N1NO World Champion
The decisive moment
Ever since getting back into mountain biking and riding Scott Bikes, been following N1NO, and he just won the world championships. His 4th and the biggest moment of his #huntforglory campaign in 2015.
The race unfolded perfectly for N1NO. In the first lap he managed to get down the technical section in first place while Julien Absalon was held back by some fast starting riders. After two days of rain the sun was out, but in some sections the track was still very slippery. The technicality of the course played a huge part in deciding the outcome. None of the racers got through without little mistakes or crashes. Even N1NO had to get off the bike few times, less than the rest of the field however. He demonstrated that once again when it comes to tricky sections, nobody can keep up with him. After the first lap Julien Absalon closed the gap. While Jaroslav Kulhavy was out of contention with a broken rib, his fellow countryman Ondrej Cink put in an awesome showing. He was the only one staying close to the leading duo and eventually won the well deserved bronze medal. At the front N1NO was playing yoyo with his big rival Absalon. Always gaining some seconds on the descents, and letting let him close the gap again after. Midway through the race it started to look a bit different. N1NO made a mistake on a technical uphill and immediately Absalon launched an attack. But Absalon’s luck would run out. N1NO got back on and soon took the lead again. With One and a half laps to go it was this one traverse in the woods, full of slippery rocks and roots that decided the race between Julien and N1NO. Even though N1NO only gained 4-5 seconds there, it added up to be 10 seconds at the end of the descent. From this moment on it was all out to the finish. Sometimes Julien would get within 5 seconds, then N1NO would once again gain time. One little mistake and the race would be totally open again. N1NO resisted the strong pressure from Julien and brought the 10 second lead all the way to the finish line.
Pressure is on
Hunt for Glory
I’ll see more Scotts next week at Interbike and waiting to ride their new CX bike again.