Vital Mtb - Speaking Of Mountain Biking

Go deep with interviews of downhill racers as they arrive in La Bresse, France, for the final stop of the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. Sven Martin and @maddogboris with the goods.Interviews subjects in order Aaron Gwin on his thumb injury and riding a new 29er Amaury Pierron on clinching the overall and having no pressure Brendan Fairclough on Freeracing Brook MacDonald on the details of the La Bresse DH track Eddie Masters, Bernard Kerr - track first impressions Gee Atherton on a fresh, new track where a large amount of small decisions add up Giant Factory Off-Road mechanic, Grant Sides, on packing for the World Cup Greg Minnaar on recovering, the track and the old-guy-are-you-retiring-soon question Loic on racing in France, thoughts on the DH course and how La Bresse was his first-ever World Cup as a Junior Martin Maes on minimizing risk for his EWS battles, using La Bresse as a warm-up for World Champs and his EWS in Whistler Marshy, Syndicate mechanic, on why he does

Sean McClendon, better known as Griz, is a one of mountain biking's greatest community members. He grew up racing downhill, eventually making his way into the pro ranks as a national level contender in the U.S. Throughout his race journey, he set out to keep mountain biking fun and spirited with the Low Budget Rollers, the 2Six Stallions and eventually put on the first MTB whip contest, the Sideflight Champs. In 2010, Griz suffered a major injury at the National Champs where he over-jumped a massive gap jump. The crash impact pushed both femur bones through his hip sockets almost taking away his mobility. His road to recovery was long and challenging, but he persevered and continues to ride hard. Today he's part of the crew at Deity components as National Sales manager and Fresh Blood talent scout. Enjoy the episode with a passionate mountain bike family member who is a true inspiration.

Brandon Turman hosts The Inside Line this week with special guest, Joey Schusler. Brandon says, "I had the pleasure of catching up with a long-time friend of mine, Joey Schusler. In recent years Joey has played a big role as a rider, director, filmer, and photographer in some truly incredible films and features that you've no doubt laid eyes on. This was recorded in Snowmass, Colorado at the 17th Annual Yeti Tribe Gathering, a multi-day get together of Yeti owners and fans in a rad location, riding bikes and having a great time. Snowmass is a place where Joey has a lot of history as a race winner, so it was only fitting that we touch on his journey from local grom to US hopeful, World Cups, World Champs, enduro racing, and how they have helped fuel the adventures he's up to today. Enjoy the show!"

Sam Hill and Cecile Ravanel win Enduro World Series races again and this time the victories are secured at the epic venue of La Thuile, Italy. Sam is 4 for 5 this season while Cecile has swept the 2018 series so far, even while dabbling in some World Cup DH. The EWS is a fickle beast with racers once at the top finding nothing but struggle and others remaining consistent. With 5000m of breath-taking descending in two days, this La Thuile event was a race for the ages. Our slideshow from the event is live on www.vitalmtb.com

Erik Saunders has a long history in the world of bike racing. Coming up as a competitive road, criterium and track racer with a National Championship under his belt, he's channeled his love of racing, bikes and competition into a position of keeping mountain bike racing alive and well. He's Brand Manager at VP Components, but he's a big reason for the rise of the California Enduro Series, which will host its first Enduro World Series event at Northstar in 2019. From grassroots, all the way to the top of the box, Erik is passionate about all levels of racing and is not afraid to take chances or make a decision. This philosophy has benefited our great sport in ways we may not realize both locally and internationally. Oh, he's a handy DIYer too, making fenders out of plastic grocery bags among other cool projects. Enjoy the episode!

Sven Martin, Boris Beyer and Dan Hearn interview the racers from the Andorra World Cup Downhill today where Loris Vergier takes his first World Cup Downhill win and Tahnee Seagrave backs up her Val di Sole victory.

Another incredible World Cup Downhill is in the books and we have interviews capturing the highs and lows with winners and losers from Val di Sole, Italy. Thanks to Sven Martin, @maddogboris and Dan Hearn for the hustle!

Go deep with some of the fastest World Cup DH racers as they discuss the chaos of qualifying in Val di Sole, Italy today.

Enjoy some post-training interviews from the Val di Sole World Cup Downhill. The course is steep, rough and sketchy in the dry. Throw in some rain, like what happened during the timed training session, and all bets on survival are off. Sven Martin and @maddogboris interview Danny Hart, Aaron Gwin, Amaury Pierron, Rachel Atherton, Luca Shaw, Troy Brosnan, Myriam Nicole, Vali Holl, Finn Iles, Loic Bruni and Jack Moir in today's broadcast. Stay tuned to www.vitalmtb.com for the Vital RAW and the slideshow later today.

