Jack Reading: Downhill Racer

14 years of World Cup racing comes to an end. I think it rounds out at 67 successful qualifications. What a privilege to have raced at this level against such awesome guys for all these years! Thanks to everyone for making it all possible, especially my Dad 👊 Everyone else, you know who you are, big thanks 🙏 I’m excited for the next chapter, and building the program and race team into something huge with the support of and our other supporting brands 💪 Right now though, a rest 😴

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Today was a hard one to process… my last ever World Cup qualifying… Desperately wanted to just get through it, but a combination of worrying about riding too hard and crashing, and worrying about damaging the bike, meant I was just slow. Thankfully I scraped through in 59th, and I can enjoy my final World Cup tomorrow 🎉 it’s been a hell of a journey and such a pleasure to race against everyone for all these years! Ready to enjoy tomorrow 💪😊

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Tough day. Leg started with an infection overnight so had to spend 2 hours tracking down some antibiotics this morning, and missing the little man’s birthday meant my head was up my arse all day 🤦‍♂️However, got some runs done so we have a starting point for tomorrow 💪 Excited to wake up with a fresh head tomorrow and get back out there 😮‍💨 Cheers for working hard, I may have wrecked some stuff… 😆 MSA is no joke 😤

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Final World Cup around the corner, let’s do this 💪

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Well got that done, just, P54. Rode super stressed and tight today after the 61st in Les Gets. So many mistakes and off line moments, so I was lucky to get through! Will try to relax and have some fun tomorrow 💪 Leg is holding up and hopefully the weather will do the same 🤞 cheers team

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Track looks great here in Snowshoe, and the dry weather we have forecast is appreciated 😆 Those wet rocks are no fun! Freshie jersey from from their 2024 range is a beauty 😍 Keen to get out there tomorrow and have some fun 🤙

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Not long until we head to North America for the final World Cups of the season 💪 Enjoying a reset at home and excited to wrap up my World Cup journey 🍻
Stoked have given us such an awesome kit this year 🔥

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Well sometimes that’s just the way it goes. 61st, 0.063 out (almost exactly the same as what .rick_mtb missed out by 🤯)

Today was a much better day. Aimed for a 3:36 in practice and met that target and enjoyed riding the track so much 👌 Aimed for a 3:34 in qually and hit that as well, with a solid run, probably the best I could have done today. My first and last sectors were great, one mistake in the second sector cost me. To miss out by so little, well it just is what it is 🤷‍♂️ This euro block has been unreal, shame to miss out on tomorrow, but I’m already excited to head to North America for my favourite races of the season and what will be my final 2 world cups before retiring from top tier racing 💪

Thanks to and all of our amazing sponsors for the fantastic support 💪

Today was a tough one 🥵 couple of crashes, my bike was ripped off the gondola which isn’t fit for purpose coming into the top station which badly damaged it ahead of 3rd run, track is super tricky and we have to line up in queues all day to get limited track time where groups A & B are constantly overlapping… anything else… 🤦‍♂️

Went into my last run feeling pretty deflated to be honest. Had a good chin wag with on the worlds slowest chair lift and that helped me chill a bit, so decided to flow a full run and evaluate from there. Surprised myself and enjoyed it + put a solid time on the GoPro (got red flagged so had to push back up) and after another evening track walk I’m feeling much more positive ahead of tomorrow 💪 Racing is such a mental game and despite whatever is going on it’s so important to refer back to your processes and trust yourself. The coaching I do with others helped me a lot today 👌

Tomorrow is a new day, let’s av it 😎

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In Les Gets, let’s go racing 💪

📸 .cordier_mtb 📸

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Well this week was polar opposite to last week 🤦‍♂️😆 Didn’t give it enough. Loved the conditions, just didn’t get it right. So difficult to adapt to the new track conditions in 1 hour of practice 🤯 Rode well in semis, but every section I went through I knew I could have hit it faster immediately after, and that was the story of my run, so I was off the pace. We go again in the Les Gets on the hunt for that place in the main show 💪 thanks team

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Enjoyed a rest today 😴 it’s all go tomorrow 💪
See my semi final run on YouTube at 11:36 CET (10:36 GMT) Keen for it ✊

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It’s ridiculously fun out there 🔥 This track is unreal! And to have the family here is ❤️

I’ve loved practice and knew I had good speed, so put a safe one down in qually to get through and I’m excited to let ‘er av it now 💪 I’m definitely capable of a top 30 semi here come rain or shine, so after a good rest tomorrow I’ll throw everything at it on Sunday ✊ Racing is the best 🤌

Gutted for .rick_mtb who narrowly missed out today. But his recovery process is going in the right direction and today was a big step forwards after Andorra 👊 We keep going mate! Also disappointed isn’t here as he’d excel on this track 😔 And thanks the JSM, you’re alright 😉

