Wildhaber and Zbinden new at Trek

René Wildhaber and Samuel Zbinden are switching to Trek for the coming season. While Wildhaber will be a factory athlete for the industry giant for at least two years, Zbinden will be racing with Christian Greub and Thomas Brunner for the "Trek Akira Tuning Racing" team, which is currently being founded.

Official press release TREK

Mountain biker René Wildhaber joins TREK Bikes - the fastest freerider in Europe has signed a two-year contract with TREK

René Wildhaber will be racing in the colors - and on the bikes - of TREK from 2009. The Swiss freeride racer is the most successful biker among downhill marathon riders. Races such as the Avalanche Cup or the legendary TREK Bike Attack in Lenzerheide will in future be contested by Wildhaber on the multi-award-winning TREK Remedy.

"Working with TREK is an extremely exciting challenge for me. I am impressed by the high-quality bikes from TREK. Downhill marathons, my favorite discipline, are becoming increasingly popular. I'm particularly looking forward to incorporating my technical experience into the further development of bikes like the TREK Remedy and TREK Session 88. TREK also has a lot of experience with carbon: the lightweight material will certainly be used more in bikes with a lot of suspension travel in the future," says Wildhaber confidently.

"I'm planning an extensive photo trip to Asia in 2009. I will also be aiming to defend my Megavalanche victory in Alpe d'Huez," says Wildhaber, defining his goals for next year. Every year, 1800 racers scrape for the throne of freeride champion in the French Alps. So far, largely in vain: the 32-year-old from Flumserberg / Heidiland has already won the famous Alpe d'Huez rally six times.

Wildhaber's skills are by no means limited to downhill qualities: In various cross-country-oriented races, too, the rider from eastern Switzerland regularly gives the big boys a run for their money. Wildhaber recently left Olympic champion Julien Absalon and U23 world champion Nino Schurter behind him at the Megavalanche on the tropical island of La Reunion.

In addition to the racing circus, Wildhaber has made a name for himself in the mountain bike film scene: from May 2009, he will be appearing in the sequel to the cult series Kranked. Wildhaber also realizes numerous photo productions on all kinds of breathtaking bike trails around the world.

Successes of René Wildhaber:
- Six-time winner of the Megavalanche Alpe d'Huez
- Nine-time winner of the Swiss Bike Masters Freeride
- Four-time winner of the TREK Bike Attack Lenzerheide
- Two-time winner Red Bull Trailfox
- Three-time winner Nozawa Avalanche, Japan