This weekend at Pietermaritzburg’s World Cup DH Podium, Trek World Racing athletes stood atop both the male and female podiums, after a great ride by both Aaron Gwin, and Tracy Moseley.
But perhaps more impressive than TWR athletes winning both races, is the fact that Gwin’s win marks the first time an American DH rider has stood atop a WC podium since 1999! After winning the US National DH Championship in both 09, and 2010, everyone with interest in the American DH scene had high hope for the relative newcomer to the DH scene.
Previously aboard a Yeti 303 when he won both National Championships, Aaron recently was picked up by Trek to race aboard the Session 88, which to little surprise, Aaron is also extremely talented on.
What does the rest of the World Cup Season hold? At this point, it is anyone’s guess.
Check out the full Press Release from TWR, after the break!
From TWR:
At the opening round of the 2011 Downhill World Cup, in front of a huge crowd in sunny Pietermaritzburg, Trek World Racing’s Tracy Moseley and Aaron Gwin each rode the 2011 Trek Session 88 to the the leaders’ jerseys in a display of blistering speed.
For Gwin, Sunday’s race was his first World Cup win, and the first by an American male since 1999. Gwin had qualified in 7th place, and in the time between that race and the final, he worked with the Trek World Racing mechanics to find the ideal set-up for what was going to be a much faster and drier race. His Fox suspension was perfectly dialed, and Gwin put on a show of speed in the first and second sectors to score his all-important first win.
For Moseley, it was her first World Cup win wearing the rainbow jersey of the World Champion. After winning the qualifying runs on Friday by nearly 6 seconds, it was a much tighter affair on race day, as she won by 0.28secs. The course was running about 15 seconds faster for the women and the effort to get the bike to the line was huge.
Tracy said: “That was so tough today. Towards the end I was running out of steam; then I heard the onsite commentary say it was going to be close, so I dug deep until the end. It means a lot to win my first World Cup at my first attempt since earning the World Champs jersey, it just means so much.”
Aaron said: “I’m pretty speechless actually. It’s a dream. In the first sector I made a little mistake, hitting some trees with my shoulder, but then I just regrouped and put as much power down as I could in the middle sector. By the end, the legs were really feeling it, and then it was a pretty nerve wracking waiting in the hot seat. The bike is amazing, I can’t praise it enough, and the whole time here in South Africa with the team has been so great. Can’t wait for Fort William, I love that track.”
Team Director Martin Whiteley said: “We clearly brought a winning package. I can’t speak highly enough of the engineers in Madison, and our key sponsors who give our talented athletes such an amazing set up to do their job. I’m so proud of everything this team has done, and I’m really looking forward to a thrilling 2011 season”.
