every year, the athmosphere was great. The track was tight and bumpy as always, but a great change to the snow/rain/mud i'm used to right now in switzerland. I can still not get used to the super fast gate cadence though. Way faster than what we are used to from UCI races. I kept on losing half a bike out of the gate compared to some fast, hyperactive, super motivated french young guns. Need to practise my reaction time i guess. That was one of the reasons I dropped out early saturday night at the open race. well, it wasn't exacly early, as we finished the 1/8 finals at 11pm! But I made up for it Sunday with a 2nd place! Not an important race in the middle of winter training, but still feels good to be on the podium.
I tried to bring my 11months old son and my girlfreind to a race for the first time. We had a lot of fun, but the weekend somehow felt twice as exhausting as normaly. I was in bed at around midnight after the saturday night race. At 1.30am, the little party animal woke up and just didn't want to sleep again. We had a good time eating and playing in the hotel room the whole night, haha! Funny thing is, eventhough I was tired as hell, I just can't be mad at him. Just to have him around me makes me feel good. I was almost ready to drive home in the morning, that's how tired I was. Luckily I still tried to race. Maybe I would have been able to hold Godet off on the last straight for the win with some more sleep time... blablabla.
We're still recovering from the weekend, as my son got sick afterwards as well. Definitely an interesting experience. Lession learned: I'm not bringing my family to a World Cup race next year... at least not into the same hotel room...
Winterthur, Schweiz
First snowfall over the night made for a fun slippery cross country ride today. It was freezing! But hey, that's the time of the year, right? It's the time as well to finalize the plans for the new season. I'm proud to announce that i'm going to ride another year for GT Bicycles. Here's the official press release:
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GT Bicycles Announces 2009 Team Roster
Bethel, Conn. – October 29, 2008– GT Bicycles today announced the new 2009 GT mountain bike team. The team is gravity focused and consists of DH connoisseur Marc Beaumont from the United Kingdom and the young and promising DHer Kevin Aiello from southern California. Swiss rider Roger Rinderknecht and Aussie Luke Madill will be riding 4X and BMX and freerider Tyler McCaul round out the team.
...
Roger Rinderknecht has been on the World Cup circuit for a few years dominating both 4X and BMX courses. Roger won the silver medal in 4X at the 2008 World Championships and his recent and most prestigious accomplishment was competing in the 2008 Olympics!
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“We are certainly excited and proud to have such great athletes on our team moving forward,” said Sarah Ostermeier, Sports Marketing Manager for GT Bicycles. “We’ve got a great combination of talent for 2009 which certainly solidifies GT Bicycles commitment to our brand and to the sport.”
The team’s schedule for 2009 includes; hitting all of the World Cup races, some select American races, Crankworx, UCI SX Racers and a few others in between. Keep an eye out for the new GT Bicycles team and check for updates on www.gtbicycles.com.
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I'm pretty much set with all my other partners, but going to wait until everything is signed and sealed. There are still some 'open spaces' in my program. So, if anyone is interested in working with me on the following, feel free to contact me at roger@bmx.ch
- shoes (race and leisure)
- race pants and leisure clothing
- out of industry sponsor (prints on jearsey, maybe branding on helmet possible)
- brakes, cranks, derailleurs, shifter, seat
- car (very important! mine is just about to die..)
To finish up the long update, here some recent activity shots:
Those things have scary power! So much fun! (photo credit: mike.gisel@bluewin.ch)
Spending time with family... while helping Tom rebuild the BMX track in Winterthur (photo credit: mama)
Enjoying the last 'warm' days on the BMX track in Volketswil. (pic: mike.gisel@bluewin.ch)
Frejus, France
Race Day. Felt good today, considering that I wasn't really in the biggest race mode ever. It was warm out there and the crowd was big, which made for a fun event. I got through the 1/8 finals without too much drama. I hit the gate in the quarter final and had to wait until the last turn to pass two guys for the 3rd qualifying spot. The wind was a bit of a factor, and outside lane in the semi final didn't really help neither. I just couldn't get it rolling in that one and unfortunately dropped out. Still, a good performance to finish up the 2008 season. Another 13th place after the Olympics for number 13... Should I maybe change something? NEVER!
