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European Champs

Last weekend I raced in Italy- the european champs. It was an amazing track. I liked it a lot. I just didn’t like the weather so much. It rained cats and dogs the whole weekend and the track got deaper and deaper. The race was nearly canceled because of the apocalypse conditions and the fact that the chair lift was strucked by lighting all the time and didn’t work. So the final run was started just from the half of the track because the jeeps couldn’t go up to the top of the hill- (to steep). It wasn’t that big problem because the track was long anyway. In the qualification I ended up on the 7 position. But i heard the timing didn’t work so I don’t know about this placement. The final day was allright it still rained heavy but I had fun the ONE training run was good. (we were not allowed to do more than one run… many riders didn’t more which was not very fair in my opinion…) I had a half good an half horrible final run. I just slipped away with my back wheel on the first off camber bit and lost so much seconds…at the next bits I felt really really fast but I didn’t keep on for long because I managed to get stucked in whole of mud and after the whole was a drop.. I had no other choice to drop my bike and jump from the drop… I was so angry about me in the finish…and sad too. Because I trained well and felt good too. Next time…  I ended up on the 11th place, which is not very good concerning the starter field about 15 th or 16th woman…

No i am at home and preparing everything for the next trip. I got new googles from Spy…and my helmet was restored by chris and Thomas -thanks to Obsn by this way i wish you all the best for the Body Paint Airbrush World champs. and I got new foils for my jerseys /thanks to Zebelon/ and to the copy shop.
This time I am flying to Montreal to race in Mont Sainte Anne and Bromont- then to Vancouver to race and train in Whistler the bike paradise on earth. and then to Canberra to race there the next world cup…

So I have to go and pack my stuff.. see you your LENE img_0123.JPG

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Mont Saint Anne WC

I am in Canada right now in my hotel room, my bike has arrived a day later than me, I stay in great appartment, got finally my new fork from Manitou (Travis), I am not too much jetlaged and it’s the first training day. It rained the whole night and yesterday night too. At least it doesn’t rain now. So jep it will be very slippery in some sections. I already have put my mud tires on my rims when I left europe and hoped I wouldn’t need them straight away. They journey was okay. The only enoying thing was stopover in Heathrow (6,5 hours) the first two hours I slept and after fluffing around I got toxicated by trying too much different parfumes and finally you could call me a makeup expert…knowing all new makeup trends… and I got oversugared by the choclate samples in the duty free areas… The flight to Montreal was good. The airplane wasn’t so featured and the food wasn’t that good but I had a nice company and so I didn’t get bored. I arrived in Montreal but my bike didn’t after filling out all the forms I got by bus to Quebec. The bus was so comfi and so I slept the whole drive. After an unintended sight seeing tour through Quebec city at 2 o’clock Harriet and I found the driveway to Mont Saint Anne. Yes and now I am here and I have to get ready.. The training starts soon.. bye bye LENE

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Final day MSA

So today was the big day in Mont Saint Anne. I couldn’t sleep very well because of all my bruises  I have.( I counted them -12) so I woke up early. My training run went okay. The track dried out so much that everybody was running just michelin comp16 or similar tires but I got really hard to ride on so many break bumps and wholes. I really felt good on the track and I liked it, althought I got so many bruises and scratches this weekend from crashing, sliding around. The weather was fine and so I felt this gonna be my day. And it would have been if I wouldn’t have technical problems. My qualification run went well. I finish 14th with 2 mistakes and I knew I can do better. The track was very long about 5-6 minutes and I normally like long tracks because of the pedalling and I see my advantage in long durations. Anyway on the first straight my dereilleur must have been hit by something because my hanger got so bended and I couldn’t pedal or change my pedal position the whole way down. Until I realized that I was already on the ground. sliding on my right side of my body on gravel and big stones…. AHhhhhh. that hurt so much my hand was shaking and I could feel the pain spreeding out through my body. I was so gutted about the fact that I went down that I wasn’t sure if it makes any sense to keep on fighting… I decided to keep on giving my best but I couldn’t pedal…. for few seconds and then it stopped again… I finished 17th which is actually very disappointing for me. I tried not to think about it too much but I am tired of that. I could have done top 10 I was so sure. Who knows..who knows. NEXT time, next weekend, next race and next chance… see you your LENE

