MOUNTAIN BIKE. Sofia’s National Palace of Culture will play host to a unique downhill mountain bike race on November 3-4 with riders racing within the confines of the building itself.

From the roof of this eighth floor conference venue, the best Bulgarian downhill riders and invited international riders, including Filip Polc, will ride through the building right down to the bottom of the premises in a race against time and each other.
 
They will have to contend with huge drop downs, semi-floor constructions, narrow corridors, stairs and elevators on their way down before finishing outside the building.
 
The National Place of Culture is a Bulgarian icon with a history steeped in the country’s communist past. Opened in 1981 as a multifunctional congress, conference, convention and exhibition centre, the venue remains an attraction to anyone visiting Sofia for its communist-inspired architecture and interior design.
 
60 riders will take part in a qualification event at the Palace of Culture on November 3 with 30 riders qualifying for the Final in the building on November 4.

by Rajiv Desai
RedBull.com
27 October 2012

Filip Polc Bio

Hi, my name is Filip Polc. My discipline is downhill mountain biking. My friends call me Polcster. I was born on 10 April 1982 in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. My special talent is urban racing. My philosophy of life is keep pushing your limits. The most important person in my life is my girlfriend. My favourite food is thai.

Filip Polc, photo: Red Bull

Filip Polc is almost a bike legend in Slovakia. If you mention mountain biking to anyone in the country, they will invariably bring up the name Filip Polc.
 
Filip started competing on bikes at just four years old in a cyclotrial discipline, and after two years moved into BMX.
 
In 1990, he took part in the European Championship in Switzerland, where he reached the semi-finals. In the same year, he took part in the World Championships in France and ended up in the quarter-finals. The following year, Filip became champion of Czechoslovakia and Slovakia.
 
By 1994 he was dividing his efforts between BMX and Cross-Country MTB, before deciding to take full-time to mountain biking in 1996.
 
He was won and placed highly at more competitions than he can count since that day and continues to be a contender in downhill.

PROGRAM
Sunday, November 4th, 2012
8:00 – 9:30          : participants registration
9:45 – 10:00        : technical brief with race director
10:00 – 13:30      : free training
14:30 – 15:30      : qualification runs
15:30 – 16:00      : break
16:00 – 16:30      : final (30 best riders)
16:45                 : prize giving

Matti Lehikoinen Bio

D.O.B. Apr 19, 1984
Discipline Mountainbike Downhill

Matti Lehikoinen, photo: Red Bull

In 2008, Matti took a wrong move during a race, fell, and broke both of his wrists. The fractures were so severe that doctors needed to cut all the way around the wrists in order to reconstruct them. It was thought he would never ride again, but 12 screws, three metal plates and three pins later, Matti defied the odds, got back on his bike, signed a new contract with Evil bikes and rode the 2009 season. Before the setback, the Finnish rider had taken the junior European championship title in 2003 at the age 19. He had finished in the top-10 in the downhill world cup between 2002-2004 and in 2006 became the first ever Finnish mountain bike rider to win a World cup event.
Website: www.mattilehikoinen.com