I know where i can still improve and I'm already looking forward to the next season! Training period is coming up, so not that much travelling anymore. I'm looking forward to it!
Pic from bmxmania.com, second straight Pro Section practice shot.
Frejus, France
BMX World Cup in sunny southern France. Roc d'Azur bike festival is always a great event. You can tell that the pressure is lower since it doesn't count for any Olympic qualifying points. But the riding level is definitely still high. I'm enjoying myself on a great, fluid track. I finished 6th today in the time trials, so i'm confident for tommorrows race. It should be on www.freecaster.tv, 1hour delayed, so broadcast should start at 2pm CET.
Here's the first page of todays result:
Winterthur, Switzerland
So much happend already since i got back from china 3 weeks ago. One thing is sure, my life never really gets boring. After a lot of hard moving/building/shopping days, we finally moved out of our two appartments in Aigle and Geneva and settled in to a bigger 'family-crib' in Winterthur. Back to the roots for both my girlfriend and me.
The Eurobike Show was around that time as well. Those three days of constant running back and forth and talking to a zillion of people weren't really relaxing neither. Still fun and quite productive as well.
Off to the last 4x World Cup round in Schladming after that. Eventhough I didn't do any real training since the Olympics, I felt alright and had fun riding the rather easy track. Qualified 3rd tied with Dan Atherton, only 8 hundreds behind 2nd and 9 hundreds behind 1st place. Crazy how close everyone was on that slope. It was definitely hard to make the difference. Drama started in the Semifinal. I had my only bad gate of the day and went into the first turn in third. I prepared myself to attack high-low when i saw that Saladini will not get around the flag on the inside of the first turn. He crossed the flag big time, sooo obvious! So I relaxed, cruised down for third spot. Since i knew he was going to be disqualified anyways, there was no need to risk any stupid move. Well, bad idea, the officials once again didn't see ANYTHING! First off, Saladini admitted to the offical at the finshline that he crossed the flag. Then, there was a huge tire mark on the flag matching Saladinis tire choice. And last but not least, I could show them a video, where you can clearly see him go over the flag. But nothing convinced the head marshall, so the race had to go on. Saladini won the big final, i managed to win the small on for a 5th place finish. I know that mistakes happen, and i'm not mad at Romain at all. But UCI, please, educate you officals to open their eyes for the big calls. First turn is the hottest spot on any track, so there needs to be someone whatching closely. No crossing the flag, no riding anyone over. This is World Cup level, no backyard joke race, our job, our life!
Enough said, off to the BMX track rebuild. We get some nice new Pro Section in Winterthur. It's going to be fun!
Beijing, China
It's all said and done. It's hard to accept that I didn't get the chance to compete in the biggest final BMX ever had. I invested a lot, gave everything I had, dreamed, hoped... and unfurtonately failed. I did a big mistake in my last semifinal. Sitting in second place, everything looked like it's going to come together. I just plain and simple didn't jump far enough on that first jump on the second straight to get through the section. Beleive me, that was by far the hardest moment of my entire career. It hurts, it hurts a lot to give away such a big chance, such big opportunity to give something back to everyone that helped me through all those years.
I'm not the kind of guy that keeps on whining forever. I have to move on. My career is not over yet, I'm still hungry for more and other challenges will come.
I think BMX was well presented, heard a lot of great feedback from all over the world. If we keep on working in that direction, it's only going to get better.
I'd like to thank everyone again for all their support. Thanks to my family, friends and sponsors. See you soon
By the way, I lost my cell phone somewhere in China. So, sorry for not answering your calls/messages for the next couple of days.
Beijing, China
Just a quick short update from me tonight. I qualified for tommorrows semi finals. Tension was high and I was ready to go. A crash in the first moto made the task quite interesting. I managed to win the 2nd run, and a 3rd place in the third quarter final was good enough to get through.
Thanks a lot for all your support! Your messages and well wishes push me forward. I'll give my best again tommorrow. Braaaap!