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Sports Ball -Vienna

I have finished my studies now and so it was my duty to go at least for one time on the ball of my sports university. I was very excited to go there see all the students, especially the men 🙂 in their nice and elegant bests suits compare to the fact that I know them all just in jogging pants and T-shirts and sneakers. And I haven’t been on a ball since ages, maybe about 5 years ago I don’t know. I felt like a teenager, not that I am so old, but I went through the same process….it was very funny to giggling around with your best friend before and help each other with difficult hairstyles, makeup and the right ball gown choice. Girls stuff!! Great… After we were styled and dressed up like Cinderella we were ready to meet our prince charmings. Okay her was already waiting since hours at the entrance because we were running so late…

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The ball took place at Vienna’s city hall so it was a very nice and adequate location. The bands were very good and it gave me the heebie-jeebies, because the one singer, she sang just brilliant. So we didn’t miss the chance to dance the classic dances, like fox trot, boggie and of course walzer. Hmm but honestly it was more freestyle than correct steps. But nobody cared so did I. The disco fever sparked about 12 o’clock and did end until I danced without shoes….

LENE

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Off season time..what is she doing

After the Worlds I went straight from Leogang to Switzerland to visit my brother shortly and then continue to drive to Portugal. In Switzerland my knee started to hurt more from the crash in Leogang and went to hospital to made a MRT and X rays from my knee, elbow and hand..fingers crossed my insurance gonna pay that 1000 euros… BOOM!!*#*‘-.?/&%$ I came out I don’t have a cross ligament in my right knee and that I broke my ulna and couple of bones in my hand. The doctors were very surprised…same as me because i never realized that. But because nothing was very urgent so my boyfriend and I continued the journey. We drove to Hossegor and Ericeira to surf and to Sintra to bike. It was amazing…. I felt so in love with this area (sintra) thanks to facebook—- I met so many nice people there. They were so friendly, organized us a shuttle for us and showed us the DH tracks and another day they showed us the most amazing Enduro trails I have ridden so far.. soooo great we rode until the beach.  (thanks to Joao Goncalves, Nuno Alvelos,Armando Gomes and his driver and Sintra Downhill club) We stayed totally on the road 3 weeks, slept in my caddy maxi and enjoyed the time together.
It was great holiday and we both were sad that we had to come back.  In the mean time I was racing to other small races the „HERBSTCUP 4.0 “ its a small DH/Enduro/dual cup, organized from friends for friends. Its a fun race and everyone loves it.
Winter time is also the time to try other things as well and this time its skateboarding.

Something is new too. You can follow me now in Instagram. (helenefruhwirth)

