Emmett puts in triple podium performance

Giant Factory Off-Road Team rider Danny Hart started the 2010 World Cup season on a promising note, finishing 20th at the opening round in Maribor, Slovenia, on May 16. The 18-year-old Brit was the Junior series champion in the 2009 World Cup series, and Maribor marked his first World Cup race as an elite category racer.

Hart and his teammate, American Duncan Riffle, competed in Maribor on their Giant Glory downhill bikes. Heavy rains made for challenging conditions as riders were forced to negotiate a muddy course. Riffle, a two-time U.S. Downhill Champion, crashed in his final run and had to settle for a 63rd-place finish.

Hart and Riffle are both new recruits to the Giant Factory Off-Road Team. They are competing on the entire World Cup series. Round 2 will take place in Fort William, Great Britain, June 5-6.

In other Giant Factory Off-Road Team news, cross-country racer Kelli Emmett put in a podium performance at a Mountain States Cup event in Colorado. Emmett rode her XtC Advanced SL and Anthem X Advanced SL to three top-three finishes at the Chalk Creek Stampede: second in the Super D and XC, and third in the short track.