Lapierre Leaves DH | Thank You! 2

After 8 years and an impressive run of results, none sweeter than Loic Bruni's win at the 2015 World Championships, Lapierre is pulling back from World Cup DH racing. Take a look back at some of the highlights of this incredible adventure above.

The Lapierre Gravity Republic team, which was run by Pure Agency, will apparently partner up with a new bike sponsor and continue racing. We don't know at present if the rider roster will stay the same. As for Lapierre, the brand will continue to be involved in the Enduro World Series with Nicolas Vouilloz and a soon to be announced addition to the that team. More below:

PRESS RELEASE:

After 8 years of partnership, 2016 will mark the end of the journey shared by Lapierre & Pure Agency, who managed Team Lapierre Gravity Republic. Both partners are launching new challenges for the next season, after climbing to the top of the world in 2015.

In the paddocks, the continuous progression of Team Lapierre Gravity Republic since the very beginning has not passed unnoticed. Crowned best UCI Gravity team in 2014 with Loic Bruni, Loris Vergier, Sam Blenkinsop and Emmeline Ragot; the team claimed the ultimate title in 2015: the Elite Men’s World Championship jersey, to draw the curtains on an amazing adventure. In total: 4 overall World Cup victories, 3 World Championship titles and dozens of podiums… What a way to end!

Gilles Lapierre, MD of Cycles Lapierre, reflects on this achievement: "It has been an incredible adventure at the side of talented riders and renowned staff. We can’t forget that we started from scratch! Over the years we have battled with the best MTB teams in the world. Loic Bruni’s title of World Champion has been the grand finale of this adventure, we couldn’t have hoped for better. It’s now time to move on.

The end of DH sponsoring does not mean the end of Team Lapierre Gravity Republic as we are staying very active in Enduro, which continues to develop with the Enduro World Series. Nicolas Vouilloz, who we don’t need to present, & Adrien Dailly, winner of the EWS U21 in 2015 will have new teammates for 2016 … You’ll be hearing more about this soon.

We are therefore staying committed to MTB competition. We are also supporting the development of e-bike competition, which is undergoing massive expansion, and for which our Overvolts are already a reference. Many new challenges lie ahead of us once again!".

An incredible showpiece for Lapierre’s savoir-faire, the Team help develop their MTBs to benefit from the cutting edge technology. Our latest DH model, launched in 2014, won its first race at the Fort William round of the World Cup with Emmeline Ragot. Loris Vergier then became Junior World Champion on this machine a few months later. He was followed by Loic Bruni using it to take the ultimate title in septembre 2015 à Vallnord. The final proof, if it was needed, that this collaboration functioned in the best possible manner.

Laurent Delorme, Manager of Pure Agency, looks back on the years of partnership:

"Working with Lapierre for 8 years was an amazing adventure.  Gilles Lapierre, the teams at his side and all the company were  a reliable and efficient support, right from the start. With a strategy of developing young talents, we have pulled the performances of our riders to the highest level, thanks to the technological innovations responding to the needs of competition. Gilles, particularly involved in this project, both when we were victorious and in the hard times, always knew how to drive our performances. We are proud to have grown with Lapierre."