Sam Hill – Champ

WILDMAR, Calif., (September 5, 2010) – The Monster Energy Specialized team had a banner weekend in Mont Ste Anne Canada this weekend as Sam Hill (AUS) and Troy Brosnan (AUS) took home both the senior and junior downhill World Championship titles.

The diminutive Brosnan was a mere .06 seconds ahead of second place on a track that is renowned as being one of the most physically demanding in the world. Under less than ideal conditions that included high wind, fog and intermittent rain, the young Aussie took on all comers and earned himself a set of coveted rainbow stripes to cap off his first year on the world cup circuit.

“I can’t believe it. I’m just sitting here with Sam, there was a double rainbow behind us before and I guess it was Mother nature just saying well done! I can’t believe it”.

  The double rainbow for the Monster Specialized team.

Hill completed what had started to look like a season to forget about after suffering a knee injury that required surgery during the off season, followed by a massive crash in Fort William that tore multiple ligaments in his shoulder. As the rain started to fall this morning, the elusive wonder from down under rolled into the tent with a smile on his face.  When the conditions go south, Hill goes from a force to be reckoned with, to the only force worth worrying about.  He would not disappoint today, sliding into the hot seat with 9 riders to go. The Monster Energy Specialized rider ended up being untouchable, taking the win with a 2.63 second lead.

“This feels unreal.  Last year the course wasn’t the best for me, only giving me an outside chance.  The year before I gave it away falling down, so that was 2 chances I missed out on. 

  Brendan Fairclough took a bad spill and may have broken his hand.

I’m pretty excited to come back after all of the injuries and stuff I’ve had this year and win.  I was actually pretty devastated after practice this morning, I felt pretty slow and didn’t think I’d have a good chance at it.  Sitting in the hot seat and watching rider after rider come down was pretty awesome.”

Brendan Fairclough (GBR) had a fantastic run going until he got a bit too sideways in a corner and went over the bars, punching a rock and possibly breaking his hand in the process.  The Brit then did the unthinkable, crushing his hand onto the bar with the other hand and finishing his run, including some of the fastest roughest terrain on the World Cup circuit.

  Troy Brosnan won the junior title by just .05 seconds.

Team Manager, Sean Heimdal- “I’m so proud of Sam, Troy, and Brendan right now that I think I’ll let the rider’s results speak for themselves. What an effort by all 3, and I’d like to thank the worlds best team mechanic, Jacy Shumilak for keeping the bikes rolling til the end!! I’m still soaking it in…thanks to all our sponsors for the amazing support this season and Renthal for coming in late in the series to keep the rider’s in control. What a team effort within the program, Monster Energy, SRAM, and the entire Specialized crew!!”

The team will now take a well deserved rest before making their way to Las Vegas for the Interbike tradeshow and then over to Indonesia for an exhibition race.

  Sam Hill in full moto mode and his way to World Championship victory.

We’d like to thank the following companies for their continued support: Monster Energy, Specialized Bicycles, Mad Catz, SRAM, Truvativ, Rock Shox, Avid, Renthal, SDG, Troy Lee Designs, Alligator, Cane Creek, Crank Brothers, DT Swiss, e-thirteen, Five Ten, Maxima, Obtainium, Hot Shoppe, OGIO, THE, Thule, UFO, VholdR, Kicker, KMC.

Follow your favorite Monster Energy/Specialized/Mad Catz rider at: iamspecialized.com
 
For more information on UCI World Cup MTB racing, link to: www.uci.ch

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World Championships thread here…