Checking in with the Atlas Athletes - Alanna

Alanna (right) enjoys one of her podium finishes

We were stoked to be one of Alanna Columb's sponsors for her Northern Hemisphere 2013 season. It was Alanna's first time racing in European and World Cup events and she scored some solid results in what was her inaugural season - and she hasn't even been riding downhill for that long!


Hello Alanna, how are you?

I'm really well, thank you!


Give us a little summary of your European Season. 

So I left NZ in the middle of May. First stop was the UK with my first race being in Scotland at Fort William. I then continued on throughout Europe, I entered a total of 12 races, a mixture of European and World Cup events and visited over ten different countries. Finishing up in Austria for my last race. I was based mostly in Morzine in France. I enjoyed Morzine - it's a great place with loads of options for riding. We had a bit of gypsy camp going on in the car park of the supermarket below the gondola!


So this was your first competitive Down Hill season, what was your highlight of the tour?

I've thought about this question for a while and not one thing pops up. The whole experience was pretty eye opening! I reckon if I have to say - the highlight of my tour was standing on the podium with Rachel Atherton (world champ) and Myriam Nicole, who was third overall at last year's World Cup. It was pretty cool to stand up there in my jeans and jandals with only two sponsors, Off Road Adventures and Atlas.


What was the low point of your tour?

Towards the end of my trip I ended up getting injured and not qualifying for a World Cup race - that wasn't too fun.


What's the vibe like on the DH race circuit? Is their a feeling of camaraderie or is it each rider to their own?

As it's an individual sport we all want to win - so I guess it's natural there's a bit of competition between us all. But on the whole everyone's really cool and it's a good vibe on tour.


Which was your favourite place to race and why?

Andorra! Without a doubt, the tracks were amazing there!


What's up next for Alanna Columb?

Home to work, save and train hard - ready for next year!


So, your stranded on a desert island you're allowed to take a food item, a luxury item and one album with you. What would they be?

Let's go with chocolate, a hammock and Florence and the Machine's Ceremonials. 

Alanna: Next Stop Andorra!

Podium finish

Queenstown local, Alanna Columb, is one of our regular customers at Atlas Beer Cafe. So when the opportunity arose to give Alanna a hand with some backing, to help her compete on the European and World Cup Downhill Series, we were happy to oblige.

Alanna competed with great success last year on the home circuit placing 2-2-1-3 over four races to win the NZ cup series! Spurred on by this success Alanna heading off to Europe for the season.

Her first race in the World Cup Series saw her place 19th after a big crash in her race run. The second round saw some bad luck after a another rider crashed in front of her. Alanna believed she'd be re-run but unwittingly didn't stop to speak to a race marshall and so consequently got red flagged. A frustrating experience but "good for learning", she concedes.

Subsequent races have been more successful with two respectable sixth places at rounds one and two of the European Cup and a podium finish at Crankworks in Les Deux Alpes; another European Cup race. Alanna leaves France for Andorra tomorrow for her next World Cup race. She has a total of three more World Cup races left along with two more European rounds.

We'll be catching up with Alanna again very soon and think she's doing great in what is her inaugural World Cup series and European season.

Good luck for your race in Andorra, Alanna, from all of us at Atlas!