Video: Team Hutchinson UR at the French Championship 2014

Jamie Nicoll wins the Mountain of Hell

Up in Les 2 Alpes, Jamie Nicoll was racing the Mountain of Hell. He had won the race last year and so was very eager to defend his title. He qualified first of his heat with a stunning time that no other riders were able to beat (nearly 30seconds up on 2nd time). Things were looking good for the finals on Sunday.
Unfortunately stormy and windy weather rolled in over night and none of the lifts were able to run on Sunday due to the high winds. The finals starting from the glacier were therefore cancelled, and the qualifying results were used for the prize giving.

Jamie was obviously disappointed to not be able to do the whole event and defend his title in the correct manner. Nevertheless, his great qualifying time earned him an excellent first place at the 2014 Mountain of Hell! Well done to him!

Guillaume, Fabien and Aurélien at the French Champs

The French riders of the team were over in Les Ménuires for the French Championships. Still amped from his second place in the Crankworx, Guillaume Cauvin had high hopes for this race. Unfortunately for him, after having an average qualifying run (11th), he had a solid race run and was 3seconds up at the first split. However he crashed on the final jump, only 100m before the line, loosing all chances to beat his main rival and friend, Loïc Bruni.
Fabien Cousinié was racing too. He was having a good time on this fast track and feeling confident and qualified 26th. Unfortunately he had a rare mechanical that caused him to crash in practice before the race and he was hurting too much to take part in the finals.

The good surprise of the weekend came from Aurélien Giordanengo who came along to keep a good feeling on his DH bike. He qualified 2nd not far from Bruni, but ended up 4th in the Finals. Despite this great performance (as he has turned to racing only Enduro), he was disappointed with 4th as he really felt he had it in him for the podium.

Words & Pictures: Team Hutchinson UR

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