All heart, all passion and all in. Eric Davies, founder of Deity components, has turned a life-long dream into a thriving independent mountain bike parts brand. From a unique childhood in Central America to stumbling across mountain biking in college, Eric worked his way from bike shop employee to industry insider. Eventually, he grew tired of helping others build something he didn't believe in and started Deity in late 2003 with his wife Sadie. The rest is patient, deliberate history and I hope you enjoy learning about that history in this week's podcast.

It was another day of incredible racing at the Leogang World Cup Downhill. Times were incredibly close and there was no room for error. Sven, Boris and Dan deliver the intimate post-race interviews with the winners and the heart-broken.

See the full report on www.vitalmtb.com - The fastest riders respond to changes made to the once-boring Leogang, Austria, World Cup DH track.

Sven Martin and Boris Beyer talk with the racers at the Fort William World Cup DH today where Amaury Pierron, Tahnee Seagrave, Kye A'hern and Vali Holl took victories. Also interviewed are riders like Aaron Gwin, Loris Vergier, Rachel Atherton, Greg Minnaar, Troy Brosnan, Martin Maes, Reece Wilson and Loic Bruni. Martin Whiteley wraps up the interviews with some exciting news about potential future World Cup DH venues.

One of mountain bike racing's most important and influential men is our guest on The Inside Line this week. Martin Whiteley, owner of the YT Mob, has been involved in World Cup MTB racing since the very beginning. From racer to UCI delegate to team owner, he is a veritable encyclopedia of race knowledge. Lee Trumpore sits down with Martin to discuss the health of World Cup mountain bike racing now compared to the past, the talents of riders like Greg Minnaar and Aaron Gwin as well as the future of racing. Dig in, it's full of incredible history and facts of our sport. 

There's an Outkast song with a quote describing Teddy Pendergrass as cooler than Freddie Jackson sipping a milkshake in a snowstorm. That quote could easily be attached to the one and only, John Hall, mechanic for Aaron Gwin and the YT Mob. From his South Dakota roots racing BMX to New World Disorder-inspired hucking, John landed in Southern California when he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Not wanting to return home after his service, he worked construction and eventually landed a job as a bike mechanic at a shop in Hemet, California. Combine a willingness to work with a little bit of timing, luck and friendships and eventually John found his way to working with Aaron. Fast-forward to today and he's helped earn boatload of World Cup DH wins and provided design input on the new YT TUES. Get inspired by a steady demeanor and strong work ethic and enjoy this Inside Line with Mr. Cool John Hall. 

Have you ever climbed 1,000,000 vertical feet in a year on your mountain bike, let alone a VP-Free? Have you ever coughed so hard your jaw locked open? The legendary Sergeant of Suffering, Mark Weir has. Weir is a NorCal MTB legend who has given us Hell Ride, helped blaze the pumptrack trail and taught us that epic adventure is what getting into the mountains is all about. Marco Osborne is a young, upstart American enduro racing pinner who learned all he needs to know from Mark Weir. At the TDS (The Dirty Sanchez) Enduro a couple weeks ago, Vital's Brandon Turman sat down with Weir and Osborne to see talk enduro racing, suffering for your trails in Marin county and putting your wheels where your heart is.

It is with great pleasure to share this week's Inside Line podcast with you. The incredibly funny, energetic and honest Leigh Donovan, American mountain bike racing legend and World Champion, gets on the mic to talk race history, sponsorship highs and lows, dealing with anxiety and how important it is that we get more people safely on mountain bikes. I've always been a fan of hers but have a new respect for all that she accomplished and achieved throughout her career after this interview. I hope you enjoy it and learn as much as I did. -gordo

@maddogboris gets a post-race interview with Laurie Greenland, winner of the iXS Downhill Cup in Maribor, Slovenia. It was like a mini-World Cup with Croatia right around the corner.

Enjoy this informal, fun interview with Greg Callaghan and Gee Atherton. The two were training together in Southern California and we thought it would be fun to have the racers ask each other the questions.

I believe that Rob Warner is a significant part of the success of today's World Cup Downhill mountain biking. As a winning DH racer, he turned his passion and knowledge into a career as the voice of our sport. Starting as commentator for the first World Cup DH race webcasts with Freecaster.tv, he made the transition when Red Bull TV took over the webcast and has honed his narrative skills ever since. I'm honored to have had the chance to meet and interview Rob as he visited California for some other bike-related projects. Learning about the behind-the-scenes effort that goes into what we hear on race day was eye-opening. I enjoyed every minute in his presence with this interview and hope that you enjoy it too. Bring on Croatia!