Maremma-Cup, Massa Marittima, Italy.  „This Tiramisu was just awesome“, the two guys at the table in front of me are still swarming, Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel. To the two athletes and the entire Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing Team Massa Marittima always is a beautiful destination with lots of comfort to start their racing season. Along the trainings camp the first race of the season, the Maremma-Cup is taking place here. Ernesto Hutmacher and Thomas Frischknecht also because of the technique and epic racing course got a field of riders together which is outstanding. Almost all top athletes throughout the whole world came by to compete here.

Guys, what’s the benefit of Massa Vecchia and the Maremma-Cup? The Maremma-Cup offers a very technique and epic course. In the past these days were dedicated for training needs only. In the mean while the two weeks here in Tuscany  we spend for training, racing and collaboration with media people. Actually a very good opportunity combining all these three issues together at the same time.

Honestly, you already showed an incredible pace at the race. Already in best shape? No not really, currently it would be ways too early being in best shape already. It’s even more important competing not at the limit yet. It still takes two months until the first Worldcup race starts. So that means in end of April we have to be fast, not before. The Maremma-Cup shows a first tendency about the personal performance shape.

What goals do you set for the upcoming season? Patrick Gallati: Finishing with constant results at the Worldcup races, further beeing part of the European and World Championships of course. Florian: Finishing the overall Worldcup in top three would just be awesome, and of course the Worldchampionships will be important to me. The Swiss Championships in my hometown will be truely a very nice event to me.

At the worlds you showed a perfect team work. Is this strategy a part of your success? It’s not like in the road racing that a team strategy already can be set before the race. As the past Worlds showed a strategy comes up during the race. Of course we always try to do good team work, but this we decide case by case after the race started.

But anyway there exists kind of rivalry in between of you, even you are good team mates? This for sure yes. If we lead the race together both of us try to finish the race as the winner! But if we lead the race together and one of us gets some seconds behind because of a small technical problem we don’t attack, we even more are slowing down the pace a bit. As soon the team mate comes back we push hard together that the following group won't catch us anymore.

Well, where do you go after Tuscany and what are the plans for the near future?
I guess we’ll do a short stop at Finale Ligure. Afterwards we’ll do the Cape Epic race. This for sure will be an adventure and something complete different to us. Finally, in end of April, the season starts definitely with the first Wolrd Cup in Dalby Forest, UK.

Further news and updates about the Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing Team you always can get on www.scott-sports.com or on the team website www.scott-swisspower.com.  Have fun!

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Mark your calendars, The MONSTER/SCOTT Weekend is coming to Sun Valley, ID.

Friday, March 19th
SCOTT/MONSTER Athlete Autograph Signing 6-8pm
Come meet X Games Athletes Tom Wallisch, Justin Dorey and Ian Cosco and preview the 2010/2011 SCOTT Wintersport Line at the SCOTT Headquarters.

Saturday, March 20th
Dollar Mtn Terrain Park
Session the Sun Valley/SPT Terrain Park with X games athletes.

MONSTER Photo Shoot at Dollar Mtn 7-9pm
Tom Wallisch, Justin Dorey and Ian Cosco session the MONSTER Feature under the lights.

WHISKEY JACQUES 10pm
Come party with SCOTT and FREESKIER as they host a SUN VALLEY blowout!

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March 15th, 2010
Laax, Switzerland

After 2 days of qualifications in pipe and park, where 200 riders showed their tricks in LAAX,  the 5th annual European Freeski Open by Swatch was ready to go off.  Slopestyle semifinals and finals were to take place,  but due to the wind and weather conditions the competition had to be cancelled. 


SCOTT team riders Jonas Hunziker, Keri Herman and Elias Ambühl warming up in the hut

Heavy winds up to 70 km/h made the course with a length of 500 meters too dangerous, especially the jump line.  The organizers decided to cancel the contest to guarantee the safety of the riders.

Fortunately an alternative could be organized for the riders coming from all different regions of the world in the form of a railjam. This afternoon the so called "Stair Rail Battle“ took place down in the valley at the rockresort.  The Jam Session had a field of over 60 riders sessioning a stair feature with hundreds of spectators watching.


SCOTT rider Jonas Hunziker and SCOTT rider and winner Ashley Battersby

The crowd was treated to 2 hours of non-stop action. When the dust settled five judges crowned the “Winner of the Stair Rail Battle” at the European Freeski Open by Swatch 2010 to JF Houle from Canada and SCOTT team rider Ashley Battersby from the USA. 


