The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame is honoring the achievements of four pioneers of mountain biking with the announcement of its 2023 inductees. The diverse list includes one of the best downhill mountain bike riders Shaun Palmer, cross-country mountain bike racer Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå, Diddie Schneider visionary bike park pioneer and iconic 'voice of mountain biking' Rob Warner.
Celebrating its 35th year the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame has been celebrating the people, places, bikes and races from the world of mountain biking. Founded in Crested Butte, Colorado, and since 2013 its been located at the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax, California.
Some would say Rob Warner's induction has been a long time coming and it was way back in 1996 that 'the caveman of downhill racing' became the first British mountain biker to win a Downhill World Cup, a good enough reason alone to make the Hall of Fame. Rob of course has gone on to forge a path from world-class downhill racer to the most influential commentator in mountain biking.
Rob will be the first to acknowledge that, had he put as much effort into his racing career as his commenting job, he might have had a much longer time as a pro, racing’s loss is the armchair fan's gain. His commentary and hosting of the World Cup Downhill and Cross Country series on Red Bull TV for over the past ten years has attracted many viewers to become fans of what are considered to be the blue ribbon events of mountain biking.
As Red Bull’s tenure over the downhill mountain biking and cross-country coverage came to an end at the end of last season and it was announced Rob would not be moving forward with Warner Bros. Discovery and many wondered what his next move would be. So fans were happy to hear Rob announced as the new voice of the much-improved Crankworx downhill series for 2023.
His induction and his accolade as the voice of mountain bike commentary is one he truly deserves, you only need to re-watch Danny Hart’s World Championship-winning run below to understand how Rob Warner puts in as much effort as the racers on track. That one clip is probably one of the most-watched mountain bike commentaries online at nearly five million views.
The 2023 Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Inductions take place in-person on Saturday, October 7th 2023 in Fairfax, California and will also be live streamed on YouTube.
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