The World Championships are a very special event in the cycling calendar. All mountain bikers change from their team outfits into their national jerseys once a year. National flags adorn the jerseys, and special helmets, shoes or gloves usually round off the national team outfit. Even the bikes and their paintwork and designs no longer follow the rules of the team look. We went on a search in the World Championship paddock in Andorra and found the most exciting World Championship bikes for you. Curtain up:
Florian Vogel: Focus Race-Fully prototype
Just in time for the World Championships, Focus has finished the prototype of its new race fullys. Nobody at the Focus stand wanted to tell us anything about it yet. 29 inches, carbon frame in the same design as the Raven Max and a cover over the shock. Vogel was so impressed by the new bike that he rode the fully in the race.
Gee Atherton: GT Fury
GT has painted its Fury World Cup in national colours for Rachel and Gee Atherton. The downhill bike in the Union Jack livery has at least brought Rachel luck. After winning the overall World Cup, she also took the women's world title. Gee, on the other hand, crashed hard and had to bury his medal hopes in the dust of Andorra.
Jaroslav Kulhavy: Specialised Epic 29
No other professional mountain bike rider has a saddle nose as blatantly tilted downwards as the Czech. Specialized provided him with a specially painted Epic for the World Championships in Andorra, which will be available to buy in the USA from next year. Kulhavy was also one of the few athletes to receive a gold cassette and a gold chain from SRAM. But it didn't help: Kulhavy once again couldn't cope with the altitude and ended the World Championship race after the first climb. Back home, it turned out that he had broken a rib in a training crash on Monday.
Aaron Gwin: Specialised Demo
Having arrived as the overall World Cup winner, Specialized Aaron Gwin presented a demo in "Stars and Stripes" livery. The Renthal carbon handlebars and the HT-X2 also shone on Gwin's bike in the US look. However, the new demo did not bring the American any luck in the race. At the start of the lower section, he shot over the track boundary and crashed.
Julien Absalon: BMC Fourstroke 01
Once again, the Frenchman opted for a fully. Absalon rides the Fourstroke with the electronic XTR Di2 and Fox iCTD suspension. The world champion stripes on the fork and frame are from his 2014 world championship title. In Andorra, the Frenchman fought a tough battle with Nino Schurter and finished second in the end.
Manuel Fumic: Cannondale F-Si
Germany's best cross-country rider was supposed to race around the world championship course in black and red and gold - that's how Cannondale had imagined it. However, Fumic didn't go for the F-Si in the "Schland" look in the race, but instead rode his Scalpel-Fully. The other three Cannondale riders also got an F-Si in their national colours: Henrique Avanchini is Brazilian, Marco Fontana is Italian and the U23 rider Anton Cooper comes from New Zealand.
Nino Schurter: Scott Spark
The bike of the new world champion Nino Schurter! The Swiss rider rides the 27.5-inch Scott Spark with glued tubular tyres from Dugast, DT Swiss suspension and the golden drivetrain components from SRAM.
