Specialized race report from Schladming.

Tracy Moseley capped off Trek World Racing’s debut season with an impressive victory on arguably the toughest downhill track in World Cup racing. The famous Schladming track here in Austria drops 750m over a distance of 2.2km and tests the riders with incredibly steep rooty sections strewn with large holes and drops, as well as super high speed sections. In qualifying Tracy managed 7th and needed to tweak her race day strategy by splitting the course into 3 sections in her mind and racing the top half solidly while keeping something in reserve for the final third of the course so as to not suffer from arm pump in sight of the finish line.

Many of her competitors went out too aggressively, including World Champion Emmeline Ragot (FRA), who had a fall that ultimately cost her 2nd place in the overall rankings, a place that Tracy happily inherited with her win.

In the Men’s race Justin Leov put in yet another consistent top 10 ride to finish 6th for the day, and 6th in the overall standings. It was an impressive season that saw two World Cup podiums for the New Zealander, as well as his best ever overall ranking. Andrew Neethling, who broke his hand in training 2 weeks ago at the World Championships elected to race and try and score points, and although it was tough he did enough to secure a top 15 in the overall.

Tracy Moseley said: “Now that is a nice surprise! After qualifying in 7th on Friday and suffering a lot from arm pump I went back to looking at how I needed to attack this course differently and it worked out. My style of riding is steadier than most and that worked out well here. I’m really stoked because next year the race courses are very similar to this one and it’s nice to know I can win on this type of terrain. It’s a great confidence boost to go into the off season with a win”.

Justin Leov said: “I’ve had my best season ever this year and my goal was to come here and protect my 6th ranking. 5th was too far ahead to catch in the finals but there were a number of riders who could have passed me for 6th if I wasn’t on it this weekend. I was only 3 tenths off the podium and that’s a solid way to finish up. Looking forward to improving further next year.”

Andrew Neethling said: “The plan for the day was to try and score enough points to hold onto a top 15 overall ranking. Riding with a broken hand is never ideal but as it’s the last race of the season, I felt I needed to give it a shot and see what points I could salvage. Even though I did minimal training I seemed to have pretty good pace. Coming into the final minute of racing, I lost the front end of the bike in some grass, trying to avoid ruts, and I came down on my left hand side (the good side) and lost valuable seconds. But fortunately 58th place scored me enough points to get 15th for the overall so I’m pretty happy about that.”

Team Owner Martin Whiteley said: “What an awesome finish to the year. Tracy’s win and 2nd overall; Mathias getting 3rd, Justin and Lukas in the top 10 overall; and now our confirmed team rankings as 2nd in Downhill and 5th in XC. In total 12 elite World Cup podiums. A huge thanks of course to our title sponsor Trek for the amazing equipment and support beyond measure. Major sponsors JBL, Fox Racing Shox, Bontrager and Shimano for their commitment and support throughout the year, and of course our other sponsors who ensured that our bikes and riders were well equipped. Lazer Helmets, FUNN, e*thirteen, SDG, Alpinestars, Motorex, Lucozade, RRP, Fox Clothing.

The results and standings are below.

Men’s Results:

1. Sam Hill (AUS) – 4m 01.10secs
2. Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) – 4m 03.43secs
3. Greg Minnaar (RSA) – 4m 04.71secs
4. Aaron Gwin (USA) – 4m 08.07secs
5. Brendan Fairclough (GBR) – 4m 08.93secs
6. Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) – 4m 09.28secs
58. Andrew Neethling (Trek World Racing) – 4m 23.22secs

Men’s Standings

1. Sam Hill (AUS) – 1469 pts
2. Greg Minnaar (RSA) – 1349 pts
3. Steve Peat (GBR) – 1258 pts
4. Gee Atherton (GBR) – 1166 pts
5. Mick Hannah (AUS) – 990 pts
6. Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) – 838 pts
15. Andrew Neethling (Trek World Racing) – 520 pts

Women’s Results:

1. Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing) – 4m 54.73secs
2. Floriane Pugin (FRA) – 4m 55.57secs
3. Celine Gros (FRA) – 4m 56.52secs
4. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) – 4m 59.71secs
5. Mio Suemasa (JPN) – 4m 59.87secs

Women’s Standings

1. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) – 1767 pts
2. Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing) – 1355 pts
3. Emmeline Ragot (FRA) – 1335 pts
4. Floriane Pugin (FRA) – 1114 pts
5. Celine Gros (FRA) – 1010 pts

Team Standings

1. Santa Cruz Syndicate – 589 pts
2. Trek World Racing – 530 pts
3. Yeti Fox Shox Factory Team – 440 pts
4. Monster Energy Specialized – 410 pts
5. Team Maxxis Rocky Mountain – 407 pts

What an epic end to the season! Here it is from the guys at MTBcut.tv