Herbscup 4.0. am Zuckerl
Herbstcup 4.0
Kodi and I

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Leogang

This weekend was my most important weekend of the year. The 4x World championships were running in Leogang Austria and I was so ready to compete well. So far my season went pretty good I got 3rd in the overall of the 4x Pro Tour Series, had many podiums and lots of good moments and it just worked. I am mean of course I trained very hard for it, everyone does , so you also need luck in 4X and this year it seemed that I had it. 
So I arrived at Leogang on Thursday with my trainer and best friend Markus. The track is for sure not my favorite one but I tried to find my lines and I felt good.  On Friday my training was the same but I qualified 8th. I wasn’t very happy about my run because I didn’t hit the rock section how I wanted and how I always did in my training runs but I knew Saturday is race day which counts so 8th from 18th girls is not to bad and last year I didn’t even made in the finals because I crashed in my qualify run. So this year I was in the finals.
On Saturday my boyfriend, my other friend Birgit and my parents came to support me as well and so it couldn’t be better. I was ready and motivated to race hard but in my first training run I got hit by another rider. I have to say the biggest retard I have ever met on the 4x circus I don’t want to mention his name he is poor enough to be alive. I understand when people are stressed and want to hit the lines but you should always have an eye on the other riders when you riding especially when you ride behind them because they can’t see you .And for me rule number one is to help the other rider after he/she crashed and stop the other riders so they don’t crash on the person.
 I couldn’t see him coming I was jumping from the left side and he was on the right side behind me.  He just landed on me and made me crash so bad on my wrist hand elbow hip and knee.  But the icing on the cake was he didn’t even stop nothing and didn’t apologize after either… I was lying there in the landing couldn’t breathe had so much pain started to cry straight away and my first tough was how I get out of here because the landing is so long and steep that the others won’t see me and will hit me too.  So I was crawling out and was lying on the side for 15 minutes before some ambulance came….The whole ambulance was not very well organized.
I don’t have to say how much motivated I was to race hard..pretty much zero. I took a rest, missed the training and took pain killers. My boyfriend helped me to reset my mind and I turned all the anger and aggression into my heats. It worked well for me in my first heat I got 2nd, second heat 4th and third heat 3rd so finally I finished 7th. I am satisfied with this result. And  I can say I tried everything I could. I am proud on myself.
I want to say thank you to all the people who helped me the whole season. Big thanks to my sponsors, Patrick from Moro bikes, Michi my boss from the best bike shop in town who always let me go to race, I don’t know many bosses who would do that. Big thanks to Christian from Hayes, Manitou, Answer and Sun RIngle.  Iriedaily, Acros, Spy, RSP, San Marco, Michelin. My favorite fitness center Galaxy fitness and Go PRO.  Thanks to the photographers who gave me the pictures for free, thanks to my trainer, my best friends, my doctors, my family and my boyfriend.
Waiting for my heat

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Whistler Crankworx…A place to be

At the moment I am in Canada in Whistler, sitting on the table with my pyjamas, just had breakfast and thought it’s time to leave an update on my webpage.
Caroline Buchanan and I arrived here by Monday and since monday lot was happening.  We know each other for a while and it was good after so many years hang out again and have fun…just a girl riding week… no boys… just great.

We both took part in 3 races. The first one was A line, second one the Pump track race and the third the Dual Slalom.  
Tuesday: The A line race was tough. 4-5 minutes full on pedalling and soaking up the jumps, pushing hard in the turns…it was amazing and I loved it. This A line is something special, the jumps are so made that you can’t stop smiling when you hit them. You are all the time in the air…just amazing. I don’t know any trail in Europe which is like that.  Caroline finished I think 8th and I came 18th. My run was not very fast but I had fun and so I was satisfied. 
Wednesday: Jumping back on my small bike I trained on the dual slalom course in the morning and then on the pumptrack. I liked both much but the Dual a little bit more. At the pumptrack qualification I a made two mistakes and came 9th just missed the top 8th to race in the evening at the final. So i took the rest of the day easy went a bit shopping and also went dirt jumping. In the evening I went to the pumptrack to watch it was great. Super atmosphere and Caroline came 2nd. She was so close that she beat Jill Kintner.  
Thursday: Still on my small bike…we trained for the dual slalom. The weather was not so good and it rained…but the track stayed okay not too slippery. I felt good, training went well -just the first corner made me problems..I didn’t get the right speed to step down nicely. I qualified 5th and in my first heat I had to race against Anneke Beerten. I tried my best but she made it and advanced.  Caroline did great again and came 2nd again very close to beat Jill. Finally I placed 5th. 
In the evening we went out and party a bite… I danced non stop. It was good fun. I really liked that the party starts soon about 9pm and nobody smoked. So it didn’t stink and you could go home earlier…what I liked so that I could ride the next day again. I jumped back on my big bike and rode nearly the whole day. The freestyle event was on JOYRIDE and so the bike part was nearly empty after 5 o clock and so I went riding…no queues and because it was so quite I saw to bears just running in front of me that was nice…

Pumptrack training
ladies night
watching at ALINE
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We have a winner

Finally it is over and we have a winner of the Enduro Bike. Congratulation to…? WATCH To know.

Thanks again to everyone who donated, helped us to publish this project, to finance this project and thanks to everyone who helped us.

To sum it up.

