Redline Riders deliver a double smackdown in Birmingham

Filed under General on May 30, 2012 | Comment(s)

Redline riders from around the globe converged on Birmingham England this past week to do battle for the rainbow jersey and secure official placements on their country’s Olympic teams. In the end, it was 2011 World Championship bronze medalist Magalie Pottier of France and two time Junior World Champion Sam Willoughby of Australia who were able to power their Redline Flight bicycles to victory in their respective Elite classes.
Redline saw its two star women riders 2012 US National Champion Alise Post of the US and Magalie Pottier cruise through the opening rounds with both winning almost every round leading to the finals. With Alise having just won the World Cup round in Papendal Holland and Magalie having won the season’s opening round in Chula Vista, Redline had two of the favorites into the main event. With Alise in gate #1 and Magalie in gate #5 the first straight saw both riders surge to an early lead with Alise set up to go low through the first turn and lead into the second straight. But it was not to be as Alise came up short on the final jump of the first straight causing her to hit the deck. This meant that Magalie Pottier who was on the outside had an open track which allowed her to take the lead and power her Redline Flight Pro to the finish line for a commanding win.

In the men’s event, even though Connor Fields (who Sam has finished second to in all three of this season’s Supercross events) was eliminated by a self-inflicted crash in the Semi’s, all was not smooth sailing for Sam. That’s because during the week leading up to the championships he had been suffering from a bought with the flu and, in fact, the day of the race he woke up not feeling well at all.  Well, if this wasn’t a 100% day for Sam, we can’t wait to see him race in London when he will likely be 100%. Sam won all of his opening rounds, minus one, and had gate #1 for the final event. As expected, the opening straight was a drag race with Sam in great position leading into the first turn. But it was the second straight where Sam won the race. Powering his Redline Flight Carbon out of the first turn Sam opened up a commanding lead never to be challenged to the finish.
Having previously won the World Championships twice as a Junior, this is Sam’s first opportunity to wear the rainbow jersey as the Senior Elite World Champion. With this World Championship win Sam also moves into the points lead in the UCI BMX Overall standings and officially secured his position on the Australian Olympic team.

For Magalie Pottier, she also moved into the lead of the UCI BMX Overall standings and secured her position on the French Olympic team for the London Games.
The Birmingham World Championships were Alise Posts opportunity to gain the ‘automatic qualifier’ position for the women’s Olympic team through the ‘Power Ranking’ system established by USAC. But due to Alise’s injury last July and her mishap in this race, she will now have to rely on gaining the second spot on the US Olympic Team based on the ‘coach’s selection’ process. 
Finally, it was great to see Jelle van Gorkom out racing at the World Championships following his tough crash in Chula Vista. And we all missed seeing Canada’s Tory Nyhaug in the final as well. Following his crash at the Papendal World Cup, Tory was finally released from the hospital in Holland on the eve of the World Championships.  Let’s hope both of these great Redline riders can be back to 100% in order to compete for a place on the podium at the Olympic Games in London!

Redline riders use Shimano components, Koolstop brake pads, Tioga tires and saddles, Sun Ringle rims and Answer forks.
A tremendous amount of thanks goes out to these great suppliers.