Beijing, China
The big day is coming closer! We will hit the track for the first training day tommorrow. I'm really looking forward to ride that beauty. It looks smooth and ready. I couldn't feel any better. All the plans worked out great and my body is on top of his game. I'm not too nervous yet, there is still a lot of time left until the race and i don't want to waste any energy by just being over- excited. Beleive me, it's going to be real easy to get psyched up on that race day!
Switzerland has won 5 medals so far, 2 gold and 3 bronze. Congrats to everyone! 3 of those medals are won in cycling, what a good sign for the things to come!
On another note, I was watching the velodrom team sprint yesterday. Great Britain won with ex-BMXer Jamie Staff as the lead man. Impressive pull! Those legs are huge!
That's my biggest motivation on the picture below. I get some picture of my son every day, keeping me in the family loop and on the floor. It's such a great feeling to know that there's someone at home waiting for and thinking about you. Well, he's probably more thinking about eating, crawling around, trying to climb over everything, falling.... and, as you can see on the picture- getting his daily push-ups done. Olympic Champ 2032, yeahhh!
Beijing, China
Here you go. A couple of impressions to keep you in the Olympic loop!
The ultimate race machine? For sure the technicaly highest advanced BMX ever. SRAM shifter on custom dropout; custom carbon chainguide; fully pimped DtSwiss wheelset; lightest/fastest ONZA foldable kevlar tires; nice custom paintjob with a special aerodynamic surface (..not!); Easton seatpost and so on....
IXS helmet, perfectly matching the GT frame design. Nice!
Training day in Taiyuan. Coach Urs Kropf worked his ass of for 5hours to get the track in shape. Everyone is giving 100%, thanks Urs!
Feeling great, more to come!
Beijing, China
We arrived in Beijing 3 days ago. The Olympic Village is pretty impressiv. Thousands of athletes everywhere. I didn't really have a lot of time to settle in. We're already in Taiyuan now to train 6 days on this years Worlds track. I felt confortable in the Village, but beeing a little bit on the outside of everything for the last preparation days are going to do me good. I feel like I adapted to the time and heat pretty good already, really looking forward to ride my BMX again tommorrow. We went to check the BMX venue out in Beijing as well. I knew it from last year aready, but still, that track just looks amazing. Can't wait to get it on!
Aigle, Switzerland
You might have heard already, I finally got the confirmation to represent Switzerland at the Olympic Games! It took a while, and it wasn't always easy to train and stay focussed without the final decision. Nevertheless, everything went perfect and I feel great and ready for the big showdown.
Lots of things still have to get finalised. The Olympics have a lot of own rules and regulations. I'm going to show you my special race gear in the next couple of days. The bikes look amazing and with the matching helmet design and clothing, it is going to be great. Stay tuned!
I want to say a big THANK YOU to all the nice messages/mails/phonecalls after the nomination! It means a lot to me.
Amsterdam, Holland
There was no time to relax after the 4x world championships. I spent two days in Livigno at the GT press camp. Lots of riding and shooting in a short period of time. Awesome tracks and scenery! I could even get a good intervall session in up there. Pushing your body to the limit in high alltitude is hurting bad!
Well, that's excactly what it's all about right now. I am in the middle of some hard training weeks. To get the last out of me and stay a bit in a race rhythm, i was participating in the european summer race series event in Haaksbergen/Holland this weekend. Pretty fun race with a lot of motivated dutch guys and some other european hot shots. The track had a lot of pedaling and some good flow. Since my legs were hurting worse than ever before after last weeks training, i tried to save some energy during the day. Got 1-2-2 in my quarters and a 3rd in my first semi. Well, unfortunately, we had a second semi as well. I really started to feel a little dizzy and the dark conditions at 9.30pm didn't help neither. I couldn't stay focussed anymore and got a really bad lap for a sixth place finish. No good result, but for sure another perfect day of training for the big goal!