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Jumped on the bike today and feel like I’m right where I left off in Andorra 💪 Track is awesome, and it was cool to get to ride straight after track walk today! Only 3 runs but feeling good already and ready for more tomorrow, then a late qualifier at 17:54. Let’s go 💪

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Keen for it 😎 I’m jealous .rick_mtb gets to ride tomorrow! For me it’s track walk and waiting for practice to kick off on Friday 💪

All set in the pits with & .fr 🔥 Looks like Sam will be walking to the top for qualifying and race runs because the event won’t give us any passes for staff 😤 the saga of this shockingly badly organised season continues 🤦‍♂️

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Put too much hot sauce on it yesterday 🤦‍♂️ Seeing the pace come back this summer is awesome and yesterday’s disappointment has only fired me up more for the next 4 rounds 😤

The splits tell the story. Honestly didn’t feel like the run was anything special, was just getting more and more into it and enjoying racing again. Seeing I was 6th through sector 4 shows me I just got a bit over excited and as a result didn’t hit my spots through that section causing the crash. Purely rider error and I’m sorry for letting everyone down there 😔

Already pumped for next week and I’ll go through the same process, I’m sure we’ll find the same kind of pace and I can get the rig all the way to the line this time 😆

Big thanks to and the whole crew for the efforts this week. Logistically this event was the worst I’ve ever been to, so we had to dig deep 💪

📸 .cordier_mtb 📸
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I’m absolutely shocked how fresh my V10 frame is after a re-wrap by today 🤯 It looked absolutely destroyed with all of the action it’s seen so far this year and I was convinced the frame was damaged under the wrap… nope! Old wrap removed, fresh wrap fitted and the frame is still as good as new 👌🔥 Thanks Shack & for the great work 💪

Join the ONEAL team! The 2023 sponsorship program is now open, and we encourage anyone to apply, whatever your level! Join me and wear the best gear out there 🔥 Link in Bio 👍
As well as this, people in the UK can now shop on the ONEAL website again 🤌

What a fun weekend at National Champs with the team & 🤙 Loved battling the mud all Saturday with 💩

Unfortunately I had a disappointing race run with a mistake near the top then just not finding my rhythm and making mistake after mistake and ending up losing loads of time and being adrift of where I wanted to be. Doesn’t happen to me very often so it was a strange feeling. On a tricky technical track like that it’s so important to get everything right, and I got very little right 😆 keen for some weeks off now before we kick off the world cups again in Andorra at the end of August!

Great to see everyone this weekend and well done to everyone who made it through the weekend, it wasn’t an easy one 💪

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VDS sequence from / 📸 Setup looking 🔥

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Here is a photo sequence that 📸 took during my horrific crash last weekend on the Alpe DHuez glacier during the Megavalanche 😳 I was without a doubt very lucky to have walked away from this one, and after a week of rehab I’ll be back on the bike tomorrow running a session 🤙

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Loved being in the action again yesterday and rode to P47 😎
The new schedule is tough, with a quick hour of practice then 40 minute turn around before the race run it was difficult to feel “ready” after the overnight rain. Everyone was in the same position, but I’d have loved an extra 20 minutes to do another practice run that’s for sure! Ultimately very happy with my time here in VDS and enjoying my season so much 🤙 Thanks to .fr for looking after the team all weekend and we’re super excited to head off to the tomorrow for a fun week 🔥

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P52 today and in for another one 🤙 After what happened to Dan yesterday and a tweak to my shoulder, I was going to bed last night not sure if I’d even ride today. So thanks to my team , my work with on the mental game and for the physio and sports taping, for getting me in a position to be competitive and get through today 🙏 Excited for some bike racing tomorrow 💪

Well done .rick_mtb on P9 junior and importantly a time that would have put him P59 elite and through for elite finals!

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It’s wild on the Black Snake 😮‍💨
Well done .rick_mtb on P11 junior qually today 🤙
Gutted to see my track mate crash out, especially when he was FLYING 😢
Tomorrow Owen races and I tackle elite qually… and we’re told it’s going to rain 😳

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What an amazing two weeks away with the team! I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved in Lenzerheide and Leogang. With me and 37th and 31st in Lenzerheide so close to new finals, .rick_mtb 8th in junior qualifying in Leogang, all the while and working hard in the pits keeping the bikes running perfectly 🔥 our pace is great and we’re already excited to get to VDS and keep building.

The weather ruined today for all 3 of us (and a lot of others), dropping in right after the track reopened following 30 minutes of rain. We all know we had great pace from our timed runs in practice, and we’re just relieved to have got down without injury and to have put respectable times down in relation to the riders that came down around the same time as us in comparable conditions.

