There are lots of fast riders out there. Some seem to be invisible until they appear on the results list. Others stand out by their clothing and their beautiful riding style. Just like Spaniard Iago Garay. But this guy is also damn fast! Last year he called the people’s attention with his pink-blue outfit on the world’s race circuits. This year he starts in black / orange kit, an aesthetically very clean outfit (typical for POC). After an amazing 8th place overall at the Megavalanche in Alpe d’Huez and the victory at the Spanish Nation in Sub-23, we thought it would be time to present this guy who proudly wears our Enduro Mag logo on his jersey!
Iago is a 21-year old racer from Madrid, Spain. He rides for Santa Cruz Bikes, The Right Direction, POC, Camelbak, Crankbros, Contour, Chromag, Vans, Santoyo, Core Optix. When he’s off the bike he studies sport science in León.
Obviously Iago is living the dream. He travels around the world to compete and does what he wants to do: Ride bikes!
Iago’s race bike: A Santa Cruz Bronson in Medium size, carbon frame. Fox Racing Shox suspension. For the Mega he run a Maxxis HighRoller 2 2.35 on the back and a Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.25 on the front.
SRAM XX1 drivetrain with a 36 tooth front ring and a Truvativ upper chain guide.
Iago rides Crankbrother click pedals.
Follow Iago on his full race run at the Megavalanche.
The Mega in Iago’s words:
This year I had a great week at the Mega, beginning with the qualification race:
I started very good, getting the lead after the second corner. After a couple of big snow spots there was a flat pedal section where a Swiss guy passed me. But in the technical downhill single track I was faster and passed him after a few corners, keeping the lead till the finish line.
Winning my qualifying run was a great result, but setting the 12th fastest time over 1800 people was even better, and a great confidence booster.
Having raced for 5 years this race, after a good result in the qualifying and feeling great on my new bike made me eager to race finals. But I had to wait one day, as the big final was on Sunday.
I woke up at 5:30 am to start going up to the glacier at 6am, as getting more than 300 riders that raced the final to the top of Pic Blanc at 3330 meters high (10925 ft) takes a long time.
At 9am the race started. With the first part of the race going through the glacier full of snow it was very important to have a good start before getting to the narrow rocky single track. I didn’t had a fast start, but I decided to take an inside line on the first corner of the glacier, contrary to the majority of the racers that decided to take a safer wide line. Turned out that I made the best choice and after the first corner I was riding in 3rd position, right after Dan Atherton, Ludo May and Jerome Clementz. Remy Absalon passed me on the second steep part joining our leading group descending more than 100 km per hour fast (60 mph), and after a couple of minutes I was in the single track and in 4th position. The rest of the run I focused on keeping a clean line and the bike in one piece so that I could finish the race in a good solid position. After a crash before entering the first woods, and a hard fight on the last flat section before the finish line, I arrived in 8th position overall and 1st Senior. With a time of 41:59 minutes after 20km (12.5 miles) and 2516 meters (8254 ft) drop.
I couldn’t be more stoked with this result. It has been a great week and a great result after being riding only 2 weeks on the Santa Cruz Bronson.
I want to thank my family, my personal trainer Maria, all the great friends I have around the world that send me cheering messages and of course my amazing sponsors, because without the help of them all this wouldn’t have been possible.
Follow Iago on Facebook: www.facebook.com/iagogaray.es
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