Val di Sole, Italy
What a great feeling! First race back on the 4x scene, and straight to the Worlds podium. I'm stoked on the silver medal, so glad that i finaly put it together again when it counts. I qualified 4th on a fairly fun track and felt great from the beginning. Racing was pretty agressiv as usual. I had a good run to the final. with the top 4 qualifiers in the main i had to settle for the outside lane which was a huge dissadvatage. Well, had a good snap but couldn't get to the inside fast enough. Deldyke dove low under me and Graves. He tangled up with Graves, and for a milli-second, i thought i had it. My frontwheel just clipped Deldykes backwheel and on the floor we went. 10cm more back and maybe.. well, we know the 'what if.. - stories'. Alvarez went from 4 to 1 and cruised to the finish line. Eventhough it was 4x and not BMX, i hope it shows the Swiss Olympic selectors that i am up there with the top guys, and i can perform under pressure. Olympic selection is going to be decided on july 21. Off to the preparation now.
Aigle, Schweiz
Hier das offizielle Statement von heute. Ich muss auf die definitive Entscheidung bis am 21.Juli warten...
'Für die grösste Überraschung hat Jenny Fähndrich gesorgt. Sie hat an den BMX Weltmeisterschaften vor 2 Wochen den Einzug ins Halbfinale geschafft und somit die Olympia-Limite erreicht.
Taijuan, China
What a race! So much to win or lose within a couple of hours. So many happy, but also a couple of devastated faces after the race. The Olympic Qualifying process is finaly over. It's been a long and hectic time with lots of ups and downs for me, and a mixture of both after last weekend. I felt so good that day and put in some strong laps. When all was said and done, i managed to secure an Olympic spot for Switzerland. Eventhough I wasn't pleased with the outcome of the day, I was stoked to finaly have the confirmation of the possibility to chase my big dream at the Olympics in two month. Still, no Swiss rider fully fullfiled the Swiss Olympic criterias. They only want to send athlets with strong top 10 potentials, which is a good thing. With my resent performances, i really think i proved to be capable to do the main in Beijing. I missed the criteria by only inches and somethimes it was really not my fault. BMX is a tough sport, and luck a factor as well. I hope Swiss Olympic gives me the chance to prove myself. I still got some stong laps left in me for this year!
Jenny Fähndrich, young Swiss Elite Women had a great day in the office saturday as well and secured 1 of only 16 Olympic spots for her. Amazing! So cool.
Taijuan, China
Just a quick flashback first- I won my 7th Swiss Champion titel two week ago in Winterthur. Eventhough my mind was already set for the Worlds in China, i enjoyed the race and managed to put in some good laps to get some more confidence for the all important race this weekend.
We are just one day away from THE race of the year. It's all or nothing for Switzerland and about 11 other countries to get one of 6 remaining Olympic spots. The track is really nice and fast with a big starting hill. I feel great and ready for the battle tomorrow. One more practice session to go and dial in the different lines some more.
If you want to follow the drama live, check the tv webcast HERE. Start saturday around 6am CET (Switzerland), haha! To be save, we need to have at least one Swiss guy in the semi final. A quarter or even a 1/8final could theoreticaly be enough to get a spot, but i'd prefer to do it right, so we're going for it! The only Swiss girl, Jenny Fahndrich is in the similar position. I'll post the results and consequences right after the race.
Copenhagen, Danmark
The UCI Crew managed to get the track race- ready for saturday. Good job! It was a hard day, practice, timetrials and racing within a couple of hours. I was sitting in 8th position after the first timetrial lap and decided to skip the 2nd to save some energie for the day. I felt strong, but was still worried a bit to run out of juice after my ecuador adventure with those nice out-of-the-body experiences. So I ended up 11th and was confident for the race. Started the day with a win and two 2nd place finishes. In my quarter, well, i'm tired of saying it, i got 5th AGAIN! Good gate and first straight, I was sitting in 3rd position going into turn one only to get hit bad by USA guy Cisar. I'm not whining, but that one really was not correct. He was behind and there was no way he could have pulled that move off. He took me, Becerine and himself out with that stupid try. 17th spot for me again. Top 16 would have been so important for the Swiss olympic qualifying process. We still have the Worlds in China left in 3 weeks. I'm going to give it my best over there. I can still do it!
