Playbiker - Iron Horse Opens its World Cup Season in Maribor
May 13, 2008

 

The inaugural race of the 2008 Nissan UCI World Cup in Maribor finished up last sunday with positive results for team Playbiker - Iron Horse, with a fifth place for Floriane Pugin and a good ranking in the finals for the new team riders Nathan Rankin and Adam Brayton.

The location in Slovenia which had closed last year's World Cup was the opening stage for this year's circuit, with a very tough race. Starting in the men's semifinal were almost 300 riders, who fought hard for qualification. At the end of the almost neverending semifinal the dust settled on the finish arena leaving a clear impression: you had to get an almost perfect run just to enter the top 80 and earn a chance to compete in the final. Nathan Rankin, Adam Brayton and Mike Skinner all did so, while Lorenzo Suding missed qualification for just over a second, having suffered all weekend from a shoulder injury. Further behind Luca Bertocchi, on the rise from last year, and junior american Geoff Ulmer, stopped by a rear flat in the early stages of his run.


In the finals the track proved even faster and demanding, with very tight margins between each rider's times. Nathan Rankin went on to confirm his great experience and skills with a 35th place that leaves a lot of room for improvement, with Adam Brayton trailing on the 36th place, proving he's up to the game after his excellent 2007 season. Worst luck for Mike Skinner, who, after recording a split time which would have placed him in the top 20, fell hard in his run, recovering to finish in 74th place.

Bad, really bad luck for Floriane Pugin as well, who, after proving herself in top shape after her win at the Test Event in Val di Sole with a 2nd place in the semifinal, just behind Rachel Atherton, slid out in the first woods during the finals. Floriane got back on the bike to finish 5th, just two second away from the podium. 21st place with a fall for italian champion Elisa Canepa, after a tough and long weekend, which saw her coming 11th in the 4X.

The team returned back to its home base in Pila for a couple of weeks of rest and training alongisde Maribor's winner and world champion Sam Hill and his teammate from Monster Energy - Iron Horse Brendan Fairclough, who will be spending a few days hosted by team Playbiker - Iron Horse in Pila.

The next race is the opening of the italian national series in Pragelato on may 24th and 25th.

Playbiker - Iron Horse is the first international UCI Trade Team based in Italy specialized in gravity racing. The team is supported by the factory sponsors: Iron Horse Bicycles, UFO Plast, Kenda tires, Pila MTB Planet, Funn components, RMS Component Selection, A-Class Wheels, Five Ten, POC, SRAM, Rock Shox, Formula brakes and Insight Productions.