How to win in Urban Downhill MTB

How to win in Urban Downhill MTB
Join me in France for the 2024 Urban Downhill Pro Tour event. Now on it’s third year in the city of Grenoble.
Beyond delighted to take the win and lead the series. Special thanks to the fans at the end of the race for their energy and passion for this incredible sport.

it’s a sunny day here in groby we are ready for the groby urban downhill this is the third edition I can’t wait the iconic start to the race here dropping down heading towards the massive jump over there this race is going to be amazing and this year I’ve brought my or rayon couple of modifications we got a seven-speed drivetrain we got a slightly bigger chain ring on the front and a modified chain guide as well suspension settings are a lot harder than normal and tire set Tire pressures are also a lot higher this is going to be epic I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping that the sun is going to stay out let’s get on the track and do some practice first hits let’s go wait see not too bad got some work to do but all come on guys the bottom a Mery [Music] love it melie melie that’s what it’s all about that is two test runs done feel really relaxed everyone else is freaking out bike feels fantastic uh nothing really to work on other than speed obviously just want to go a bit faster in the finals um and that’s what this practice is about really for me is just try and up the speed nice and safe don’t take any risks there’s already been a big crash uh Felipe had a big crash on that double earlier and fell off the top of the van landed on the tarmac so luckily he’s okay uh but yeah I just take no risks nice and relaxed try not to uh to Pedal going up as well so I’m just saving energy just have a walk talk to you guys you know and as you can see we got wet concrete dry concrete which makes it a little bit more interesting but so far so good OA rayon Urban DH spec is doing the job unfortunately as you can see rain has stopped play out there so I am now back in my hotel room got the bikes looking a bit soggy and basically we can’t do any more training today so it’s going to be all tomorrow which is even more exciting this is old school Urban downhill now where you don’t practice you just get out there and find out who’s best Rider on the day I love it can’t wait first excitement of the day we got Ricardo his new kit so his bag didn’t arrive so he’s being gifted by the lovely or Alan some fresh kit everyone’s getting excited about this everyone wants a piece of this action we’re going to put some cleats on and there is Mr charity himself yeah it’s uh 1 and a half for practice full practice okay if you want to stop just don’t stop on the track okay first run in the sunshine me h it’s a big wet puddle that’s bad for the race see so first run not too shabby bit worrying the big puddle at the end on slicky cobbles but all part of the things we got to deal with and the fact that I’m out of breath no it feels good uh nice and clean same objective as yesterday really avoid trouble don’t get hurt don’t over push it and just build on that really and also don’t lose too much energy uh so I’ll do another run maybe two more and then we’ll go to finals right tire compound change we’re going to go for a magic Mar now instead of the handstand from the front that should give a bit better breaking on the front end and at the same time it should help with a bit of the uh the arm pump because the first bit of ention on your bike is actually your tires and I’ve probably got time for one more practice run that will give me three in total and then I have to make the decision on which front tire we’re going for for those of you wondering this wheel has just come straight off of my or Be Wild the idea being that I have my or be wild with me and I can just change setups very fast rather than having to change tires I just change the whole wheel back on the start line with the second Tire Choice uh a little bit of a pause unfortunately too the rider has just gone down has crashed so we have a little bit of a pause now um and this is kind of the the the way that race days go not that people crash all the time but there’s lots of waiting around so this is what you guys don’t normally see on camera but you get to see today zon so that’s it I’m going to say last practice pretty much done I’m happy with the lines and everything um little bit worried about the boter that goes into the garden section that was really slippy I lost front end a little bit and then the back end a lot just before I took off I think that might be why Teo crashed as well because we’re dragging mud and slop onto that wooden ramp so these are the things with Urban downhill that unless you’re in it and you know about this stuff the viewers don’t get to see so I’m hoping that these videos give you guys an insight into what it’s actually like and the things that we have to face uh not complaining at all it’s just an element that comes to the game that you don’t have in traditional mountain biking uh you know in traditional mountain biking it pretty much stays the same so yeah and here’s my taxi which is amazing I can jump on the S on okay see one SM super cool laps done with this man now it’s time for cuscus food so nice they named it twice and then we’ll go to do some qualifying Miss qualification let’s have it not too bad not too bad qualification done do you know what I’m actually quite happy with that there was a couple of tiny tiny mistakes like let’s jumping front this car yeah some very small mistakes but I don’t think it actually lost me track time so yeah I’m happy with that now we go up see what everyone else does cuz I’m quite early on in the qualifications I was only third Rider down so now we’re going and see what everyone else does and uh then we’ll get ready for race time one more run to do and that’s the one that counts see you up there results are in tell me who is P1 P1 B P1 who is P2 gust gustow and I have raced for seven years together every time we race either he wins or I win that is that happens every time now it’s my time but yeah I won the last race and every time one of us wins the none of us have done back toback wins so the next race is always the other person so it’s Gustav’s day today he has to win it no pressure bro no way no way I’m okay see you guys let’s go let [Music] go one [Music] minute two one all go [Applause] [Applause] yes yes be man yeah come on cheers br oh get in [Applause] there insane dude yeah I had to push because I saw the time oh man I saw I saw you benw time 54 and then I think gusta did the same and I was like oh now we have to push youed so fast on [Applause] the on the section with the with the small small stairs yeah thanks man your R was good so good oh bro I’m sorry it’s good I’m sorry dude it’s good your time I was looking at I was [Music] [Applause] what time I see you and I was like oh no I’m in trouble I have a problem [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] that is race done I’m really sorry I’m sorry dude we’ve broken the curse finally I beat him two times in a row now the pressure is on you next time I beat you next time he’s got to but he’s now a dad so you know that slowed him down a bit exactly dud they don’t make crows they like they do in France I don’t even know what they’re doing but it’s cool cheers guys cheers crazy atmosphere to finish the race absolutely incredible feeling um there’s a lot of work that goes in behind the scenes and hopefully these videos are showing you guys is what the racing is about it’s not just about turning up on the day and racing there’s a lot more to it a lot of science that goes on and a lot of people behind the scenes a lot of people to thank so obviously Susie and Dave my coach those guys are the two most important people in this puzzle that don’t get get seen on this so you guys amazing thank you so much hope you enjoyed the video we’ll see you on the next one