Check the video of my quarterfinal HERE . (lane 3 between Cisar and Prokop)
All the other Swiss guys went out in the motos.
I heard Spanish rider Alvarez won at the first 4x World Cup in Maribor. Good job! Lots of drama during the race i think with all the top guns out early. I'm looking forward to my first 4x race this year!
Copenhagen, Danmark
It took awhile until I recovered from our little trip to Ecuador. My stomach was bad for three more days and I lost quite some weight.
Luckily I feel much better now, and after a couple of good training days in Aigle, I feel ready for the next and last BMX Supercross before the Worlds in three weeks. Unfortunately, the track is everything else than ready for action. Noone to blame really, everyone tried their best. The dirt just doesn't want to dry out, and as soon as some spots get dry, the dirt turns into sand. I guess there will be soft bits all weekend. Practice and timetrials got cancelled or postponed already, since it was just too dangerous for the riders. I just hope we can pull this off tomorrow. The venue looks good and the track layout is awesome. We did a couple of first straights today, and I feel great. Lets just hope and keep the fingers crossed.
Cuenca,
The dinner with chicken after the first day of racing turned out to be a bad idea. As soon as i went to bed, my stomach started to turn. I spent most of the night on the toilet, throwing up every two hours. I didn't really feel that much better in the morning. With the energy of two bites of banana in my body and a night without sleep, i tried to give the race a go. But there was no way I could do anything today. I felt so dizzy after the second straight already, that it was just too dangerous to continue.
Pascal looked good today, but got stuck on the outside in his semi and crashed.
I just lost my update by not pushing the 'SAVE' button, nice! So that one is going to be short, since I'm about to fall asleep. The thin air (2500meters above sea level), jetlag and long track are giving me a hard time. The first race day went ok. I made it to the main. In the final, my frontwheel slipped on the gate right before it dropped and i clipped out. Needless to say, I was off the back. Finished that one as 5th. Not great, but some good points.
1st Suarez; 2nd Oquendo; 3rd Salazar; 4th Falla; 5th Rinderknecht; 6th Jimenez; 7th Escudero; 8th Seydoux
Adelaide, Australia One of the hardest tracks so far. A lot of crashes on the tricky third straight. I managed to dial it in until the race. With a 2-3-2 i qualified for the quarters. I don't know how, but a really managed to get another 5th in there! 17th place, one away from the points, again! Even though i rode a good race, the dissapointment is there. But no worries, i won't give up. Still two races to go to qualifiy! No better news from the other Swiss guys. Everyone went out in the 1/8 final.
Aigle, Switzerland The last month of pretty hard training before the final stage is over. I had a good time here in Aigle. Lots of different national teams have been here. I trained with Sebastian Kartfjord for a week, which was fun. Always good to do Gates with fast people. The Latvians are here right now, so no easy task to hang with those guys on the first straight. We're leaving monday for the next BMX Supercross World Cup in Australia. I love those events. Switzerland is still sitting in 12th position right now, so it's time to finally put it together at the big shows. Two weeks after Adelaide, we're off for Ecuador, then Danmark, then the world in China. Check freecaster.com for live coverage next weekend. Been doing a Photoshoot last week for my new fork sponsor SRSuntour. A nice change to the daily training routine. Rad cornering in the mud and snow in the cold Swiss forests. I love it! Thanks to Hoshi Yoshida/ SRSUNTOUR for the Session.
Der letzte harte Trainingsmonat vor den entscheidenden Rennen ist vorbei. Ich hatte eine super Zeit in Aigle. Nachdem ich eine Woche mit dem Norweger Sebastian Kartfjord zusammen trainiert habe, ist nun die Russische und Lettische Nationalmannschaft hier. Es tut immer gut mit schnellen Gegnern Gates zu trainieren.