SCOTT International Teamrider Tom Wallisch on course

SCOTT International team rider Tom Wallisch took home 2nd, after throwing down an amazing show for the cheering crowd.

Congratulations guys!

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The SRAM XX Maremma Cup had with its second weekend of racing a successful continuation. The same is for the SCOTT-Swisspower Mountain Bike Team who started of the season with a strong showing. With Florian Vogel in second and Nino Schurter in third we had two guys on the podium, tough the victory went to the Italian champion Marco Aurelio Fontana (Cannondale). With Patrik Gallati in the U23 and Roger Walder in the junior’s race we still had two wins to celebrate.

With 17 nations at the start the Sundays XC race saw a mini edition of a world cup race. The first row at the start line look like the “who is who” of mountain bike racing. Italian champion Marco Aurelio Fontana – European champion Ralph Näf – Olympic champion Julien Absalon – Spanish champion Jose Antonio Hermida – Moritz Milatz (who crashed badly and ended up in the hospital with a broken nose) – and Swiss champion Florian Vogel – all lined up in front of another 100 riders including the two Olympic champions Bart Brentjens and Miguel Martinez.

A trio with Fontana-Vogel and Näf escaped already in first lap. Followed by the Orbea Team with Absalon and the two Spaniards Ruzafa and Lejaretta. Nino Schurter who had not the best start also jumped on the Orbea train. 

Half way trough Näf dropped back. The battle between Fontana and Vogel had to decide about the winner. In second last lap Florian dropped his chain, which Fontana right away turned into a 15 second, lead that he kept to the finish line.

Still, Flo can be proud of his second place. With his strong performance he let his rivals know they can count on him in 2010. A bit more than just a fight for the third podium spot was the duel of Schurter and Absalon. Like at last year’s worlds, they where battling head to head the last lap. And again it was Nino who had the better end. Just a little taste of what is to come in 2010.

We also saw a great race of Patrik Gallati. In the middle of world-class riders he finished in 9^th and won the U23 race. Roger Walder had to battle it out with two other competitors on last lap and also was in front at the end.  Not enough, Marcel Wildhaber in 26^th and Matthias Rupp in 34^th made up for a great team performance.

Next week we head to South Africa for the 8-day Cape Epic. Nino Schurter and Florian Vogel jump into this adventure for the first time.

Ranking

1. FONTANA Marco Aurelio (CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING) 1.43.35
2. VOGEL Florian (SCOTT-SWISSPOWER MTB-Racing) 1.44.04
3. SCHURTER Nino (SCOTT-SWISSPOWER MTB-Racing) 1.44.37
4. ABSALON Julien (ORBEA) 1.44.48
5. LONGO Tony (TEAM FULL-DYNAMIX) 1.45.13.1
6. RUZAFA Ruben (ORBEA)
7. LEJARETTA Inaki (ORBEA)
8. MARTINEZ Miguel (G-SKIN)
9. GALLATI Patrik (SCOTT-SWISSPOWER MTB-Racing)
10. NÄF Ralph (MERIDA) EL

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Columbia-HTC rider Frantisek Rabon has clinched the overall victory of the Tour of Murcia, Spain, following a trouble-free final stage on Sunday.

Rabon had taken the lead thanks to his spectacular time trial victory on Saturday. HTC-Columbia then kept the race well under control in Sunday's 121.1 kilometre stage from Redyser to Murcia, won by Holland's Theo Bos.


The five-day Tour of Murcia is Rabon's first ever stage race victory as a professional, and the 26-year-old took it with a 38 second advantage over Russia's Denis Menchov, second overall, and a 53 second on third-placed British rider Bradley Wiggins.

"The first 40 kilometres of the final stage, before the one big climb of the day, were a bit crazy with attacks going everywhere. But afterwards we kept it all under control," said HTC-Columbia's sports director for the race, Tristan Hoffman.

"At one point there was a break of nine riders, with one of them a potential threat because he was less than three minutes behind Frankie [Rabon] on the overall. Fortunately, he dropped out of the break and we combined with the sprinters' teams to close things down."


"Frankie's always been a great time triallist, but now he's getting much better on the climbs, too, so we weren't too worried."

The HTC-Columbia director singled out "all the young guys on our team, who were really nervous but also really motivated about keeping the breaks under control. What we had to do we did well."