10.000 views
15.000 clicks
lots of likes
and 82 donators

2014 Euros for WINGS FOR LIFE. 

bye bye Helene

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4x Pro Tour …everything else than easy cheesy

What a weekend! I can say this was the most challenging, stressful, emotional and hottest race since many years for me. The JBC 4x Pro Tour in Czech Republic designed and organized by the 4x world champ Thomas Slavik.  I knew it gonna be hard and a difficult track but that it will be so hard I have never thought. In my first ten minutes training I wanted just to turn and drive home …how you want to survive this Helene? Was the question to myself! But after the first shock I calmed down knowing I have my coach Markus with me and I have the skills. I had plan and did section trainings. At the end of the day I was satisfied, didn’t crash, hit the lines I wanted, and my bike worked perfectly. I felt prepared for qualification day.  The next day it was even hotter then the day before and I have to be honest I couldn’t handle it. I felt finished, empty and totally exhausted. I couldn’t drink as much I sweat out… My run was not very good I was just happy to stay on the bike. I finished 3rd. Katy first and Celine second.
On Saturday, the race day I felt all right but the temperature was killing me and I was very tensed. You could feel it in the air everyone was stressed and wanted the race to be over. Lots of crashing and bad injuries were on the list.
In my semi-final I came 2nd and advanced to the final. So it was Katy, Celine, Anna B. and I. Finally I finished 3rd. So relieved I am glad to be on the podium again. At the man class the local hero Slavik T. won the race. It was a great event and I am happy I didn’t drive home..hahaha. The next weekend I will stay at home and after I am going  to whistler racing at crankworx with Caroline Buchanan…Girls week.. gonna be fun.


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Bike and Beats Festival in Saalbach (Austria)

Bike and beBike and beats was the theme from the last bike festival in Saalbach and I can just confirm it. The music was great and the trails too. It was one of the best bike festivals I have been so far.  All the big names where there and the bike industry was kicking off with many bike test stations, competitions, autograph lessons, barbecues and pro riding training courses. The weather was all right too not perfect but all good.

I took part at the Super DH and the Dual Slalom race. The Dual Slalom was not at the same slope like last year and so I was very surprised about the old school meadow slalom and because I didn’t know it I was not prepared with the right tires. So the mission “how I get to my old hard rubber high stud mud tires”… was started. I flipped the whole world to get to these tires, made phone calls, ask my dad, ask my neighbours to search for them and more.. my riding friends Rene and Rainer started to make fun of me because I was so determined to get these tires and they didn’t believe me how important they were. But at the end my friend Cri brought it to me. (Big thanks for that) And at the latest at the men winner Guido Tschugg crossed the line with the same tire I had my friends started to realize how important it was to race down the super slippery grass slope with this specific tire.…
I was leading in qualification, dominated every heat and felt very strong, had fun and wanted to win bad. But in the final I made a mistake in the third turn and lost grip. I couldn’t make it up and finished just by few meters second behind Elke Rabeder (3rd Steffi Marth). I was pissed the first moment but now I am all good and happy. In the Super DH I didn’t expect much. I didn’t train DH lots and my body wasn’t trained for a 12-13 min downhill run just for 4x. But I was mentally strong and I fought until the end. And it paid off I found myself again on the podium (3rd). First was Elke, second Birgit Braumann) So to sum it up again a very good weekend for me… It just seems to work for me this year so far…..I am happy and thankful … and hope it stays like that.

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National Champs 3rd place

The last weekend the downhill national champs were on …the reason why I gave my four cross bike a break and rode the last weeks with my big bike.
Everyone was there in Schladming THE downhill place to be in Austria. I always like to come here. The track is one of the bests in Europe and I like the whole town. And the best was it didn’t rain and my parents came to watch. They hardly never come to watch and so it was quite special for me.
The sun was shining the whole weekend and the track was so fast… Unluckily many riders rode over the edge and hurt themselves bad. So I wish all the best by the way to recover fast especially Mauser Stefan.
I felt great on the track. I like slippery dry conditions even most when you drift all the time sidewise. Friday and Saturday training went good I cleared all the jumps easy and felt good. I was satisfied and on Sunday I was ready to pin it. At the end I finished 3rd. First got Petra Bernard and second Elke Rabeder. I was very happy to be again on the podium and getting a medal.
I want to say thanks to Elias and his room mate Sebastian to let me stay in their apartment and Roland who gave me a ride to Schladming.
So now I am back home having a two-week race break and I have already swapped my bike again. I am so motivated for the 4x Pro tour race in CZE.  

