After weeks of closed-door meetings, dozens of skype calls, and death
threats if the word leaks out, Evil Bikes and MS-Racing jointly
announce the formation of an all-new UCI Trade Team for 2009. The new
Evil Bikes/MS-Racing Team combines the upstart Evil brand with the
World Cup winning success of MS-Racing’s management.
The team roster is a mix of young talent and experienced podium riders
who have been selected to represent Evil in the company’s launch onto
the World Cup scene.
Leading off is 19-year old Canadian Stevie Smith. Steve joined Evil
at the New Year and since then has been the envy of every grom on
internet bike forums by being one of the select few who have been
putting in runs on the new Revolt downhill frame. The Vancouver
Island pinner is looking to follow-up on his breakout ’08 year in the
Elite field and hopes to step onto a World Cup podium this season for
Evil Bikes/MS-Racing.
Another new addition to MS-Racing’s roster is Filip Polc. While Filip
might not be a household name in North America, the 26-year old
Slovakian rider has been turning in solid results for many seasons on
the World Cup circuit. The Polcster is a rarity these days in that he
competes in World Cup downhill and 4X events as well as the occasional
Mega Avalanche event. Piloting the new Evil Faction frames in 4X
events, Filip is looking to jump back into the podium mix for ’09.
Returning to the MS-Racing Team for a second season is 24-year old
downhill ace Matti Lehikoinen. The Fin brings a strong resume to the
program with two World Cup wins under his belt and a 2007 World Cup
2nd Overall ranking. Coming off a bit of a tough 2008 season, that
began with broken vertebrae and ended with both wrists broken, Matti
has been rehabilitating and preparing for the 2009 campaign at the Red
Bull Training Center in Austria. Getting up and coming back like that
is pure Evil spirit!
In the team’s quest for World supremacy expect no prisoners to be
taken, lots of ladies’ hearts to be broken, and a whole load of riding
to go down. Evil Bikes/MS-Racing will kick the season off in South
Africa for round 1 of the UCI World Cup Series. This will be the
first World Cup race of the new Evil Revolt downhill and Faction
hardtail frames. The team will contest the UCI World Cup Series, the
World Championships, the US Open, and other select international
mountain bike events.
Team Director Markus Stöckl commented; “MS-Racing has been working on
building of our vision of a mountain bike team for almost 5 years and
we have worked with a couple of partners in the past. After we won
the 4X team overall and women’s 4X overall title in 2008 we felt
stagnant somehow and knew it was time for a change; new partners, new
visions and new input. Evil Bikes is a new company but with experts
behind the scenes who have been influencing mountain biking for a
while now. From our first meeting I knew they shared the same passion
and vision for the sport that is needed to build a successful team.”
Team Manager Lukas Haider echoed the big boss’ words and added, “From
my side it is a great opportunity to work with Evil, not just to be
the first team to race Dave Weagle’s new Delta System, but also
because the people who are working behind the scene of Evil are as
passionate as we are. I am really looking forward to work with all
the people at Evil Bikes and the new crew of riders in ‘09.”
Evil Owner Kevin Walsh commented; “From the moment I picked up the
giant Austrian at the Seattle airport, Markus and I hit it off, the
Austrian Schnapps and fine chocolate certainly helped though! It is
pretty rare to find highly motivated, like-minded people and
organizations that truly share the same ideals and can have fun doing
it. We are like a bad 80’s mullet haircut, business in the front and
party in the back! We are excited to partner with MS-Racing and
continue to support World Cup mountain bike racing and help grow the
sport globally. This is nothing shy of a dream come true, a Slayer
tour bus, filled with a rogue team of amazing athletes, ambassadors,
friends, personalities and creative thinkers that are going to make
some serious change at every stop!”
Evil Bikes/MS-Racing will compete on Evil Revolt frames for downhill
and Faction hardtail frames for 4X. Other team sponsors and suppliers
include Gravity, Fox Racing Shox, Formula Brake, e.thirteen
Components, Mavic, crankbrothers, ITS, WTB, and ODI.
Check out evil-bikes.com & ms-racing.at for updates!
