Yesterday, we covered the pro women’s winning bikes from last weekend’s Downieville Classic. Today, we’re back with the rigs the pro men rode to their respective victories. It was an exciting two days of racing, with Andrew L’Esperance taking the XC win in his first Downieville appearance, and enduro specialist Marco Osborne claiming the DH win. In the end, consistency was king, and Tobin Ortenblad’s 2nd place finishes both days earned him the title of All-Mountain World Champion.
Tobin Ortenblad: 2nd XC, 2nd DH, 1st All-Mountain
Known by many as the people’s champ, Tobin Ortenblad has raced the Downieville Classic numerous times and has had his sights set on the All-Mountain title for years. The Santa Cruz team rider has come pretty close, too, working his way up from 6th in 2023 to 4th in 2024 and 3rd in 2025.
“I’ve been here the last four or five years and had mixed results, mixed luck, flats, mechanicals, lack of fitness, you name it,” said Ortenblad in a post-race interview. “I was 2nd yesterday, so I knew I had to beat Andrew today. I rode how I knew I could to go fast, risk it a bit, but made sure to really be on the pedals hard every time I could.”
And get it done he did. Ortenblad rode the XC course in 1:58:38, finishing 2nd behind a very fast Andrew L’Esperance. On day two, he matched that result with another second-place finish. Ortenblad smashed the DH run with a time of 44:32, over a minute faster than his last three race runs on the same course. On his Instagram (@mctubbin), Ortenblad wrote, “This is a bucket-list win for me. I’ve come up short at this race so many damn times. It feels good to finally get the monkey off my back and get it done this year!”
- Frame: Santa Cruz Blur 5 CC – XL
- Fork: RockShox SID Ultimate Flight Attendant, 120mm
- Shock: RockShox SIDLuxe Ultimate Flight Attendant, 120mm
- Drivetrain: SRAM XX SL Transmission, 38t Chainring
- Brakes: SRAM Motive Ultimate Brakes – 180mm CLX Rotor F&R
- Wheels: Reserve 28|XC Wheels w/DT 180 hubs
- Tires: Maxxis Rekon Race EXO 2.4” 120tpi F&R (no inserts)
- Dropper: RockShox Reverb AXS – 150mm
- Cages: Silca Sicuro Titanium Bottle Cages
- Pedals: Time ATAC XC 12
Before the race, he wrote on Instagram, “My new Blur almost feels purpose-built for trails like this. Every update, big and small, makes this bike damn fun to push hard.” Like his Santa Cruz teammate Ruth Holcomb, Ortenblad’s Blur 5 appears to be a mostly stock XX AXS Race FA RSV build. The biggest difference is the big ol’ 38T chainring, so he could lay down the power on the flat, pedally sections of the course. Once again, it’s a strong endorsement for Santa Cruz’s new XC platform. Congrats on the hard-earned All-Mountain win, Tobin!
Andrew L’Esperance: 1st XC, 3rd DH, 2nd All-Mountain
Andrew L’Esperance made the trip down from Canada to race in his first Downieville Classic. L’Esperance has represented Canada at World Championships 10 times in various disciplines and established himself as one of the best endurance racers in North America. The 2-time BC Bike Race champion has been delivering consistent results in the Lifetime Grand Prix, and, earlier this year, raced the Absa Cape Epic and rode to 1st place in the Fuego XL mountain bike race at the Sea Otter Classic.
With a resumé like his, it didn’t come as too much of a surprise when L’Esperance, followed closely by Lachlan Morton, was first over the top of the Downieville XC climb. On the descent, he gained some time on the field and took the XC victory by nearly a minute — with a stop to plug a puncture. “I had one small flat that I had to fix, so that was definitely stressful,” said L’Esperance in a post-race interview, “I had to ride super smooth the rest of the way, but luckily made it to the finish.” L’Esperance took the XC win with an incredibly fast time of 1:57:44.
At the Classic, the All-Mountain win is often decided on Sunday’s DH. L’Esperance definitely brought the heat and laid down a super fast time of 44:43. This put him in a points tie with Tobin Ortenblad, with the All-Mountain win going to the faster rider in the DH.