Am Montag fliegen wir schon zum nächsten Event. UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Australien. Ich liebe diese Anlässe. Die Schweiz braucht weiterhin dringend Punkte, es ist also an der Zeit es krachen zu lassen. Zwei Wochen danach sind wir in Equador, dann Dänemark und Ende Mai die WM in China. Volles Programm! Vier Event- vier Chancen sich für die Olympischen Spiele zu qualifizieren.
Paulinia, Brazil We had a pretty good race day again. I won my quarter and semi and felt confortable for the main. Got stuck a bit between Suarez and Marino and stayed in third for the rest of the track- until a couple of meters before the finishline.. I don't know why, but the final narrow rhythm section threw me off the track and i completely missed the finishline. I still crossed as 4th, but they somehow put me onto 5th place. Photo finish? Not really. Transponder? They took mine off after the semi. English? Only if they really want to. Other funny stories from Brazil in the next couple of days. All in all, a really good event with an amazing track, fast pro gate, sunshine and friendly athmosphere. And that is what matters the most for the riders. Big thanks to everyone. Pascal finished 6th, so a good weekend for Switzerland. Results Day Two: 1st Suarez; 2nd Marino; 3rd Jimenez; 4th Salazar?; 5th Rinderknecht; 6th Seydoux; 7th Falla; 8th Colombo
Ein weiterer gelungener Renntag. Ich gewann mein Viertels- und Halbfinale und fühlte mich bereit für das grosse Showdown. Leider wurde ich im Final einwenig zwischen Suarez und Marino eingeklemmt. Bis einige Meter vor dem Ziel lag ich noch an dritter Stelle. Irgendwie missriet mir aber die enge Kombination auf der letzten Gerade komplett und ich verpasste die Ziellinie. Ich bin mir ziemlich sicher immer noch an 4ter Stelle gewesen zu sein. Gewertet wurde ich jedoch als 5ter. Zielfoto? Fehlanzeige. Transponder? Der wurde mir schon nach dem Halbfinale abgenommen. Englisch? Nur wenn sie wirklich wollen. Weiter lustige Geschichten folgen. Alles in Allem war es ein gelungener Anlass. Anspruchsvolle, gute Strecke, schnelles Pro Gate, Sonnenschein und freundliches Ambiente. Was will man mehr? Pascal wurde 6ter, also eine wirklich starke Schweizer Team Leistung.
Paulinia, Brazil
Good news from Brazil. I felt good in the big heat all day and got 2nd at the end. Pascal managed to get 5th. Good points for Switzerland. It's been pretty hectic. I almost lost it in my semi. I went into turn two in second place behind Colombo when he took a gnarly crash and took me and half the field out. Fortunately, i got up quick to finish fourth in that semi. Suarez won. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
My hand feels a lot better already, so I had a great week of training and riding here in Aigle. Pascal Seydoux and me are leaving for Brasil next tuesday for the Pan American Champs. I'm really looking forward to the first outdoor race of the season. The track looks nice and long and the weather should be good as well. Since we didn't do too good at the last couple of races, we really need some UCI points. Switzerland is right on the bubble with two other countries for the 11th place and the so important olympic qualifying spot. We'll see if it works out in Brasil. It's not going to be easy, lots of fast riders in attendance. But we are ready for the battle!
Meine Hand fühlt sich schon wieder richtig gut an. Das Training lief die ganze Woche über perfekt. Ich bin also bereit für den nächsten Ernstfall. Pascal Seydoux und ich fliegen am Dienstag nach Brasilien zu den Pan American Champs. Ich freue mich riesig auf das erste Outdoor Rennen der Saison. Die Strecke schaut richtig gut aus und das Wetter wird uns auf der Südhalbkugel hoffentlich auch keinen Strich durch die Rechnung machen. Nach einigen verpatzten Rennen sind wir dringend auf einige UCI Punkte angewiesen. Die Schweiz liegt zusammen mit zwei weiteren Ländern knapp um den 11ten Rang und demzufolge dem Qualifikationsplatz für die Olympischen Spiele herum. Wir werden sehen obs in Brasilien klappt. Es wird bestimmt nicht einfach. Viele extrem schnelle Fahrer sind am Start und werden sich nichts schenken. Wir sind bereit zu kämpfen!
