Monster Energy’s Ike Klaassen Impressive At Mountain Bike French Cup
Alpe d’Huez, France –Another weekend of world-class mountain bike action is in the books! Every year, the MTB French Cup attracts the best mountain bike riders from all over France to the Western Alps region of L’Alpe d’Huez. This time around, the focus became more international than ever, as the global coronavirus pandemic impacted the majority of racing events this season.
In a surprise twist of events, many top MTB World Cup athletes entered to improve their race training and turned the French national event into one of the year’s biggest competitions so far.
The high-altitude downhill racetrack at the French ski resort offered fast and raw turns using high-speed ski slopes for most of the run. Monster Energy congratulates Loris Vergier on claiming first place in the Men’s Racing event. In this high-profile competition, the 24-year-old from Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, emerged at the top of the field with a 3:27.98 total time.
In the Junior category, young gun and Monster Army recruit Ike Klaassen competed as one of the youngest racers in the 16-to-18-year-old category. But even at the young age of 16, the Dutch/South African rookie from Stellenbosch is already proving himself a force to be reckoned with. At this weekend’s French Cup in Alpe d’Huez, he rose to the podium with a strong fifth-place finish facing an elite field of international riders. Just one week earlier, Klaassen claimed second place in a similar French national race and finished his 2019 season by winning the Western Province championships at Hellsend Dirt Compound in South Africa.
“It was my first few races since Corona hit and seen as these are the only races, everyone is in attendance and the levels are insanely high at all of them,” said Klaassen. “They are basically calling in the Junior World Cups. I managed fifth place, with the whole of the top 5 within 1,9 seconds of each other, on a three-minute five-second track, which is pretty tight. It is super cool to have so much high competition at my age.”
For more on Ike Klaassen, Loris Vergier, and Monster Energy’s Mountain Bike athletes follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.