I do get to see Blake and Sarah a day earlier than planned, so every cloud 🤷‍♂️ Thanks to all involved and everyone supporting us ❤️

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Dry and dusty Leogang… what a treat! Super fast out there, enjoying it and keen for more practice and qually tomorrow 🤙😎
Well done .rick_mtb on 8th junior qually today! Excited to see the race tomorrow ✊

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P37, I’ll take that 💪
Todays run felt so much easier than yesterday and 4 seconds faster, so it’s building nicely 👌
Cheers team
On to Leogang next week 🤙

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2023 will be my 14th season racing World Cup downhill, and I will retire at the end of the season! It’s been an unbelievable and truly amazing period of my life, and to have competed at the highest level of this sport amongst so many of my hero’s, both past and present, has been such an honour ☺️
I will take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me along the way, you all know who you are and I’ll be forever grateful, and I will call out my Dad and say THANK YOU because without you this journey would have never been possible 🙏 (and mum of course 😉)

There are a few reasons why it’s time to hang up my World Cup boots. The first is I’m getting old 😆 and it’s a young man’s game (only the GOAT was older than me out of the qualifiers today!), another is it’s time to fully focus on my race team as a team owner/manger/coach so I can help my athletes to the best of my ability and continue to grow the program, also my coaching school which again requires more time than I’m currently able to give it, so I can help all of the talent we work with. I’m also very conscious of being a responsible father and husband, and the level of risk now required to compete at the top of this amazing sport, is extremely high, and small errors can have big consequences.

I’m so excited for the season ahead. After two tough years I’m fit again and loving my racing. The feeling of pushing my limits today was awesome and to qualify amongst all of these talented young guys was unreal. Excited to race tomorrow, and see how many more qualifications I can make happen this year, and maybe make it through some semi finals 💪

Thanks again to everyone for the support, and see you on TV tomorrow ready to press send 🤙😎

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P47 in qually today 🤙 and I’ll be making a big announcement about the future of my racing later this evening… 🥹

Very very happy with today, and cool to be p35 and p34 at splits 1 and 2 before making a small mistake… maybe that top 30 and “new finals” is possible 😳😉 Either way I’ll be enjoying old school finals tomorrow 🤙 Buzzing for Dan the Man back on form and 24th 💪💪 Let’s go bro 😎
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Strange day here in Lenzerheide. Really struggled to relax and find a rhythm today, but with the changing weather and track conditions I don’t think I was alone there 🤷‍♂️ Tomorrow is new day and a solid foundation to work from 🤙 Keen to get back on track with and build some proper speed 💪
Gutted for .rick_mtb who had a mechanical in qually today, chin up lad 💪 Cheers & in the pits 👊

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What a weekend celebrating & getting hitched 🤵‍♂️ 👰‍♀️ Really enjoyed being best man for my best bro, and I wish you both endless happiness, and as I concluded my speech 🎤, good luck Annie… 👌😆
📸 .philpott

With I head out for one of my timed MTB coaching sessions with accurate to a 100th of a second live timing for my riders 💪 0.01 👌 ⏰

On my camps in Portugal we use 7 Freelap transponders on the track to create 6 split times for riders to check their progress on different lines and with different bike setups. Without the timing, it’s difficult to know if one line or setting is actually better than the other. Freelap stops you guessing 🔥

Every rider has a chip on their bike and using the Freelap App, we have live timing for each rider whenever they do a run of the track! Train the right way, train the FREELAP way 👊

Always a good time racing in Portugal 🇵🇹
7th on the day with a good race run 💪 times were tight up to 4th, only 0.5 between 5 of us 😮 keen for more in a few weeks 😎

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Back on new frame day, I headed into to get this beast the best frame protection in the business! Thanks guys 🤙🔥

I’ve been using NIVO dropper posts for 4 years now and would recommend to anyone 💪 I use the 212 drop which is perfect for long races like the Megavalanche and general trail riding 🔥

📸 Hoshi Yoshida📸

My Gravity School off season camps in Portugal 🇵🇹 are now available to book onto! The first is in November and we have 2 spaces left 😎 For details get in touch 🤟

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Our son, Blake Reading, born 5/10/22 05:26 at 9lb 2 ❤️

Blake and mum are doing great, which is such a relief after a very difficult and partially traumatic labour/birth process (details aren’t for social media) They really went though it and I’m just so happy they’re both happy and healthy now it’s over 😊 Sarah is a super women 🤯

We’re still in hospital today, and in Burnley of all places (as I say, don’t ask 🤦‍♂️) but I’m hoping that if things continue to go well, as he’s feeding perfectly and just loves Sarah so much, we’ll be home this evening 🤞

Thanks to everyone for the love ❤️🙏

Starting to miss summer already… it’s going to be a long winter 😆 Who has winter riding plans? I’ll be out in Portugal with Jack Reading] 🇵🇹 😎

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64th in Qualifying today, 0.3 off the cut for finals. Couple of mistakes and wasn’t quite fast enough on the day 🤷‍♂️ Loved being back at VDS for what has to be the toughest track I’ve ridden here 😮‍💨

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