FREERIDE: You were the only German participant in Genoa. Can you still remember when you did your first city downhill?
FischbachIn 2013, I flew to Chile for the first time to take part in the Valparaiso Cerro Abajo. It was already legendary back then. I had seen the videos of it on the internet and could hardly believe that such a thing existed. Completely crazy! I wanted to try something like that too.
Just like that without any preparation?
You can't prepare for something like this. You won't find this anywhere else: the steep stairs, the fans who almost got in the way of the riders and a whole city in a celebratory mood. I wanted to experience that too. I was racing in the Downhill World Cup at the time and was simply fascinated by the web films. So I made an enquiry, got the go-ahead and flew off. By the way: everything is even more extreme live than in the videos.
What were your greatest successes?
I was world champion in 2016, there was a complete world tour that year and I won it. I even won all the tour stops. I was still fit back then (laughs!).
Official Urban Downhill World Champion?
It wasn't UCI official, but it was official. I have the trophy and the cheque that says: City Downhill World Tour World Champion.
What was the number on the cheque?
Each stop brought 6000 to 7500 euros. The races were well paid.
The Cerro Abajo events are now gaining in popularity, almost reaching the status of the Red Bull Hardline. Is this also reflected in the prize money?
The prize money is quite stable, but good for the bike industry. I got 1,000 euros for my 5th place in Genoa, the first place got 6,000, which is okay. If you finish on the podium, you at least cover your expenses.
Well, I would have expected more with all that risk.
If you win a Downhill World Cup, you get 3000 euros. Measured against that, it's already good. Maybe something will change now. It was very important that a Cerro Abajo finally took place in Europe. The fact that it's a big deal was also shown by the field of riders: the fastest bikers in the world were at the start: the fastest city downhill athletes, the enduro world champion and some of the fastest enduro riders, top 20 riders from the Downhill World Cup.... It was a high-calibre field of riders.
Who surprised you in the driver line-up?
I thought it was great that the Enduro World Champion Alex Rudeau was at the start.
Rudeau was downbeat during the track walk, saying he didn't even know if he could do all the jumps.
I can't blame him, because city downhill is completely different to everything else. Rudeau has great skills, but the urban stunts require a special mindset. For example, if you don't get the first sharkfin right, you fall 7-8 metres down onto the asphalt road. Think about my crash in Valparaiso this year. One tiny riding mistake and I took a header onto the concrete road from a height of four metres. Stunts like that can give you sleepless nights.
In other words, a World Cup downhiller is not a good city downhiller per se?
In theory, it has what it takes, because it has the speed. But it has to be able to transfer that speed to the road and the sketchy obstacles. Not everyone can do that. If you fly out of a berm off-road, you end up in the bushes or on the grass. If you fly out here, you'll crash into a railing or fall down a wall. On a city downhill, you see the consequences immediately and it's nerve-wracking.
Which bike did you travel to your first City Downhill with?
With a downhiller from Ghost. Back then, they had a big bike in their programme.
By now you've ridden everything: an enduro bike, a downhiller and an e-enduro without a motor. Which bike is the best?
I don't think there's any difference. You can compete with any bike with 160 millimetres of travel or more. There may be trails where a downhiller gives you more confidence, but there are also trails where a lighter enduro bike has advantages. I think it's cool that almost any bike can win.
I suppose on the super steep tracks like in South America a bigbike is the better choice than in Genoa, right?
Downhillers have now become so efficient and light that they accelerate really well. And they have more reserves. That can save you on the stunt-heavy tracks in South America. For example, if you jump a little too short or far - I agree with you. If I had a downhiller, I'd go to the start with it - but I could do it with an enduro bike.
Juanfer Vélez is the proof. He came very close to Slavik in Genoa, who was riding an enduro.
Vélez is blatant. You have to realise that the track in Genoa was tailor-made for Tomas Slavik. I said to him during training: "There is probably no other track in the world that suits you like the one here in Genoa!" Because he is physically the strongest. He develops an incredible drive. And he was able to maintain this propulsion on the long straights in Genoa. The guy weighs over 90 kilos. When he rolls, he rolls. Velez was only able to get so close to Slavik's time by driving absolutely crazy.
It was a pleasure to watch Vélez as he drove, pushed, pumped, scrubbed away the monster gap and had some near-death moments, for example when he almost hit the wall at the end.
The guy is gifted. For me, next to Bernard Kerr, Vélez is one of the most talented people ever to have sat on a mountain bike. I'm surprised that Red Bull hasn't snapped up Vélez yet, given his talent and go-for-it attitude. Sometimes he's too hot-headed - a South American temperament - but I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from him in the future.
Vélez also took part in the Red Bull Hardline in Wales.
For the first time and came third straight away. That's exactly what I mean!
