Press Release

First Athlete Names Released for Inaugural Pinnacle 10-Racer Head-To-Head DH Championships 12

iceman2058
8/6/2014 1:26am

As we announced previously, the Pinnacle Bike Championship is set to take place at Waterville Valley Resort on September 19-20, 2014, and now the heat starts building - here are the first confirmed athletes for the event, and it's already shaping up to be a big show - Hutchinson US and Madison Saracen and first in the starting blocks!

Press Release:

Waterville Valley, NH, USA (August 6, 2014) – The first teams and athletes for the inaugural event of the Pinnacle Bike Championship have been released with some exciting and maybe even surprising elements coming into play. Right out of the gate there are recent DH world championship medalists coming back from injury and world cup winners, but not whom you would expect.

Hutchinson UR – Mick Hannah, Fabien Cousinie & Guillaume Cauvin

Madison Saracen – Matt Simmonds, Sam Dale & Manon Carpenter

Hear what the riders and team managers respectively had to say:

Mick Hannah - photo by Dave Trumpore.

Mick Hannah – Hutchinson UR – Australia:“'I’m really excited to see my sport growing. Downhill racing in the US has been very strong in the past and it's great to see an event like this happening over here!”

Guillaume Cauvin - photo by Nicolas Duye.

Fabien Cousinie.

Fabien Cousinie – Hutchinson UR – France – Rider / Team Owner:"I like to try and race everything on my mountain bike and this is definitively something I was waiting for"

Sam Dale.

Sam Dale – Madison Saracen – Great Britain: “really excited about riding the gnarly Pinnacle track with big jumps and other riders all around me. I've also heard great things about the Boston area, so looking forward to a great party afterwards!”

Matt Simmonds.

Matt Simmons – Madison Saracen – Great Britain: “looking forward to this new Pinnacle event and format for racing. Thinking about the track and line choices and having to contend with other riders in your face is bound to make things interesting for sure. Heard great things about the track so just getting out there and having fun on it will be awesome.”

Manon Carpenter.

Manon Carpenter – Madison Saracen – Great Britain:“think I might be getting thrown in at the deep end here but hey, I love a challenge! Sixty of the World's fastest guys to try and beat and a full on track is my kind of fun. Guess I'll have to give it a go and see how I get on. I hear the Waterville Valley Resort is a fantastic place, so looking forward to our end of season trip to New Hampshire.”

Will Longden – Madison Saracen Team Manager: “the team are really looking forward to checking out this new format of racing. Pinnacle is sure to be a fun event and a fantastic showcase for the spectators and fans. Head-to-head racing is always exciting and seeing the World's fastest DH racers bar to bar, MX style, is going to be an eye opener to say the least. It's always great when a new venue invests in bringing mountain biking to the area, so I'm really pleased the team has been invited and we can support Waterville Valley Resort in this new venture and share it with the rest of the world.”

Stay tuned as more athletes and teams are announced!

Tickets for the Pinnacle Bike Championship are on sale and can be purchased in advance at www.PinnacleChampionship.com.

For more information and to stay up-to-date on the latest news, visit our website and follow us on social media:

www.Facebook.com/PinnacleChampionship
www.Twitter.com/PinnacleChamps
www.Instagram.com/PinnacleChamps

12 comments

View replies to: First Athlete Names Released for Inaugural Pinnacle 10-Racer Head-To-Head DH Championships

c50 Explosion 11 of 12 1456382389
Yuroshek
9 years ago
Haters gonna hate! I hope it kicks off and starts something new. Why are you whining? Its not like you are racing....
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sino428
9 years ago
Its cool to see some top teams already signed on for this. I was a bit skeptical it would draw any big names.
c50 greenriver4.6.2013
Scott_Townes
9 years ago
Who knew the blind and baseless resistance to new things in the MTB community extends beyond new parts/tech to new events as well. Amazing! I'm going to use logic here and wait until this event actually takes place (or at the least until a track preview is put up) before I have an opinion about it... until then, I'm stoked this is finally happening after many years of this idea being tossed around. They're some of the world's best riders, remember, they can handle a lot more than any of you can fathom.
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fabdemaere
9 years ago
I'm not against it, Red Bull Wide Open sounded great, but "10 riders head to head, 70ft gaps and up to 60mph" sounds a little over the top.
I love the idea, but it'd be silly to have all the mass start craze cancelled because the first event was too over the top and everyone got injured.
My point is: start (somewhat) mellow, then progress over the years.
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c50 avatar92
Nicholast
9 years ago
Agreed. The Megavalanche makes a 10-person mass start look rather pathetic and that race has no shortage of participants - many of them elites - every year. So while this race isn't my cup of tea, I'm going to refrain from criticism until I see it raced.

... I just hope it doesn't break Mick Hannah again.
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epic
9 years ago
Sounds like a disaster - and who doesn't enjoy watching a disaster unfold?
c50 231 1414964140
fabdemaere
9 years ago
I really like the concept, but 10 riders at once is too much imo.
The organizers seem to think that because MX guys do it, why not MTB'ers?
This is NOT like Motocross, where you have 200lbs bikes that have their own inertia and where you can get bumped and still stay upright.
On a bicycle (30-35lbs), at the speeds they're going to reach (surely 60kph in some places), one little rub with another rider and it's carnage.
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onenerdykid*
9 years ago
this seems like some sort of made-for-tv spectacle. Analogies to car and moto racing are so weak. This has cheese written all over it.
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TRex
9 years ago
So you won't watch it? No, you will watch it. This might bring mountain biking to more people than many other things have, so what's the harm in trying? Riders have a choice to do it or not, it isn't like they have to do this for world cup points.
c50 greenriver4.6.2013
Scott_Townes
9 years ago
except that many of the best/top DH racers are way better than you and have expressed opinions before that an event like this would be incredibly awesome. Have some faith in the world's best DH racers, they have a lot more control than you could ever imagine. This is an awesome idea for an event and if you have the slightest inclination of how gnarly motoX is or how reckless the WC DH race runs are, you'll know this will be nothing outrageous. It's like no one has ever heard of the Megavalanche event either... that's way more sketch in many regards to this idea and no, 40ft. drops doesn't mean they'll actually be dropping 40ft vert. Instead of basing negative opinions solely on press releases, how about waiting until the actual event or footage of the trail? Of course the official press releases look/sound stupid.
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