Fionn Griffiths in the pro Women’s field represented Great Britain well at the UCI World Championships race held in Canberra, Australia this past weekend. Although she narrowly missed the podium in 4th place she showed that she was well in touch with the winning pace on the physically demanding DH track.
Fionn Griffiths explained the difficulty of racing on this type of track: “It’s not exactly a hard track to ride but it’s a different story to race here. When you exaust yourself to the point you are getting dizzy and still trying to ride the race of your life it’s hard for sure. To win you we were always going to have to put together a flawless run, the overall speed of this track meant that any mistakes we made on the bikes transferred directly to lost time with nowhere to pick it back up again. It’s just so hard to put it all together here, it’s one of the most physically challenging tracks I’ve ever raced.”
Unfortunately, a victim of the One-run-for-Glory format of DH racing Fionn suffered a slow-pinch-puncture in the last jump section, which sapped her energy particularly over the final long pedal to the line. Frustratingly this left her in 4th place with lots of what ifs… but that’s racing. “I knew that I had already made some mistakes on the track so when I got the flat I was gutted but I put all of myself into getting my bike to the line as quickly as possible, I was just lucky my Kenda tire held some air long enough that I could still manage 4th place.”
In 4X Fionn struggled with the track which did not suit her riding style. With no hill to speak of the track was more favourable to those riders with a BMX specialisation rather than the Gravity specialist. The outcome was that those without BMX experience were relegated in the first round. Ah well… there is always next year!
“I’d Like to thank my mechanic Paul Miles for his hard work prepping the bikes, and all the NORCO World Team sponsors for their invaluable support not just at these World Champs but also throughout the season.”
‘09 Sponsors of Griffiths Racing managed, UCI Trade Team: NORCO WORLD TEAM
NORCO Bikes, Kenda, ControlTech, Rock Shox, Alex Rims, THE, The Cycle Jersey, eThirteen, TiBolts.co.uk, aohaccountants.co.uk, flowmtb, NukeProof, SuperStar, Muc Off, Fisher Outdoor Leisure,
