BENNO WILLEIT: Welcome to Albstadt, to the first UCI
mountain bike World Cup.
The sun is out.
I haven't seen the sun for a while, it was very nasty the
last few days.
The course was very wet.
Now today it totally changed, the sun is out.
A lot of spectators are walking through.
Yeah, we're looking forward for the first World Cup to
start off the World Cup series.
We've got Jaroslav here, Kohei, Todd.
Howard is racing this afternoon.
And then tomorrow the girls are going to take off with Lea
and Tereza.
We have the new S-Works 2013 Epic on the start line, the
Fate, and also the Hardtail.
Jaroslav is riding the same set up us last
year, just a new bike.
We did some suspension tuning for him,
especially for this course.
JAROSLAV KULHAVY: Bike is the same, like number.
But I switched the tire for ground control tires.
And chain ring is 34.
I like dry conditions, and this is too much
slippery for me.
And there is a lot of corners.
But we will see on Sunday.
KOHEI YAMAMOTO: This morning I try course.
Not too long climb, but yes, steep.
And downhill also, rocks and roots and muddy.
So, yeah--
full saturation.
HOWARD GROTTS: Yeah, the start was really fast.
I wasn't quite used to that speed.
Maybe I've been doing more endurance type races.
Picked off a few people.
Had a little crash on lap two, and then in the last three
laps I think I probably picked off like 20 people, just
consistently passing people on the climbs and then playing it
more conservative on the descents.
Just need to start better next time.
LEA DAVISON: Yeah, I'm super pumped to be here.
We got some new additions to the team.
We have another girl on the team, which I'm very pumped
about, Tereza Hurikova.
I think she's going to be a great addition and already
she's brought a lot of good energy to the team.
And I'm psyched to kick some ass with her.
Yeah, no, the Fate is a perfect choice for this
course, just because it has very steep climbs and it will
be a little bit slick out there.
So sometimes that can get boggy, you know.
And it feels like it kind of sucks your wheel.
But the fate is so light this year,
especially with the 1x11.
It should be great, though.
It's a great course for the World Cup opener, plenty
challenging.
So it should be fun.
TEREZA HURIKOVA: Should be Specialized cake
with homemade marmalade.
It's a really tricky, muddy and technical course with
steep climbs.
I normally like the mud, but if it's getting drier, it's
getting more sticky, more like a glue.
So then it's really difficult, and difficult especially to
keep your line and keep control over your bike.
LEA DAVISON: Man, that was tough.
It was like ice, that last lap, when it started raining.
I went down, just on the road actually.
But yeah, it was solid.
TEREZA HURIKOVA: It's a good experience and a good start.
I am satisfied.
And I hope it will go just better next week.
We have Czech World Cup in Nove Mesto.
It's my home race.
So I will do my best to be there.
ANNIKA LANGVAD: It was really, really tough.
Towards the end I could feel I was just getting
more and more tired.
But I am pretty satisfied now, and I have a much better start
position for the coming race in Nove Mesto.
So that was my goal and it's perfect.
So I'm [INAUDIBLE].
TODD WELLS: Being a tall guy and having such a high center
of gravity, I find on some of the steeper descents that it's
kind of tough to get back behind the saddle.
And so with the command post, I ride with it at home a
little bit on my Stumpjumper FSR, and any time there's
steep stuff or drops I always just hit the command post.
Saddle drops down and it's much easier to ride the
sections and I feel like I can go a bit faster.
DYLAN VAN DER MERWE: The weather's been playing havoc.
Some really slick conditions.
The girls had it good and then it rained quite a bit.
Kept us guessing the tire combinations.
And in these conditions, you just have to fight
right til the end.
Anything can happen.
JAROSLAV KULHAVY: Yeah, I feel good.
But weather is crazy, so we will see.
DYLAN VAN DER MERWE: Coming up the start loop, Kohei was
leading into the feed zone.
Had us super excited, and yeah, lap two, I think was--
I think he had a big crash and unfortunately ended his race.
Todd also unfortunately had a bit of a mechanical problem
and ended his one a lap later.
And then it was just Jaroslav left, and he was in
sixth at the time.
BENNO WILLEIT: So Jaroslav is sitting in third
position right now.
But the number two guy's just behind him.
Man, this race was crazy.
So many up and downs.
I mean, then Jaroslav was just getting stronger and stronger
by the end of the race.
And finishing on third position
there, that was awesome.
I mean, that's unbelievable.
JAROSLAV KULHAVY: I went to consistent tempo and I didn't
race the downhill.
I didn't have any problem.
My bike was perfect, the tires were amazing.
Next week is the race in Nove Mesto.
It's in Czech, and Nove Mesto is 60
kilometers from my hometown.
It will be an amazing race with a lot of spectators and a
really nice atmosphere.
It's a good chance, because Nino Schurter and Julien
Absalon was behind me.
And I had really good position for overall standing.
But it's just the first race and we will see later.
BENNO WILLEIT: The 29er S-Works Epic
was holding up perfect.
I don't know how, actually, the bike is still running and
the wheels are spinning, but it's a good feeling.
And let's see what's happening next week.