Monster Energy’s Hill, Jonnier, Fairclough & Graves Open Nissan UCI World Cup MTB Tour In S. Africa
Monster’s World Cup mt. bike racers Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier look to regain WC DH titles they’ve once owned, while Jared Graves is one of the favorites in 4x
Photo: Monster Energy’s Brendan Fairclough (left) and Sam Hill, courtesy of Fraser Britton
CORONA, Calif., (April 7, 2009) – Monster Energy’s global representatives on the Nissan UCI World Cup mountain bike tour are in South Africa for the World Cup opener this weekend (April 10-12) in Pietermaritzburg. Leading the Monster Army in hopes of regaining their UCI World Cup downhill champion status are Sam Hill, the 2007 men’s elite WC DH champ, and Sabrina Jonnier, a three time women’s elite WC DH champion.
Hill, running the new Specialized Demo 8 bike, is one of the odds-on favorites to capture the men’s elite title this season. Last year the Australian great held the series’ overall points lead for the longest out of any rider, but sketched at the second-to-last round on his home turf in Canberra (Australia) and lost out to Greg Minnaar.
“I’m pretty excited the World Cup is starting again and we've got all our new bikes,” said Hill. “It’s gonna be good to do some runs with Brendan again and see how we size up compared to all the others on Sunday. Hopefully we come out good.”
Monster Energy’s Jonnier, who rides for Maxxis, has been – by far – one of the most successful women downhill racers in the history of UCI World Cup competition. Along with her three WC DH titles (2003, ’05 & ’07) the France native has also been the series’ runner-up four times (2002, ’04, ’06 and ’08).
“I’m entering the World Cup season healthy and feeling good about things,” said Jonnier. “It’ll be interesting to see who’s fast at the South African opener, check out the new talent and how they do against the racers that have traditionally gone fast. My plan is to just keep the mental errors to a minimum and ride like I know how.”
Joining Hill and Jonnier in the DH starting gate will be Hill’s Monster Energy teammate on the Specialized bikes, Brendan Fairclough – the 2006 Junior World Cup champion. A UK native, Fairclough is looking at a breakout year as he begins his third year racing the men’s elite class on the World Cup DH circuit.
“I've taken a bit of a different approach in the off season, so I’m interested to see how it turns out with the racing,” said Fairclough. “Like Sam said, I'm just keen to get out there and see how we perform against those other boys. I'm excited about it. I'm stoked on the look of the new bikes, kit and how well they ride. I'm just excited to get going again, really.”
The Pietermaritzburg downhill is reported to be quite technical on the upper third portion of the 2.8km course, dropping quickly (in elevation) during the initial phase before mellowing out on what race officials call the “mildly sloping” middle section – featuring jumps and tight turns. The course then cascades into the third and final section, which works in the last 500 meters of the 4x course into the finish area, hosting a sizable crowd of UCI World Cup race fans.
The final Monster Energy-backed athlete competing on in Pietermaritzburg will be newly-signed Jared Graves. The DH and 4x specialist from Australia should make an immediate impact on the standings with Monster as he’s well-versed in numerous forms of cycle racing at top levels, including representing Australia in the Beijing Olympics in BMX.
For more information on the Monster Energy mt. bike racers competing at the UCI World Cup opener in Pietermaritzburg, catch a link to: http://www.nissan-ucimtbworldcup.com/
Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it MTB, SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, NASCAR Trucks, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. Our mt. bikers rock ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com
