Yesterday, we coated the professional girls’s successful bikes from final weekend’s Downieville Basic. Right this moment, we’re again with the rigs the professional males rode to their respective victories. It was an thrilling two days of racing, with Andrew L’Esperance taking the XC win in his first Downieville look, and enduro specialist Marco Osborne claiming the DH win. In the long run, consistency was king, and Tobin Ortenblad’s 2nd place finishes each days earned him the title of All-Mountain World Champion.
Tobin Ortenblad: 2nd XC, 2nd DH, 1st All-Mountain
Identified by many because the individuals’s champ, Tobin Ortenblad has raced the Downieville Basic quite a few occasions and has had his sights set on the All-Mountain title for years. The Santa Cruz workforce rider has come fairly shut, too, working his method up from sixth in 2023 to 4th in 2024 and third in 2025.
“I’ve been right here the final 4 or 5 years and had blended outcomes, blended luck, flats, mechanicals, lack of health, you identify it,” stated Ortenblad in a post-race interview. “I used to be 2nd yesterday, so I knew I needed to beat Andrew as we speak. I rode how I knew I may to go quick, danger it a bit, however made positive to essentially be on the pedals exhausting each time I may.”
And get it performed he did. Ortenblad rode the XC course in 1:58:38, ending 2nd behind a really quick Andrew L’Esperance. On day two, he matched that consequence with one other second-place end. Ortenblad smashed the DH run with a time of 44:32, over a minute sooner than his final three race runs on the identical course. On his Instagram (@mctubbin), Ortenblad wrote, “This can be a bucket-list win for me. I’ve come up brief at this race so many rattling occasions. It feels good to lastly get the monkey off my again and get it performed this 12 months!”
Body: Santa Cruz Blur 5 CC – XL
Fork: RockShox SID Final Flight Attendant, 120mm
Shock: RockShox SIDLuxe Final Flight Attendant, 120mm
Drivetrain: SRAM XX SL Transmission, 38t Chainring
Brakes: SRAM Motive Final Brakes – 180mm CLX Rotor F&R
Wheels: Reserve 28|XC Wheels w/DT 180 hubs
Tires: Maxxis Rekon Race EXO 2.4” 120tpi F&R (no inserts)
Dropper: RockShox Reverb AXS – 150mm
Cages: Silca Sicuro Titanium Bottle Cages
Pedals: Time ATAC XC 12
Earlier than the race, he wrote on Instagram, “My new Blur nearly feels purpose-built for trails like this. Each replace, huge and small, makes this bike rattling enjoyable to push exhausting.” Like his Santa Cruz teammate Ruth Holcomb, Ortenblad’s Blur 5 seems to be a largely inventory XX AXS Race FA RSV construct. The most important distinction is the large ol’ 38T chainring, so he may lay down the ability on the flat, pedally sections of the course. As soon as once more, it’s a powerful endorsement for Santa Cruz’s new XC platform. Congrats on the hard-earned All-Mountain win, Tobin!
Andrew L’Esperance: 1st XC, third DH, 2nd All-Mountain
Andrew L’Esperance made the journey down from Canada to race in his first Downieville Basic. L’Esperance has represented Canada at World Championships 10 occasions in varied disciplines and established himself as top-of-the-line endurance racers in North America. The two-time BC Bike Race champion has been delivering constant leads to the Lifetime Grand Prix, and, earlier this 12 months, raced the Absa Cape Epic and rode to 1st place within the Fuego XL mountain bike race on the Sea Otter Basic.
With a resumé like his, it didn’t come as an excessive amount of of a shock when L’Esperance, adopted carefully by Lachlan Morton, was first excessive of the Downieville XC climb. On the descent, he gained a while on the sphere and took the XC victory by practically a minute — with a cease to plug a puncture. “I had one small flat that I needed to repair, in order that was positively demanding,” stated L’Esperance in a post-race interview, “I needed to trip tremendous clean the remainder of the way in which, however fortunately made it to the end.” L’Esperance took the XC win with an extremely quick time of 1:57:44.
On the Basic, the All-Mountain win is commonly selected Sunday’s DH. L’Esperance positively introduced the warmth and laid down a brilliant quick time of 44:43. This put him in a factors tie with Tobin Ortenblad, with the All-Mountain win going to the sooner rider within the DH.
Body: Ibis Ripley SL
Fork: Fox 34SL – 120 mm – GripSL with distant lockout – 88 PSI with 2 quantity spacers
Shock: Fox Float SL with 0.4 quantity spacer and 164 PSI distant lockout
Dropper: Fox Switch SL with 100 mm drop – Fox TwinStik dropper/distant lockout lever
Wheels – Raceface EraSL with Enduro Ceramic bearings
Tires – Maxxis Aspen AT in 2.4 – EXO casing and MaxxSpeed compound with Tannus insert within the rear
Brakes – Shimano XTR 9220 “Path” brakes – 4-piston calipers and steel pads. 180 mm entrance rotor and 160 mm rear rotor.