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Voodoo Ride – We ride for those who can’t

The „Voodoo Ride“ project was set up in the beginning of 2014 by Tanja Hendrysiak and myself. It is based on my dramatic personal experience, my brain surgery that I had in Spring 2014. After a MTB crash doctors found a cerebral cavernoma, a blood vessel malformation in the brain during a routine check, which needed to be taken out. At that point it was not clear, how the surgery would turn out – if I might have a disability, since the cavernoma was located in the motor center of the brain. Naturally these were very scary news.

I am very lucky because the surgery turned out fine and I can live my life how I want and do what I love – which is riding my bike! But a lot of people are not as fortunate and that‘s why we got the idea to help them and to contribute something, which is this video and a subsequent charity tombola for „Wings for Life“. Their goal is to find a cure for parplegia.
The idea of the „Voodoo Ride“ movie with its charitable intention met a lot of response from my and Tanja’s sponsors (Manitou, Hayes, Answer, Sun Ringle, Merida, Acros, Ion, Iriedaily und Shimano), as well as actors and voluntary background actors, the videomaker Gianlucca Ricceri, the photographer Jorge Matreno and the „Wings fo Life“-project manager Wolfgang Illek.
I met up with Wolfgang Illek and interviewed him:
Interview with Wolfgang Illek:
Since Wolfgang’s crash during his training for the Downhill Worldcup in Schladming 2004 he has been paralysed from the shoulders down. It was not a spectacular crash, but a quite common one „over the handlebars“. But it was enough to put him into a wheelchair and to completely turn his life upside down.
„Right after the crash there is nothing like before. I communicated merely with my eyes and after 13 months of hospital and rehabilitation, I could go back to my family and friends for the first time. Back home I realized that there were a lot of barriers and obstacles and it was hard for me to depend so much on the help of others. ‚Please‘ and ‚thank you‘ became part of my daily standard vocabulary.“ (Wolfgang Illek, Project Manager at „Wings for Life“)
Despite this cruel blow of fate Wolfgang doesn’t let himself down. As athlete he is used to fighting his way through. He finished his studies, continues to exercise consequently and now works as project manager for „Wings For Life“.
„I am very proud to be a part of „Wings For Life. This foundation for spinal cord research has the goal to find cure for spinal cord injuries. In order to achieve that, we support the most pomising research projects all over the world. The question is not whether effective treatments and cures will be found, but when they will be found. We have great support from the field of sports, for example from Sebastian Vettel and many more. But it can not be enough – we have not yet reached our goal. We are happy about every support we can get and with Helene’s and Tanja‘s „Voodoo Ride Project“ you can see, that everyone is able to contribute a part. Small donations are impotant. (Wolfgang Illek, Project Manager at „Wings for Life“)
 
Wings for Life guarantees that 100% of the donations will go towards cutting-edge spinal cord research projects. The same applies to the proceeds generated through the „Voodoo Ride“ bike- tombola.

Donation end 10th dec. 2014 24:00
The winner will be announced on Facebook and here. 
The personal data will not be used for anything else then this tombola.

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VOODOO RIDE – We ride for those who can’t / 20 August movie release

In the beginning of 2014 I had a serious brain surgery and it wasn’t clear if I might have a disability and never be able to ride again… Luckily everything turned out well, but this experience left a mark, which made me start to think about ways to help other people, who were not so lucky like me- like people in a wheelchair. 
So the VOODOO RIDE movie and charity project was born. 
So Tanja and I are organizing a donation tombola of the „VOODOO RIDE Bike“, where all the earnings go straight to “Wings for life”- a foundation for spinal cord research with the goal to find cure for paraplegics throughout the world. We are glad to give something back and support Wings for life. „Because we ride for those who can’t, but hopefully will again one day!“