The race turned out to be pretty sketchy with a lot of crasches in the turns. I slid out in the last corner in my first moto. Still qualified with a 2nd and 1st in the other two rounds. But my right hand felt a little weird and got really swollen. I couldn't make it past the 1/8 final. Huge dissapointment! Anyways, the radio yesterday showed that it's not broken. I'll get it checked out more today. I don't think it's bad, but i just want to be sure, since we're leaving for the Pan American Champs in Brasil next week already. The Latvians dominated again with Strombergs taking two wins!
Time seems to be flying. We're already at the next Race in France. After exhausting 750km in the car, we finaly arrived. The track is pretty small, but seems to flow a lot better than at the last Euro Rounds. Only three pedals until the first jump, short straights and open turns will make for some tight racing. Practice tonight at 8.45pm! Could we do it at midnight next time?!
Unfortunately no great news from the race. I felt good (starts to sound lame and stupid, but that’s how it is) and easily got through the three 1/8 finals. I was a little off at the gate in my quarter and got cut off right away. A disappointing 5th place finish in that one, only one spot away from the points and a step towards the Olympics. No luck for the other Swiss guys, they all struggled in their motos. There’s no time to be depressed though, I got to keep going and get ready for the next races. Everything s still possible, I just have to stay focussed and positive.
The track feels great. Big Jumps, fluid and quite technical. It's going to be tight, intense and interesting racing tomorrow. Check the live webcast, starting at around 6pm: www.freecaster.tv/bmx
It’s finally going in the right direction. Even though I’m not really happy with my 5th place in the semi, there are definitely some positive points. Pascal Seydoux (GT- IXS) managed to get into the semis as well. So at least some decent points for
Endlich gehts in die richtige Richtung. Natürlich bin ich nicht zufrieden mit einem 5ten Rang im Halbfinale. Aber immerhin geht’s aufwärts. Pascal Seydoux (GT- IXS) schaffte es auch ins Semi. Zusammen ergatterten wir immerhin einige UCI- Punkte fürs Schweizer Konto. Zudem hab ich mich wirklich gut gefühlt, einige gute Runden gehabt und vor Allem auf der ersten Geraden Fortschritte gemacht. Jetzt freu ich mich auf den World Cup nächste Woche in Madrid. Endlich harter Untergrund, längere Geraden, Sprünge und ein schnelleres Gate- hoffentlich! Das kann nur gut kommen! Beim Bowling Contest nach dem Race mussten die Schweizer Jungs dann eine heftige Schlappe einstecken. Die einzige Frau, Juniorin Jenny Fähndrich, liess alle alt aussehen!
Results Elite men: 1. Maris Strombergs LAT 2. Ivo Lakucs LAT 3. Martijn Scherpen NED 4. Roy van den Berg NED 5. Thomas Allier FRA 6. Sifiso Nhlapo RSA 7. Sebastian Kartfjord NOR 8. Thomas Hamon FRA
Fredericia, Denmark Day started off pretty good. Felt good during practice and the track was a lot better than the day before. But once again, i only managed to place 5th in my quarter- out for the day. It's rough out there, lots of action in the turns. I lost 6 spokes from two different wheels on the battle field. Nice! All the other Swiss guys had some bad luck as well, so NO points for the ranking... Sunday is going to be better! It has to be! Der Tag begann richtig gut. Ich fühlte mich super und auch die Strecke präsentierte sich in gutem Zustand. Leider schaffte ich es ein weiteres Mal nicht über einen 5ten Rang im Viertelsfinale hinaus. Es geht heftig zur Sache da draussen. Viele, bisweilen auch fragwürdige, Kurven Aktionen. Ich verlor heute gleich 6 Speichen von zwei verschiedenen Rädern im Getümmel. Yeahh! Auch die anderen Schweizer hatten heute kein Glück. Keine Punkte fürs Nationen Ranking... Sonntag kann nur besser werden. Es muss einfach!Results Elite men: 1. Ivo Lakucs LAT 2. Evgeny Komarov RUS 3. Martijn Scherpen NED 4. Roy van den Berg NED 5. Maris Strombergs LAT 6. Pablo Gutierrez FRA 7. Pablo Galan Carrasco ESP 8. Sifiso Nhlapo RSA