Crank/BB – 36T chainring with 170 mm XTR cranks with 4iiii energy meter and XD-15 BB by Enduro Bearings
Shifting – XTR Di2 RD in quick shifting mode with 2 shifts max when the shift button is held. Shift paddles reverse from inventory.
Saddle – Reform Seymour heat-moldable saddle with carbon rails.
Handlebar – Period SL in unfavourable place (-6 mm) reduce to 740 mm width
King Cages
Rex scorching wax on the chain
Weight: 26.14 lbs
L’Esperance raced on his Ibis Ripley SL, with the “Gold Rush” body colour being a becoming alternative for the historic gold mining city of Downieville. “Out of the field, the Ripley SL is made for an occasion like Downieville, so I began issues off with an excellent setup in that regard,” stated L’Esperance. “The primary modifications I made for Downieville have been the Aspen AT tires, the insert, and the 4-Piston brakes. This was my first time at this occasion, so these modifications have been simply my finest guess at what would work for me. I might be puzzling for the following one year to determine what tweaks I might make.”
Marco Osborne: sixteenth XC, 1st DH, sixth All-Mountain
For the previous 10+ years, Marco Osborne has constantly been one of many high enduro racers in North America. From EWS and EDR races throughout the pond to TDS and different races nearer to dwelling, Osborne has confirmed to be a fierce competitor, particularly when using his bike downhill. He’s raced Downieville a number of occasions, however by no means managed to crack the code to take the DH win till final weekend.
Osborne is a full-time skilled mountain bike racer, but it surely’s clear he has been coaching additional exhausting and brought his health to a brand new degree this 12 months. That was evident within the XC, when he rode away from me on the climb to a powerful sixteenth place end, a large enchancment over his final try in 2023. And health is what it takes to win the DH, which, though primarily downhill, has some punchy climbs and loads of pedaling, and is most frequently received by the fittest XC racers.
However Marco had the attention of the tiger on Sunday morning, and was extremely targeted and decided after I noticed him earlier than the beginning. It was clear that he was gunning for the win, and this 12 months, he positively had the health to make it occur. I began the DH a full minute forward of Marco, and he caught as much as me inside 7 minutes — he was completely flying. He crossed the road at 44:11, twenty-one seconds forward of Ortenblad in 2nd. Right here’s what he rode:
Body: Transition Spur, dimension Giant, Excessive mode, 120mm journey
Fork: Fox Manufacturing facility 36 SL, 140mm, 92 psi with 2 quantity spacers
Shock: Fox Manufacturing facility Float SL, 120mm, 213 psi
Drivetrain: Shimano XTR Di2, 36T chainring, 165mm cranks
Brakes: Shimano XTR 4-piston, 180mm rotors entrance and rear
Wheels: WTB Carbon (unreleased) w/ White Industries rear hub
Tires: WTB Peacekeeper 29” x 2.4”, no inserts, Excessive grip 23 psi entrance, Quick-rolling 26 psi rear (WTB sealant, tape, and valves)
Pedals: Shimano XTR
Dropper: Fox Switch Neo 200mm
Saddle: WTB Volt Carbon
Cockpit: Deity Highside 50mm rise (plus 35mm of spacers), reduce to 750mm, 31.8mm clamp
Stem: 40mm
High cap: Ship it Randy by White Industries
Weight: 29.4 lbs
Marco’s Transition Spur weighed in at 29.4 lbs, which might be the heaviest bike within the professional high 20 by a good margin, however is 11 lbs lighter than his typical enduro setup. “For me, that is extraordinarily gentle, but it surely additionally feels actually comfy and planted on the tough descents, handles very well, and has a really comfy upright place with my excessive stack. It’s nonetheless decrease than my enduro bike, however with XC bikes having steeper head angles, regardless that attain numbers are related, the bike feels lengthy for me, so I’ve been attempting to get a setup that distributes weight extra evenly versus having extra weight on my palms.” Tires are one of many greatest puzzles on this race, however Osborne stated, “The Peacekeeper is a really confidence-inspiring tire for the way low profile it’s. It rolls actually quick and has a really trustable, hooked-up aspect knob.”
Congrats on the DH win, Marco. Very Spectacular.
Study extra in regards to the Downieville Basic mountain bike race or see the total outcomes right here. Discover out extra in regards to the Sierra Buttes Path Stewardship, its mission, path initiatives, and occasions right here.
