Siblings make tracks for World Cup titles
Hannah to go all out in pursuit of downhill champ
THE Hannah siblings will have their pedals to the metal when they saddle up for the start of the UCI MTB World Cup season this weekend in Lourdes, France. Tracey Hannah, who hasn’t won a World Cup since 2012, is tipped to have a real shot against number one, Rachel Atherton, while brother Mick has trimmed down in a bid to take on his slightly smaller rivals.
LOOK out Rachel Atherton, Tracey Hannah is feeling fitter than ever and ready to knock you off your perch.
So secret are the methods the Yorkey’s Knob world elite downhill star has employed in the off-season, the 28-year-old has been tight-lipped with anyone outside her inner circle for fear of giving away an extra second’s advantage to her competitors.
The Polygon UR rider last won a World Cup event in 2012 and felt this was her best chance to repeat the dose, with an eye on peaking for the world championships in Cairns in September.
“It’s kind of different this year,” she said. “Normally I go into the World Cup series and say I want to get this at this World Cup, but this year the focus is completely different.
“The focus is world champs in my hometown so every race that I do between now and then is like; What can we learn from that race? What can we take away that’s going to make me better at world champs?
“My end goal this year is world champs in Cairns – to be the best I can be.
“Obviously the goal would be to win (a World Cup). I haven’t won one since before I broke my leg, so I’d love to win one, but ultimately the goal is the world championships.”
But to win that, Atherton stands in her way.
Hannah, who placed second in four World Cup events last year, has focused on strength and power to catch-up that extra level, although she realises her main adversary would have stepped up, too.
“Now we’re just trying to get to Rachel and I feel every year we’re getting closer. We all work harder in the off-season and she works harder again ... but I hope we can give her a bit of a run for her money this year.
“She obviously deserves to be where she’s at, but it’s good because it’s something to push us all and I’m sure that eventually someone will break that glass and get her.”
It all starts in Lourdes, the French mountain town in the Pyrenees.
“It’s a bit of a mission. It’s a three-day flight and it takes about three days after that to get used to it,” Hannah said.
“Lourdes is one of my favourite tracks of the year when it’s dry and one of my least favourite when it’s wet. We’ve been there twice and one year so it was dry and one year it was really wet, so it’s 50-50.”
Hannah will return home after Lourdes and aim to compete at the national titles next month before an extended stint overseas when the season gets into full swing from June.
Riders will inspect the course today before first practice tomorrow and the final on Sunday.