Junior Downhill Star Sam Blenkinsop Signs With 23 Degrees
Junior downhill sensation Sam Blenkinsop of Wanganui, New Zealand, has recently
signed a multi-year management deal with 23 Degrees Sports Management.
Blenkinsop, who turns 18 later this month and will race his first season as an
elite rider in 2007, had a great season in 2006 impressing many people on the
international race scene.
However, it was back in 2005 at the World Championships in Italy, when some key
people spotted his skill and riding style on the challenging Livigno course,
that his name first started to pop up on team radars. Despite his age and lack
Date:
17/10/2006
Sam Blenkinsop Launches Site
New Zeland's Downhill phenom Sam Blenkinsop has just launched his own website.
In order to keep up with the demand of people wanting to learn more about Sam
and his budding international career, Sam thought it was about time to get the
site rolling.
"I'm really happy with what the guys at Splash Designs have done. It will
continue to grow as we get more pics and stuff, but for now I hope people like
what they see," said Sam who is busy training and filming in Eastern Europe
right now, in the final phase of preparations for the World Championships.
Date:
14/08/2007
Sam Blenkinsop Has Excellent Results
Over the past week and a half, 18 year old Sam Blenkinsop (Gravity Group) of
New Zealand has been making up for some of the bad luck he's had on the World
Cup circuit this year, with some fine performances in Italy and France.
10 days ago in Ravascletto, Italy, Sam took the win in the final round of the
Italian National Series. He travelled there with compatriots Nathan Rankin,
Glenn Haden and junior Matthew Scoles, from their base in Morzine, France. The
Italian race format has qualifications in the morning, followed by a best of 2
Date:
31/07/2007
Sam Blenkinsop Re-Signs With Gravity Group
Gravity Group has today announced the re-signing of young downhill star Sam
Blenkinsop of New Zealand.
After Sam's successful 2006 season which included a victory ahead of two time
World Champion Fabien Barel (FRA) at an NZ National Series event, 2nd place
overall in the World Cup Junior category and finally his 2nd place in the
Junior World Championships - with only 1.1 seconds lost to the winner despite a
time consuming crash in his final run, it was a clear decision for Gravity
Group's team management to retain Sam as a member on their team.
Date:
30/01/2007
Sam Blenkinsop Wins The Opening Round Of The NZ Series
In his first race officially as an elite category rider, Sam Blenkinsop of
Wanganui has taken the first round of the New Zealand National Downhill Series
today, at Wanaka.
On the eve of announcing his new pro-team deal for the 2007 World Cup season,
which kicks off in May, Blenkinsop has had an emphatic pair of results in both
the seeding run and the finals, ahead of some well know international pros such
as Fabien Pedemanaud (FRA), Justin Havukainen (AUS) and 2006 Junior World
Champion Cameron Cole.
Date:
12/01/2007
Sam Blenkinsop wins New Zealand national series
2006 junior sensation Sam Blenkinsop has started 2007 on the right foot by
winning the Elite Men's Downhill National Series, in his first attempt. Going
into the finals in Levin on the weekend Sam had a 23 point lead and was
comfortably placed to take the overall, but still went flat out to win the
final round by two and half seconds over Junior World Champ Cameron Cole.
Two wins in the season, round 1 and round 5, plus the ability to drop a round,
gave Sam a final winning margin of 35 points.
Below is an interview with Sam following the event, plus the results.
Q&A:
Date:
01/03/2007
Sam Blenkinsop Takes Impressive 2nd Place in Budapest
In the early hours of Sunday morning, while the commuters of Budapest were
sound asleep, some of the world's best mountain bikers took to the subway
station in the inaugural Red Bull Metro Ride. World Cup top runners included
Gee and Dan Atherton, Nathan Rennie, Chris Kovarik, David Vazquez, Marc
Beaumont, Filip Polc and Sam Blenkinsop.
The two rider knock out format took the competitors on a wild 40 second
underground ride that included some of the longest escalators in Europe,
slippery railway platforms and even, in true Red Bull style, through a
Date:
27/09/2007
Sam Blenkinsop on Yeti/Fox Shox Factory Team
Sam Blenkinsop (Wanganui, NZ), one of the youngest riders to hit the World Cup
circuit, is bringing fresh downhill talent from down under to the Yeti / Fox
Shox Factory Team in a two-year signed deal.
It was back in 2005 that Blenkinsop emerged in the foreground of downhill
racing at the World Championships in Italy, where the skill and riding style of
the 16-year old stood out on the challenging Livigno course. His solid top ten
in the junior category was an early indication of the raw talent Blenkinsop has
brought to the circuit.
Date:
15/02/2008
Sam Blenkinsop Wins At Schladming
Many people thought Sam would win at Schladming and were saying so all over the
internet for weeks, it's just they were talking about the other Sam, Mr Hill.
When the laid back Kiwi called Blinky by most, ran the fastest time in the
timed training session, and then again in the semis, people were starting to
re-think which Sam would be on top.
By his own admission, Sam Blenkinsop could ride each and every weekend in
Schladming, it's his favourite track of the year by far, but that doesn't take
anything away from an amazing 2nd year elite season which also saw a World Cup
Date:
16/09/2008
