An excellent weekend for the MONDRAKER FACTORY TEAM as Fabien Barel takes the win.

A long and dusty track in the French Pyrenees was the setting for the 13th Annual LOURDES DH. After 2 days of testing on the track both Aurelien and Fabien were excited to get into “race mode”. The host town of Lourdes is the French capital of Catholicism but no praying was needed for the riders as they were confident and motivated to take the start.
The first run went well with Fabien setting the fastest time and Aurelien not far behind in fourth place. After the run both riders were satisfied with their performances but also motivated to push harder for the second run. For Aurelien it was a personal victory as he could say for the first time that his arms did not let him down, his history of arm-pump was now a thing of the past.
The second run got underway with the chance of rain threatening but fortunately it held off until the podium. Aurelien was feeling confident after his first run and was ready to push hard knowing he could maintain a fast pace to the finish. He let the brakes go and was flying until disaster struck in the form of a rear puncture! It was over for him but his first round time secured him 5th place.
Fabien decided to set himself a goal of under 4min, no mean feat! He knew that with the first world cup just round the corner the time of playing it safe was over and he had to push the limits. He did just that and managed to control his pace to the finish line. He crossed the line under 4min and was very happy with the weeks work he had done on the bike and his riding abilities.
With just 1 more race before the first world cup the team is happy with the preparations so far and confident to take on the worlds best.

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