Tomas Slavik had scouted the route in Genoa and also filmed it there. Did that give him any advantages?
Maybe a little. Because he couldn't ride the competition course. It was only set up just before the event. I say: he would have won the race either way.
You were seen together at the track walk. Are you buddies?
Yes, we've known each other for a long time and are good friends. He also gave me some tips, as he had already trained on the stairs. He said: There's one thing you must never do: brake! If you do, you're guaranteed to fall flat on your face.
It was said that the steps were so far apart that the bike got stuck rather than accelerating. Was that true?
Yes, very strange. The steps were unrhythmic. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. As a result, the bike never really got rolling like it does on the steep stairs in South America. The bike tended to stumble down. I had to really fight on these strange stairs to keep up the pace.
The course in Genoa seemed super fast, but not as treacherous as in South America. Is the impression correct?
The obstacles in Genoa were not as challenging as in South America. The super narrow lanes and steep stair gaps were missing in Genoa. In Genoa, there were also 300 metres in depth like in South America, but in South America you're constantly riding on much steeper terrain.
When Bernard Kerr was asked in Genoa what his goal was, BK said: to stay alive! Is staying alive easier in Genoa than in South America?
Genoa only had a few extreme obstacles. There were: the sharkfin into drop, the 16-metre ramp-to-ramp double and the road gap. Everything else was normally rideable. But if you push yourself to the limit, even that becomes difficult. In Valparaiso, for example, you have a lot more obstacles that can take you out.
The Sharkfins in Genoa looked nasty. How did they drive?
They irritated me at first too. A 90-degree jump! It was difficult to estimate how fast you had to be to really make it to the landing. That was scary. Some people found it difficult. Two riders broke their legs.
Theo Erlangsen laughed his head off during the track walk and said: "He's not going to be the first to try these nasty things. Who was playing the guinea pig?
The organisers had two guys from South America with them. They build all the stunts and test them themselves. So there was an official forerunner. He jumped the stunts and then readjusted the landing ramps if necessary.
That's cool! That's the kind of thing you wish for in our bike parks, that the trail builders test jump their own stunts and only release them when everything fits.
Ha, ha. Everything would have gone great in Genoa - without the storm. But the storm prevented the training runs. That was a shame, because then everything was crammed into the final day. Without this training, there was crazy pressure to perform.
Which stunt were you happy about when it was behind you?
All of them. (laughs) I was glad when all the stunts were behind me.
Didn't anyone stand out, e.g. the 16-metre double?
In training, some of us jumped the double in the wet, even though we weren't allowed to. Some of them came down in a nose dive and I thought to myself: Oh shit! I had quite a heart rate because it's not that often that you hurtle down a ramp at 60 km/h. That's why I jumped straight the first time and leaned back a bit.
Commentator Rob Warner was completely "stoked" when the Colombians scrubbed over the double.
Me too (laughs). The one Colombian had already done that in training in the rain. He came in on the manual. I just thought: What is this guy doing? 50 metres before the ramp, he pulled the bike into the manual, rode up to the ramp in the manual and then did a 90-degree whip and landed perfectly. When I saw that, I thought: Fishy, go home again! (Laughs)
Seriously?
No kidding, I thought, the level is so high now, there's no point in me still riding there.
Was it possible to drive round the double?
No, the rules stipulate that you must ride every obstacle. Otherwise you will be disqualified. Only a wooden berm was optional. That's why some people took the inside line, but I didn't know that myself.
Did the South Americans have a disadvantage on the rather flat, straight course?
I wouldn't say a disadvantage. But they expected something else. Where are the steep stairs? Where are the dangerous stair gaps? Their first reaction was: What is this place? But then they liked it too. Because you were at full speed the whole way. That's what the lads like.
So Genoa fits well into the Cerro Abajo series?
Yes, because the course ensured that the times were close together. That makes every race exciting. In the end, everyone was happy: the drivers, the organisers, Red Bull and the spectators in Genoa. The atmosphere was comparable to South America. Only in the alleyways were spectators forbidden - that's different in South America. People are everywhere.
Why don't you go through your run with us, what went well, what went badly?
My goal: no injuries, no crashes. That's why I played it safe in training. I also rode safely in qualifying and didn't push hard. I actually wanted to do the same in the final.
But?
Then I blew the fuses, I was back in race mode and I didn't care about anything. So I gave it everything I had until halfway through the course and then I ran out of energy. You have to know: I was really ill 10 days before. I only got better two days before the race. So it's no wonder that my strength was gone after the halfway point. Then I just tried to get the race to the finish somehow. In short: I didn't have a knife between my teeth in the lower section.
And that's where you lost the time, because you didn't make any driving mistakes on your run.
