The Friday Video

Who says there is no passion in mountain biking, it's not a spectator sport, just someone riding down a hill.....

This week we bring you some incredibly enthusiastic reporting, not to mention some incredible riding skill and total 'go for it' attitude from the World Championship Downhill event at Champery. Going into this Championship Aaron Gwin had comfortably taken out the World Cup series with five wins from seven. But the young guns have been making a show of things and nineteen year old English rider Danny Hart has been turning some heads with some exciting performances which included 2nd place on the podium at Fort William and Val di Sole.

Come the weekend of the Championship event the worst everyone feared happened, after a week of dry and dusty practice sessions the the rain that no one really wanted, with the exception of the wet weather specialists, finally showed up. This was lining up for a great finale, the young gun Hart getting the chance to show his experience in the wet and slippery conditions, Gwin aiming to prove that he could ride mud and technical.

Overnight rain eased for the junior session on the Sunday morning but by the time of the main event it was hosing down. After some variable runs with many riders slipping and making mistakes Spagnolo recorded a 3'  53" run to take the lead. As other riders continued to struggle Danny Hart was ready at the gate 4th last to ride. And boy did he put in the ride of his life. At the first timing point he was an incredible 4.6 secs ahead and an electric buzz went through the crowd as they sensed something special. By the second time split he was 10 secs up and the commentator and crowd were going wild. There was one moment where the boy from Redcar looked like he had lost it but after a miraculous save the rest of the run became a spectacle, with amazing jumps and leaps Danny was now playing to the enthralled crowd. Through the bottom gate he was 11.699 seconds up - what an incredible ride.

Could the already crowned World Cup holder Gwin do anything about it, did he have a response... Despite only being a second back from Danny on the first sector he went wide on a corner and caught the side netting. And that was it!

But words cannot do this ride justice. Watch the video, feel the energy, feel the passion..... And remember the name Danny Hart. This 19 year old kid is going places.

Check out the full report and pictures at; PinkBike News - Danny Hart