This looks rather cool – a ten minute long, invitational downhill race featuring some of the world’s best riders competing in teams against each other. It’s being held on a great big hill just outside the Austrian town of Innsbruck, just after the Leogang World Cup. National hero Danny Hart is set to race on the 4.2km track alongside the likes of the MS Mondraker team and Cedric Gracia’s CG Racing Brigade.
Is this sort of thing the future of downhill racing? Sounds better than 650b bikes at any rate…
Press release below…
“ON THE TRAIL OF A MONSTEROUS HILL
Nordkette Downhill.Pro – Innsbruck Invitational takes place on September 8th, 2012
Ten world cup teams, ten minutes of merciless downhill racing and 4.2 kilometres from the drop-in to the finish line combine to produce the Nordkette Downhill.Pro – Innsbruck Invitational; the same race which saw Brook MacDonald cross the finish line after nine and a half ferocious minutes in 2011 – the fastest time to date – and which is staged on one of Europe’s most difficult downhill tracks sitting right above downtown Innsbruck, Austria. On the first Sunday in September the world’s best downhill racers – among them the likes of 2011 World Champion Danny Hart (GBR), female World Champion Emmeline Ragot (FRA) and legendary Cedric Gracia (AND) – are back on the Nordkette Singletrail.
The raw facts remain unchanged for the second edition of this unique team competition in the week after the world championship in Leogang – just a two-hour drive away from Innsbruck: a monstrous hill, as steep as hell, right above the picturesque city centre and a week of biking, fun and partying. Only hours after the official invitations left the organizers’ house, last year’s winning team MS Mondraker, CG Racing Brigade and Riding Addiction Commencal Team confirmed their participation in 2012.
This long-distance downhill race for world cup pros guarantees an epic fight between the outstanding athletes of the international downhill scene. With a track length of 4.2 kilometres, a difference in altitude of more than 1000 metres, start to finish, and a 36° drop, the battlefield is steep, tricky and gruelling. The trail starts at the 1850m-high Seegrube and features roots, cliffs, banks, North Shores and drops – a ten-minute non-stop free ride terrain has to be mastered before arriving at the finish line at the so-called Hungerburg. “The track is amazing and the crowd impressive,” is how a stoked Troy Brosnan, 2011 junior world champion, described his appearance at the Nordkette Downhill.Pro last year.
Unlike any other race, this invitational hosted in Innsbruck is a team challenge. The fastest trade teams race against each other, supported by a wildcard mix of local heroes and licensed juniors. It will be not only the riders who are challenged to the max, but also their ride itself and especially the brake set-up as it becomes a battle too for the team mechanics.
After the first successful edition in August 2011 the Nordkette Downhill.Pro – Innsbruck Invitational will again be hosted by the alpine town in Austria. In no other place in the world is there such a thin dividing line between urban and rugged mountain terrain. The unique mix of city flair and downhill adventure makes this gravity-defying event in the heart of the Alps a one-of-a-kind race, testing the athletes’ abilities after the world championship and before the next world cup event.
