News: YETI switch focus to enduro and drop downhill!
With the new season rapidly approaching and riders jostling with new contracts, there are bound to be a few surprise announcements. And none comes as a bigger shock than the news that in 2014, Yeti will be putting all their efforts into enduro and not running a WC DH team.
With both DH and Enduro spanning the globe, running a team is more expensive than ever, and YETI have decided to put all their eggs in the enduro basket. For as long as we can remember YETI have been synonymous with DH, the turquoise livery gracing many a podium!
Yeti President and co-owner Chris Conroy states, “We are excited about enduro racing and have athletes that are uniquely suited to the discipline. Focusing on enduro racing will allow us to concentrate our marketing and product resources exactly where enthusiasm is growing from our sponsors, supporters, and customers.”
So the 2013 Junior DH World Champion Richie Rude will be joining Jared Graves to focus solely on the Enduro World Series with a fully supported team. This leaves Cam Cole to persue the UCI DH World Cup with a new an unannounced team (there have been whispers of Commencal)! This move by YETI has upset some of the more DH orientated internet communities, in answer Richie Rude released the statement
“My decision to move to enduro had many factors behind it, mainly due to the fact that Yeti was pushing hard for the move. Therefore I was like hell; I have had more fun on my Sb66c than on my downhill bike all year, why not give it a shot? Did I expect almost every person on the Internet to agree with such a decision? No, but sometimes we all have to make decisions that may not be our first and hope it takes us down a similar road of happiness and success. Will I miss downhill? Yes, from being the Jr. UCI DH world champion to possibly only doing 1 world cup this year will leave me wanting to return to finish my goal of achieving that #1 plate. Yeti is focusing on what they do best, making and racing the best all-mountain bikes around… Cheers to the future.”
Words and Photos: Trev Worsey
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