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Blenkinsop on Yeti!

Nagaredama

Turbo Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
1,596
2
Manhattan Beach, CA USA
Blenkinsop (Wanganui, NZ), one of the youngest riders to hit the World Cup circuit, is bringing fresh downhill talent from down under to the Yeti / Fox Shox Factory Team in a two-year signed deal.

It was back in 2005 that Blenkinsop emerged in the foreground of downhill racing at the World Championships in Italy, where the skill and riding style of the 16-year old stood out on the challenging Livigno course. His solid top ten in the junior category was an early indication of the raw talent Blenkinsop has brought to the circuit.

The following year, Blenkinsop took the world racing scene by storm with a silver medal on his home turf at the 2006 Rotorua UCI World Championships as a junior, even after an over-the-handlebar crash. Blenkinsop soon after moved up to the elite ranks and finished ninth in the elite downhill at the 2007 UCI World Championships in Fort William, Scotland, and top 25 World Cup overall—all within his first year of turning pro.

“Yeti has a long legacy of grooming young talent,” said Chris Conroy, Yeti’s president. “Sam is a very exciting rider and we are looking forward to see him progress to the top ranks of the sport.”

Blenkinsop is considered one of the hottest up-and-coming racers and is now joining forces with members on the recently expanded Yeti / Fox Racing Shox Factory Team. The Global team will compete primarily in World Cup competitions and will include Jared Graves (Toowoomba, AUS), fellow New Zealander Justin Leov (Christchurch, NZL), and Ross Milan (Golden, CO). The Yeti / Fox Racing Shox national team will include Rich Houseman (Temecula, CA), TJ Sharp (Boulder, CO), Chris Boice (Albuquerque, NM), and Rudy Unrau (Boulder, CO).

Blenkinsop and Leov are currently racing head-to-head in the New Zealand North Island DH series. And just last week, in the absence of Leov, Blenkinsop took a decisive win at Round 2 in Rotorua. The series will take them through March before they hit the road for World Cup racing and training with the team in Europe.

With goals to be regularly in the top ten this year, Blenkinsop is on his way to rival the big names of the sport on the 2008 World Cup circuit.

“It’s awesome to be joining such an amazing team”, says Sam. “There’s such a history of top riders that have raced for Yeti, and it means a lot to me to be invited to join the team. The bikes are wicked, and I’m already a big fan of Fox Shox having raced them last year. With team mates like Jared and Justin, I’m going to learn heaps this year, can’t wait to get racing on the new rig.”

Yeti Cycles has been home to some of the biggest names in the sport and has the longest running professional mountain bike team in the industry. The company is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado.






2008 Team Sponsors



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dw

Wiffle Ball ninja
Sep 10, 2001
2,943
0
MV
That team's got a lot of promise for 08. Conroy has done a really good job with this in my opinion. I'm sure its going to be a blast to watch.
 

Lollapalooza

Monkey
Jan 22, 2007
527
0
He's been bff's with Jusso and most of the team for a while now. It seems like the most probable team for him to go to.
 

S.K.C.

Turbo Monkey
Feb 28, 2005
4,096
25
Pa. / North Jersey
That team's got a lot of promise for 08. Conroy has done a really good job with this in my opinion. I'm sure its going to be a blast to watch.
Definitely!

With a full race team behind him, Sam is really going to grow as a racer. I wonder how much of a wildcard he is going to be for the rest of the pack? (Hill, Minaarr, Peaty, Rennie, Barel, Kovarik, etc.)
 

Ian Collins

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,428
0
Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA
Definitely!

With a full race team behind him, Sam is really going to grow as a racer. I wonder how much of a wildcard he is going to be for the rest of the pack? (Hill, Minaarr, Peaty, Rennie, Barel, Kovarik, etc.)
sadly, i'm not sure if i'd lump rennie and kovarik into that category anymore.....

haha, i'd lump them into the wildcard category now......
 

General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
sadly, i'm not sure if i'd lump rennie and kovarik into that category anymore.....

haha, i'd lump them into the wildcard category now......
Notice Hill is not part of "the rest of the pack" (which should include Gee Atherton, by the way). Probably because at the moment he is so far ahead:shocked:

actually, I'm really interested to see if anyone has been able to catch up to him during the offseason.
 

dondon

Monkey
With a full race team behind him, Sam is really going to grow as a racer.
FYI:-Sam was on a full race team in '07. Gravity Group.

and Ian i wouldn't be so quick to count Rennie and Kovarik out of the pack. In fact i bet both of them will be on the podium a few times this year. Until Litter gets some OTB up this post will serve as my bet.
 

General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
FYI:-Sam was on a full race team in '07. Gravity Group.

and Ian i wouldn't be so quick to count Rennie and Kovarik out of the pack. In fact i bet both of them will be on the podium a few times this year. Until Litter gets some OTB up this post will serve as my bet.

I know Fontana is no Morzine, but from the looks of it Kovarik seems to have some new found motivation going into '08. And a change in teams might be just what he needed.
 

Ian Collins

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,428
0
Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA
FYI:-Sam was on a full race team in '07. Gravity Group.

and Ian i wouldn't be so quick to count Rennie and Kovarik out of the pack. In fact i bet both of them will be on the podium a few times this year. Until Litter gets some OTB up this post will serve as my bet.
yeah, i'd like to see them on the podium more consistently than they were last year......they are more fun to watch than the euros anyhow......with the exception of nico vink, mick pascal and a few other squirrels the aussies look nuttier on the track
 

Rudy

Chimp
Dec 9, 2007
12
0
Thanks Brandon. I'm super excited to be part of such a stacked team, and am counting days until the season.