Thanks to:
Hayes Components (Manitou, Hayes, Sun Ringle, Answer)
Merida
Shimano
Acros
Iriedaily
Ion
Filmer: Gianluca Ricceri
Photographer: Jorge Matreno
Actors: Ana Marcia Da Luz, Rodrigo Silva, Joao Zuzarte Reis, Pedro Pires, Christoph Putz. Joao Goncalves, Daniela Teixeira, Sara Pinto, Rita Santos, Catarina Moura, Tania Henriques
Diagao Ramalho from Naya house
FB group Sintra Freeride Militia
FB group Sintra Downhill
Follow us on Facebook/werideforthosewhocant.
The movie will be released on the 20th August. So stay tuned for the following donation on WINGS FOR LIFE. 
Bye bye Helene


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European IXS cup race in Spicak…

The last weekend I finally got back on my BIG BIKE to race a DH race (European IXS Cup) and I had so much fun and loved it. It wasn’t difficult for me to get used to the DH bike again but it was difficult to get race pace. I also juts trained the last month to give everything for 90 seconds and not to race 4-5 minutes… But I wouldn’t be a racer when I wouldn’t give my best.
The race was in Czech Republic in a place called Spicak. I have been here two times and always enjoyed it…. so this time too. I travelled with a very nice group so from this side we just laughed lots. The track is very rooty and the corners are tight and tricky and it isn’t an easy track at all, quite challenging but good.
Practice went well the track was fast and dry but just few minutes before the ladies qualification it started to rain cats and dogs. The track got so difficult but I stayed chilled, positive and smiled… I finished 10th and was happy and knew race day is on Sunday. So on race day the sun came out again and the track was getting back in good conditions. My run was all right. I made few mistakes but I was still very satisfied I didn’t crash hit the lines I wanted so all good. I placed 9th.
Now I am in Saalbach (AUT) at the Bike and Beats festival and will compete at the DH race and a Dual Slalom race. We trained today and all good I am excited and glad to be here.
bye bye Helene

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GRAB YOUR BALLS? *WTF*#?=”(()&!§(?=)$;:_”§”/=)/F#CK

I I think this race news will be the most clarifying and honest report I have ever written so far and I guess some of you won’t be happy to read this, but I felt to write it. After this disillusioning racing weekend. JBC REVELATION- Grab your balls – was the slogan of the last event!? ?*WTF*#?=”(()&!§(?=)$;:_”§”/=)/F#CK.
The name already says everything –  that this race wasn’t meant to be a race for women. I have to admit, this year this theme was so true,  and it’s our own fault. The track was very versatile, in a perfect condition and for me personally it was not difficult.
The weather was fine and the place was awesome. For me, it was one of the best races this year. Via facebook I tried to organize and motivate the other 4X ladies to come together and race on this high-class-level, but it was a hassle.
Just five registered, and in the end only 2 were racing. 2 hurt themselves (wish them a quick recovery) and one didn’t even show up.
I don’t know what the problem was… Is the elite 4x woman sport dead? Does the 4x women class not count anymore at all? Why do I have to be so many times confronted with discriminatory moments against women in this sport? Like “this is not a girls track!”, “no girls at the rider’s presentation”, “women were not planned to be represented!”, “MTB is mens sport”,  “women shouldn’t ride this track!”.
Did posing and being beautiful become more important for the bike industry than performing? Why do girls get sponsoring deals, although they can’t even make a bunny hop and why are they surprised, that the men in this sport get jealous and talk insulting about women? Is the whole 4x sport dead? Is nobody motivated to race, because the World Champs already took place? Is the Enduro format killing the 4x sport? Could the 4x management be better? Do the athletes themselves turn their own backs on the 4x sport, because they have to?

So many questions but I don’t want to answer them all – I just want to make you think about it. 

I can just tell you, the spectators love this format. It’s easy to watch, easy to understand and so easy to get infected by the amazing atmosphere. Even I can’t watch the mens’ heats before my own racing heats because I got so nervous and emotionally touched by this action. The JBC Crew worked their … off to make this 4x Pro Tour Gold event so perfect and there were only 42 men and 4 women. Seriously?? Of course the mens’ pro line wasn’t the easiest one, but the event has had the best media coverage for us athletes since a long time. So in my case of course I was there to represent my sponsors, the 4x sport and myself. I am very proud of my performance, because I was riding and training on a good level and it’s not my fault, that there was nearly nobody there to compete with. And if someone gives me shit about my first place, that it was easy, because we were not many women…. I just say just come here 2015 and do it better.