- Six Factory Team Athletes Hit Trails In Germany, Scotland And Monterey, While CLUMP’s Paul Basagoitia Nails First At T-Mobile Extreme Playground Event -

KONAWORLD (April 28, 2008) – Cruising full stride into the racing season, both the Kona Factory and CLUMP teams made their presence known both in the U.S. and on international turf over the last two weeks with some impressive feats. The top performances were captured by Paul “Bas” Basagoitia who grabbed first place at the T-Mobile Extreme Playground event in Germany, Tracy Moseley charging to second place in soggy conditions at the first UK National DH event in Ae Forest, Scotland and Ryan Trebon claiming second in the Short Track XC race at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA.



With members of the CLUMP team making their rounds in Europe over the last two weeks, Basagoitia simply stole the show with his high-flying antics. Taking his confidence and no-fear attitude to an indoor course that featured drops, spines and three good sized dirt jumps, Basagoitia plowed through the qualifying rounds in style and led the charge for the CLUMP. Also throwing down were CLUMPsters John Cowan and Grant “Chopper” Fielder who rode well in the early rounds. Last weekend, Kona Europe rider Mischa Breitenstein of Switzerland nabbed second in the 15-rider finals at the Nissan Qashqai Challenge in Milan, Italy, and Fielder took third at the Nissan Townhill slopestyle event in Bergamo, Italy.

Making headlines for the Factory Team lately were XC and DH monsters Barry Wicks, Trebon, Erik Tonkin, Kris Sneddon, Moseley and Wendy Simms. Last weekend, Moseley competed in the first event of the UK National DH series in Ae Forest, Scotland, and hit the podium in second. Racing on a brand new rig, Moseley battled soggy, technical and challenging course conditions to hold onto second place despite barely being able to keep her tires mud-free.



Also last weekend, Wicks, Sneddon and Simms stormed the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Offenburg, Germany. Racing in the women’s elite XC class, Simms nabbed 22nd in the 111-rider field finishing with a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 42 seconds. Along the 33K course, Simms tackled the technical sections of “Wolfsdrop” and “Snake Pit” en route to finishing just eight minutes behind the winner. Competing on roughly the same course (38K), Wicks and Sneddon broke the top 100 – finishing 83rd and 100th, respectively. The duos World Cup race featured 217 racers.

The team of Simms, Wicks and Sneddon were coming off World Cup XC races in Houffalize, Belgium the week before where Simms finished 26th, Wicks 61st and Sneddon 133rd.

Wrapping up the Factory Team’s racing exploits were Trebon and Tonkin’s efforts at the cold and super-windy Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA. Competing in his inaugural race on a 29er, Trebon took second in the Short Track XC race after battling with Sam Schultz of Subaru/GF to the finish. In the XC race the following day, a lethargic Trebon held onto 44th, while Tonkin reeled in 16th place.

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