Quantcast

Red Bull "Road Rage" Update

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
Here is an update, regarding Red Bull's downhill road race. The invited riders' list has been announced. I wonder if Sam Hill, Nathan Rennie, Steve Peat, Robbie Bourdon, etc. will actually race this thing?

Since it is close to my house, I'm planning to watch this thing; if you've ever seen Tuna Canyon, you know this race will be nasty.

RED BULL ROAD RAGE INVITATIONS ANNOUNCED
Malibu, Calif - Aug 24, 2005 The Elite rider list has been decided and invitations have been sent out to see who will compete for the title of fastest descender at the inaugural Red Bull Road Rage, co-sponsored by Giant Bicycle.

On November 5th,
twenty-five of the nations’s most experienced bike handlers will take on death defying speeds, 120 degree turns, and cliff hanging berms. This 2.5 mile course with its 2,000 elevation drop through historic Tuna Canyon in Malibu, CA, will be more than enough to separate the men from the boys.

QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Who is the fastest road descender?

- Will disc brakes dramatically increase speed?

- Will disc brakes increase safety?

- Are you better than him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

Following is the list of riders invited. Please note, we will only select 25 RSVP’s for this year’s race. Detailed biographies are accessible via the new Red Bull Road Rage website.

George Hincapie -
Brian Lopes -
Paolo Savoldelli -
John Tomac -
Sean Yates -
Dave Cullinan -
David Clinger -
Steve Peat -
Gord Fraser -
Joe Lawwill -
Robbie McEwen -
Eric Carter -
Freddie Rodriguez -
Greg Minnaar -
David Zabriskie -
Mark Wier -
Jans Koerts -
Colin Bailey -
Kirt Vories -
Wade Bootes -
Myles Rockwell -
Ned Overend -
Geoff Kabush -
Thomas Allier -
Thurlow Rogers -
Jamie Paolinetti -
Ivan Dominguez -
Sean Watkins -
Mariano Friedrick -
Harm Jansen -
Max Sciandri -
Butch Stinton -
Mark McCormack -
Shaums March -
Kyle Straight -
Marla Streb -
Aaron Chase -
Adam Craig -
Carl Decker -
Tyler Hamilton -
Marty Nothstein -
Chris Horner -
Robbie Bourdon -
Nathan Rennie -
Sam Hill -
David McCook -
Axel Merckx -
Bobby Julich -
Robbie Hunter -
Floyd Landis -
Michael Barry -
Tony Cruz -
Aaron Olson -
Chris Wherry -
Jason Bausch -
Roland Green -
Todd Tanner -
Erik Saunders -
Rolf Sorenson -
Mike King



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHAT TO EXPECT?

Full face helmets, disc brakes, and padding are not something that is typically seen in a road race, but unless riders want to take the chance of wearing permanent concrete makeup, they will need to gear up. Besides those additions, traditional road bikes with 700c wheels and drop bars will be used. With more corners than L’Alpe d’Huez, speed and fitness will go hand in hand.

We will also be hosting a media reception on Friday, Nov. 4th and an after party following the event on Nov. 5th.


Red Bull Road Rage will consist of two race formats: Time Trials, where individuals race against the clock; and Pack Race, a boardercross-style race format, where the top 16 riders from the Time Trial will be placed into 4 man heats and throw it on the line.

The top two riders in each heat will advance through the bracket and after three times down the hill, the fastest one in the pack will be crowned the fastest road descender and receive a major piece of the $5000 prize purse.

RIDER COMMUNICATION: Contact Jon
Mesko at jonmesko@giantbicycle.com and 310.420.0085
or Steve Boehmke at chunkyflyrite@aol.com and
714.633.9955
 

DVNT

Turbo Monkey
Jul 16, 2004
1,844
0
looks like Marla is the only girl invited to this party.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Nice to see Salvoldelli on the list, that dude goes down hill on a road bike like nobody else. But based on the descriptions, I have to believe that the gravity guys (especially 4X and slalom) have the advantage in explosiveness out of the corners. Plus I just can't see the roadies taking the risks needed to win. It may be the obvious choice but I'm going with Lopes.
 

DVNT

Turbo Monkey
Jul 16, 2004
1,844
0
Equipment: Can I show up on a Hanebrink? No. Traditional road bikes with 700c wheels and drop bars are required for parity in this event - however, that's where the road tradition stops. Disc brakes will be a critical component to increasing your speed, as will a light bike and an aero' skinsuit over some light protective padding. The course designer for this event believes that a light road (‘cross) frame with disc mounts is a good base for building a speed machine. Mechanical disc brakes are next, and 25-28c soft-compound tires will round out your cornering speed. If you don't have access to the proper equipment, please get in touch with Jon Mesko at Giant Bicycle. Safety in this event is the number one priority, and Red Bull will have double barriers with padding set up at some of the more difficult corners. We want to find out who the fastest skinny-tire downhiller is - we don't want to see anyone get hurt

more info on velonews....
 

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,750
439
MA
Don't rule out Tomac. He's the only Mountain biker with experience running road bars :blah:
 
wow this is gonna be pretty sick.
Kinda like in supermotard where you have guys from moto,superbikes,flattrack and stunters.............

I'll take a wild guess that Bourdon is not going to rule this event but Mark wier might. :sneaky:

Oh also kinda suprising that the media red bull star himself Gracia is not on the list but a dude like Bourdon is?
 