Fredericia, Denmark Euro Rounds 5 and 6 on the program this weekend. Denmark isn't really showing it's nice face yet. It's rainy, windy and really cold. Even the indoor venue is not really warm. We were supposed to have practice tonight, but it got cancelled after 30min. Way too many soft spots are making it pretty dangerous. Nice! When will finally be the next race without any track issues? Just unbelievable. Anyways, i'm feeling good, rested up a bit during the week and looking forward to the race. Even on a sketchy track with a slow gate. Braaap! EM Läufe 5 und 6 stehen dieses Wochenende auf dem Programm. Dänemark zeigt sich nicht gerade von seiner besten Seite. Stürmischer Regen und bissige Kälte. Sogar in der Halle drin ist es richtig kalt. Wir sollten eigentlich heute Abend auf der Strecke trainieren, das Ganze wurde dann aber nach 30min abgesagt. Zu viele weiche, gefährliche Stellen. Super! Wann wird endlich an einem Rennen organisatorisch wieder einmal alles passen? Einfach unglaublich diese ewigen, unverständlichen Probleme. Aber egal, ich fühle mich gut, habe die Woche einwenig Trainingspensum zurück geschraubt und freue mich nun aufs Race. Auch auf einer fragwürdigen Piste mit einem 'Zeitlupen-Gate'. Braaap!
Aigle, Switzerland New Year, new website, new challenges! I'm stoked to finally have rr13.ch ready and up and running. Big thanks to Martin, Barbara and David from bmxwinterthur.ch! The biggest happening in the last couple of weeks was definitely the birth of my son Ty! Little dude and his mom are all good and healthy. We're enjoying the new experience and staying in a new appartment in Aigle close to the UCI Center. Training is therefore going great. The season is around the corner and I'm feeling fast and confident that all will come together. Next stop is the two Euro rounds in Danmark before heading to Madrid for the first 'real' race of the year. BMX Supercross World Cup! It's going to be great! Little changes on the sponsor side. I'm happy to stay with GT (velo.com), Oakley, IXS Sports Division, DtSwiss and Magura for another season. SRSuntour is the new one on board for forks and suspension. Great product and great guys to work with. I'm looking forward to a long, successful relationship! I'm still working on some other stuff, but not saying anything until it's 100% signed and sealed. Stay tuned. Neues Jahr, neue Website, neue Herausforderungen. Endlich hab ich es geschafft. RR13.ch ist bereit um durchzustarten. Vielen Dank an Martin, Barbara und David von bmxwinterthur.ch für ihren unermüdlichen Einsatz! Das grösste und schönste Ereigniss der letzten Wochen war definitiv die Geburt meines Sohnes Ty. Der Kleine und seine Mutter sind gesund und munter. Wir geniessen die neuen Erfahrungen und fühlen uns richtig wohl in unserem neuen Heim in Aigle in der Nähe des UCI Centers. Im Training läufts demnach auch super. Die nächsten Rennen stehen kurz bevor und ich fühl mich gut und bereit für die kommenden Aufgaben! Als erstes stehen nächste Woche zwei Europameisterschaftsläufe in Dänemark an, bevor wir gleich im Anschluss nach Madrid zum ersten 'richtigen' Event des Jahres fliegen. BMX Supercross World Cup in Madrid. Das wird der Hammer! Auf der Seite der Sponsoren gibts keine grossen Änderungen. Ich bin super glücklich mit GT (velo.com), Oakley, IXS Sports Division, DtSwiss und Magura ein weiteres Jahr in Angriff nehmen zu können. Neu hinzu kommt SRSuntour für den Gabel Sektor. Super Produkte und extrem coole Leute im Hintergrund. Ich freue mich auf eine erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit! Ich bastle immer noch an einigen anderen Sachen. News gibts erst wenn alles 100% steht. Stay tuned.
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