No driving errors. But I was in too light a gear. Something was wrong with the gears. I wanted to shift into a heavier gear, but that didn't work. That's why I couldn't accelerate out of the straights as I would have liked.
You had a brutal fall in Valparaiso. How much of the fall was still in your head?
Nothing in the race. In training, yes, I think about the consequences. But you have to realise that Valparaiso and Genoa are two different things. In Valparaiso I realised: Holy shit, I can win the race. I was well trained and determined. In Genoa, on the other hand, I wanted a conciliatory end to the year. I was ill, hadn't trained, the enduro season was behind me. But something can always happen: a mini mistake can end in disaster.
How were the landings in Genoa? Did it rumble a lot after the drops?
It wasn't like you were slapping your hands after the jumps and thinking every time: You're going to tear yourself apart! The landings were okay. But I had set the suspension too soft. Normally I set it so hard that there is very little bounce.
Wrong setup, how can this happen to you?
I was really sick in bed until two days before the event. My sponsor had given me the choice of taking the Liteville enduro bike. I was grateful, but I hadn't done any tests with the bike. I wanted to find out the setup in training, but training was cancelled. Because of the storm, the Genoa Cerro Abajo became a one-day event. That was really stressful. I was only able to do three runs in total. I tried to jump everything on the first run. On the second run I wanted to ride a complete run in one go and on the third run I tried to ride the run at speed. There was no time to set up. The dudes also shifted the ramps by a few metres between the runs. The setup was the least of my problems. But in the end it was a bit too soft.
Did you feel that you were pushing Bernard Kerr out of the hotseat with your time? Did you feel that when you crossed the finish line?
I didn't realise that Bernard Kerr was sitting in the hotseat. But I knew that I had a good run. I had a feeling. And when you roll through and people are cheering, then you know: Best time!
Is there any satisfaction in letting hardline superstar Bernard Kerr slide aside, out of the hotseat?
I don't really care who I'm displacing. But letting a Bernard Kerr slide over is cool. Because the guy has so much self-confidence. When I met him on the track walk and said: Berny, how are you? He said straight away: "I don't know if I should ride to victory here." Because Bernard had seen all the stunts and apparently got a queasy feeling. This became a running joke between me and photographer Lars Scharl. The BK's self-confidence is soaring. That's often not realistic. I realised that he wouldn't be able to compete for victory in Genoa if Tomas Slavik and the Colombians were at the start.
But he took it sportingly and complimented you on your good run.
Yes, yes, absolutely. I just want to say: Bernard Kerr is a gifted rider, but he also has gifted self-confidence. (laughs) Maybe that's why he's so good, especially when it comes to nerve-wracking tricks like the Red Bull Hardline.
In the end - you guessed it - you were pushed out of the hotseat and dropped down to 5th place. What would you do differently if you could do your run again?
Nothing. I'm satisfied. If I had pushed harder at the bottom, there would have been a huge risk of me slipping and ruining my whole run. This time I couldn't do any more, the physical limits were too great. I know that I can go even faster, but only with the best possible preparation.
Did you have a small glimmer of hope that you might be able to win after all?
No, I didn't win, but I had hoped that one or two would make a small mistake. Then I would have made it onto the podium. In the end, I was only half a second off 3rd place.
So the disappointment wasn't that great?
No, I wasn't disappointed at all. On the contrary, I'm happy!
You had special tyres. Did they do any good?
I didn't ride them at all. They had a harder, faster-rolling rubber compound. If it had stayed dry, the tyres could have made the difference. But then the rain came. The tyres were unrideable in the wet. I am of the opinion that I could only gain 2 to 3 seconds with such tyres by rolling better. But then again the risk increases.
Red Bull wants to extend the Cerro Abajo series. You seem to be one of the favourites.
I want to ride the entire series and be a podium candidate. That's what I'm training for. That's my main goal for the coming year.
Why are the Colombians such a force in the City Downhill?
They don't do anything else. They train almost exclusively on tarmac. The bikes are designed precisely for these requirements. I particularly noticed that this time. Their bikes roll much better over stairs than when some enduro guy or World Cup rider comes along and rides down them on their "normal" bikes. You can even hear that in the noise. I'll have to analyse that in detail.
What does a Fischi do after the race? Does everyone pat you on the back and you go and celebrate?
Logically, everyone is patting you on the back. I've officially been an e-biker for the last two years. And for an e-biker who can compete in the city downhill, that's a great endorsement. I was delighted that I could still ride at the front. As an e-enduro rider, you lose some of your explosiveness because you train differently and no longer for such short distances. As an e-biker, you have to get through a 6-hour race day. I was happy, and everyone was happy with me, because they didn't expect me to finish in the top 5 either. After the race, Red Bull organises a cool after-race party, they do a pretty good job. But unfortunately we went straight home because my photographer had to go home to his wife and kids.
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