- Frame: Ibis Ripley SL
- Fork: Fox 34SL – 120 mm – GripSL with remote lockout – 88 PSI with 2 volume spacers
- Shock: Fox Float SL with 0.4 volume spacer and 164 PSI remote lockout
- Dropper: Fox Transfer SL with 100 mm drop – Fox TwinStik dropper/remote lockout lever
- Wheels – Raceface EraSL with Enduro Ceramic bearings
- Tires – Maxxis Aspen AT in 2.4 – EXO casing and MaxxSpeed compound with Tannus insert in the rear
- Brakes – Shimano XTR 9220 “Trail” brakes – 4-piston calipers and metal pads. 180 mm front rotor and 160 mm rear rotor.
- Crank/BB – 36T chainring with 170 mm XTR cranks with 4iiii power meter and XD-15 BB by Enduro Bearings
- Shifting – XTR Di2 RD in fast shifting mode with 2 shifts max when the shift button is held. Shift paddles opposite from stock.
- Saddle – Reform Seymour heat-moldable saddle with carbon rails.
- Handlebar – Era SL in negative position (-6 mm) cut to 740 mm width
- King Cages
- Rex hot wax on the chain
- Weight: 26.14 lbs
L’Esperance raced on his Ibis Ripley SL, with the “Gold Rush” frame color being a fitting choice for the historic gold mining town of Downieville. “Out of the box, the Ripley SL is made for an event like Downieville, so I started things off with a very good setup in that regard,” said L’Esperance. “The main changes I made for Downieville were the Aspen AT tires, the insert, and the 4-Piston brakes. This was my first time at this event, so those changes were just my best guess at what would work for me. I will be puzzling for the next 365 days to figure out what tweaks I would make.”
Marco Osborne: 16th XC, 1st DH, 6th All-Mountain
For the past 10+ years, Marco Osborne has consistently been one of the top enduro racers in North America. From EWS and EDR races across the pond to TDS and other races closer to home, Osborne has proven to be a fierce competitor, especially when riding his bike downhill. He’s raced Downieville a few times, but never managed to crack the code to take the DH win until last weekend.
Osborne is a full-time professional mountain bike racer, but it’s clear he has been training extra hard and taken his fitness to a new level this year. That was evident in the XC, when he rode away from me on the climb to an impressive 16th place finish, a massive improvement over his last attempt in 2023. And fitness is what it takes to win the DH, which, although primarily downhill, has some punchy climbs and plenty of pedaling, and is most often won by the fittest XC racers.
But Marco had the eye of the tiger on Sunday morning, and was incredibly focused and determined when I saw him before the start. It was clear that he was gunning for the win, and this year, he definitely had the fitness to make it happen. I started the DH a full minute ahead of Marco, and he caught up to me within 7 minutes — he was absolutely flying. He crossed the line at 44:11, twenty-one seconds ahead of Ortenblad in 2nd. Here’s what he rode:
- Frame: Transition Spur, size Large, High mode, 120mm travel
- Fork: Fox Factory 36 SL, 140mm, 92 psi with 2 volume spacers
- Shock: Fox Factory Float SL, 120mm, 213 psi
- Drivetrain: Shimano XTR Di2, 36T chainring, 165mm cranks
- Brakes: Shimano XTR 4-piston, 180mm rotors front and rear
- Wheels: WTB Carbon (unreleased) w/ White Industries rear hub
- Tires: WTB Peacekeeper 29” x 2.4”, no inserts, High grip 23 psi front, Fast-rolling 26 psi rear (WTB sealant, tape, and valves)
- Pedals: Shimano XTR
- Dropper: Fox Transfer Neo 200mm
- Saddle: WTB Volt Carbon
- Cockpit: Deity Highside 50mm rise (plus 35mm of spacers), cut to 750mm, 31.8mm clamp
- Stem: 40mm
- Top cap: Send it Randy by White Industries
- Weight: 29.4 lbs
Marco’s Transition Spur weighed in at 29.4 lbs, which is probably the heaviest bike in the pro top 20 by a fair margin, but is 11 lbs lighter than his typical enduro setup. “For me, this is extremely light, but it also feels really comfortable and planted on the rough descents, handles really well, and has a very comfortable upright position with my high stack. It’s still lower than my enduro bike, but with XC bikes having steeper head angles, even though reach numbers are similar, the bike feels long for me, so I’ve been trying to get a setup that distributes weight more evenly versus having more weight on my hands.” Tires are one of the biggest puzzles in this race, but Osborne said, “The Peacekeeper is a very confidence-inspiring tire for how low profile it is. It rolls really fast and has a very trustable, hooked-up side knob.”
Congrats on the DH win, Marco. Very Impressive.
Learn more about the Downieville Classic mountain bike race or see the full results here. Find out more about the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship, its mission, trail projects, and events here.