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March 4th, 2010

The Powd’air is an extremely light ski that is as suitable for going uphill as it is for the ski down. It has a really touchy feel on the snow and it’s light, nimble, and quick in tight spots like trees and bumps. It mixes up the pace with ease, blasting out quick turns and holds its own on long high-speed turns. I expected to be able to fold this ski in half because it felt so light. That didn’t happen. At a paltry 7.5 pounds per pair, touring on these is a breeze. It comes in 163, 173, and 183 lengths. The 183’s dimensions are 134/100/123 and it has 19.5-meter turn radius. Scott uses what they call Sandwich Sidewall Construction Laminate Carbon—a braided carbon laminate top and bottom sheet, classic sandwich sidewall, and hardwood poplar-ash core to give this ski its lightweight and snappy feel. It has traditional camber and sidecut. If you are primarily a backcountry skier but also ski the resort and will only buy one ski, this will do the trick. Click Here to see the story on www.skiingmag.com.

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In 2010, SCOTT is proud to introduce our first ever MX helmet line, please check the catalog online.

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Today Marino Vanhoenacker started into the new season with a bang: He dominated Ironman Malaysia and passed the finish line almost half an hour ahead of the second placed Hiroyuki Nishiuchi from Japan and Romain Guillaume from France.




In spite of tropical conditions the Belgian athlete showed a phenomenal race in 8:22:31 hours and qualified for the World Championship on Hawaii in October. Furthermore the Commerzbank athlete set a new bike record in 4:21:01 hours.



“This was a perfect start into the season”, overwhelmed Vanhoenacker said after the race. “Facing really brutal conditions with extremely high humidity, it is just fantastic to perform like that.” Titleholder Luke McKenzie from Australia had to give up on the bike course due to stomach problems.

For more information on the team please visit triathlon.commerzbank.com

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AMA Supercross Round 8 – Atlanta

Lites-

Round 8 of the AMA Monster Energy Supercross series in Atlanta Georgia was nothing short of spectacular. The Lites main event brought fans to their feet as several rider swapped positions for the lead.
For the second week in a row Christophe Pourcel and Austin Stroupe each won their heat races and go 1 and 2 in the second east coast lites round! There were a couple crazy moments with a few of the top riders going down, one of them being Austin Stroupe. Austin regained quickly, charging back never giving up taking second place overall. Christophe rode a very consistent race riding smooth all the way to the finish! Congratulations Christophe and Austin! This makes Scott USA 2 for 2 on the east coast!!


Results-

1.Christophe Pourcel   KAW  Scott Goggle rider

2.Austin Stroupe   SUZ  Scott Apparel/Goggle rider

3.Brett Metcalfe    HON

4.Dean Wilson    KAW  Scott Goggle rider

5.Blake Baggett   SUZ

6.Vince Friese    YAM

7.Matt Lamoine    SUZ

8.Jake Moss   SUZ

9.L Kibarger    HON

10.K Cunningham   HON





Supercross-

In the 450 main, Ryan Dungey nailed the holeshot with Trey Canard in second and Ryan Villopoto in third. A few laps in, Villopoto crashes moving Canard into second and Scott athlete, Davi Millsaps, into third. After winning his heat race, Millsaps rode strong in third closing in on teammate Canard earning a well deserved third place finish. Millsaps now sits fourth place overall in points behind Ryan Villapoto in third. Look for Davi on the podium this weekend at round 9 of the AMA Monster Energy Supercross series in Daytona Beach, FL.


Results-

1.Ryan Dungey   SUZ

2.Trey Canard   HON

3.Davi Millsaps    HON  Scott Apparel/Goggle rider

4.Ivan Tedesco   YAM

5.Justin Brayton   YAM

6.Josh Hill   YAM

7.Micheal Byrne   YAM

8.Jason Lawrence    YAM

9.Grant Langston   YAM

10.Nick Wey KAW















*All photos via Transworld Motocrosss

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SCOTT mountain guide Stephan Siegrist boasts a tremendous mountaineering resume. He has ascended the 14 world's highest peaks, including Mount Everest and K2. Currently, Stephen is touring Europe and presenting his latest accomplishments which include his first descent of the 1000 meter high north face of the Arwa Tower, an impressive peak in the Garhwal-Himalaya and three Antarctican first descents where he faced temperatures pushing minus 45 °celsius. Another of Stephen’s accomplishments is climbing the “Pilz” in front of the Eiger Northface on the Magic Mushroom route, jumping down and releasing the line at the foot of the Eiger Nordwand, fulfilling a lifelong dream.


Stephan Siegrist -  SCOTT Mountainguide Team

Take your chance and come and see Stephan touring in Switzerland and speaking about his accomplishments.

Tourdates

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