Palilla

Monkey
Jul 20, 2004
102
0
that's a crazy mix of road and mtn, it's going to be interesting to see who turns out.
 

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
I realize this is a DH board, so of course most people will pick the guys they know, and if this was on dirt or even just a road sprint, someone like Lopes would easily be the favorite.
But this is a road race using road bikes.
A racer like Salvodelli is the only road pro I have seen who can put huge gaps into other really fast road descenders. They don't call him the falcon for no reason.
And he as "grand tour winning" leg power as well. Those roadies will probaly show up on their stock bikes and rip it.
 

Pegboy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2003
1,139
27
New Hamp-sha
I am kinda surprised that Palmer was not invited. Sure he may be a name of the past but he races everything and I bet he would do well in something like this.
As far as the person who said that he did not believe that a roadie would be willing to take the necessary risks... you obvoiusly have never descended on a roadbike. Those road pro's have unbelievable skills and balls when it comes to going down hill.
I predict a roadie wins. I just don't see anybody else being as comfortable on a road like set up...and I can't wait to see the return of MONSTER chain rings!
 

Palilla

Monkey
Jul 20, 2004
102
0
Zark said:
Tyler Hamilton? Piss test? :blah:

They let him race the Mt. Washington hill climb a couple of weeks ago...he won it (on some crazy light bike ~sub-12lbs). He's appealing the case this month i think.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Pegboy said:
As far as the person who said that he did not believe that a roadie would be willing to take the necessary risks... you obvoiusly have never descended on a roadbike. Those road pro's have unbelievable skills and balls when it comes to going down hill.
You are wrong, I have been riding on the road for more than 15 years and do at least 2,500 miles a year on my road bike.

My point was not that roadies never take risks, it was that the bragging rights for winning an exhibition event like this mean nothing compared to what's at stake for the more successful roadies like Hincapie and Salvoldelli. Those guys take calculated risks in big events like the Giro, Tour, Paris-Roubaix, etc., but I'll be surprised if they take the bait and really care enough do what it will take to win. But I've been surprised before...

Edit: The other thing I forgot to mention is that many gravity mtbers ride road bikes for training, whereas very few of the top roadies are found ripping on DH trails...
 

Pegboy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2003
1,139
27
New Hamp-sha
I do agree that while Dh'ers road ride for training, (I was surprised to see how many @ worlds in Vail) I just think that roadies are closer to their element in this scenario and they are ALWAYS on road bikes. Again we are both just speculating...But I think it would be equivalent to putting an off road baja driver on a paved course against drivers who race on pavement for a living.

Either way it will be cool and I will be there. It is a great opportunity to see this spectrum of riders at a single event.
 

Sgt Brown

Monkey
Feb 19, 2002
126
0
Trabuco Canyon, CA
I think lopes will clean up at this.. Didn't the guy place at a UCI world cup once in the time trail, and got a try out for the Olympic Velodrome Team... Combine that with his cornering strenghts.. He should rule..
 

Pegboy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2003
1,139
27
New Hamp-sha
If your are going with the lopes theory then I would counter with Mcewen(SP?), very similar background but if you got to see the tour, that guy has no quams with throwin it down in hairball situations.
 

Slugman

Frankenbike
Apr 29, 2004
4,024
0
Miami, FL
Pegboy said:
I am kinda surprised that Palmer was not invited.
I know of at least one other guy who said he got an invitation, and actually claims he is going to race, that is not on that list... so maybe it's not complete. :confused:
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Pegboy said:
Either way it will be cool and I will be there. It is a great opportunity to see this spectrum of riders at a single event.
On that we definitely agree. And we're all just guessing. I just think that if the descriptions of the road are even close, the mtbers have the edge. It will be interesting to see what happens, but more interesting if we knew that everyone was going to try their hardest to win. I keep coming back to the risk v. reward factor.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,030
5,918
borcester rhymes
that's like a who's who of old school downhilling. I swear I see all my heros from 96-99 there, except for Nico and annecaro.

While I think this event is going to be friggin awesome, I'd love to see an unlimited class or no restrictions; anything goes. Might see some 26 hookworms on a TT bike then...full aero everything...rad.
 

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
Inclag said:
So they are riding on road bikes???? This sounds damn dangerous
I haven't been up Tuna Cyn in a long time, but the last time I was there, it was in really bad shape. After last winter's rain storms, I can only imagine what it looks like now.
 

Dusty Bottoms

Monkey
Sep 10, 2001
101
0
Santa Monica
La Tuna canyon is a one way road from the top of the Santa Monica Mountains down to the beach. It is NOT maintained, and would be a freaking blood bath if they didn't street sweep it. :devil: I'm talking about a thin layer of ball bearing like dirt on top of miles of twisty blacktop. I get nauseous just driving it. This is going to be hilarious. Spectators should bring full armor.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
Some obvious people are missing.

1.Jimmy Deaton

2. Either Stockton

4. Frank McCormack

My candy-ass call for top 6 (in no particular order)

Paolionetti
Tomac
Cully
Rockwell
McCormack
TT

I can't see any top road dogs racing as I sure as hell would fire one of my riders that showed up for an event like this.

I see this as the domain of the retired or close to it roadies, and retired or close to it DH/BMXers. Too much risk, too little reward, the riders I called out are all NASTy handlers with huge balls, have done TV stunt work, and need cash. I think either Stockton could easily kill it though, Pro DH+ Pro crit champ='s rad. How did that get missed.