he 2009 season got off to a great start, with a particularly intense K-124 Days. Spectators were able to attend one of the most difficult and passionate competitions ever organised. For those o you who couldn’t make it, Tribal Zine, with the support of K-124 brought you day-to-day coverage of the event, with the first images of the future Sky 26”, which were officially unveiled at the festival (Presentation of the 2009 Sky 26") and then, the day after the competitions, a best/of photo album and a sneak preview of the results (K-124 Days 2009 – Round 1 & The K-124 Days 2009 final).

But it’s not over yet, and the best K-124 Days media by Tribal Zine is still to come! We’ve already showed you a teaser of THE official K-124 Days video, filmed in HD using three cameras and steady-cam equipment (Marcus Gelhard, Nicolas Ollier et Nicolas Marsac), which will bring together all of the best moments of the weekend (K-124 Days Teaser by Tribal Zine). It also features an exclusive interview with Gilles Coustellier, taken at the heart of the competition, between the two rounds.

Here’s another interview with the K-124 Days 2009 winner, getting his feedback on the first big comp of the season, along with all of our photos of him, showing all the highlights of his competition.

Interview...

Jébegood: Can you give us a bit of feedback on the K-124 Days festival 2009? The atmosphere, the Super-Elite sections?

Gilles Coustellier: As with every year, Koxx days was great! It allows you to get back into competition riding, and there are all of these competitors here, which allows you to see where the level of riding for that season is at and what form each rider is on! The atmosphere was great, really laid back! This year’s Super-Elite sections were monstrous! Alain set out some crazy sections, but it was possible to get through them all, so no complaints.

Jébegood: This year the competition was completely different to last year’s... Last year’s comp was pretty much decided by the Saturday evening, you’d made a mistake, and for you to win Vincent needed to make one during the second round, but he finished on zero.

Gilles Coustellier: It’s clear that this year it was still all to play for after the first round. I only had three little points, and given the difficulty of the sections, it was obvious that there were going to be a lot of fives on the second day! That was cool, that even with a few fives, you were still in the running.

Jébegood: From the spectator’s point of view, we had never seen such monstrous sections... had you ever ridden anything that big in a competition?!?

Gilles Coustellier: Let me tell you, it wasn’t just the spectators who thought they were monstrous...we did too! I think that it was the first time in a competition that we’ve had sections with moves as big as that. But, like I said, it was great, it really got us back into competition level riding (and how!) and now we’re ready for the rest of the season - I reckon the rest of this

Jébegood: So you’re raring to go for the next comp - the first round of the World Cup in Spain in a fortnight?

Gilles Coustellier: I’m always raring to go for the next comp. You have to be at peak fitness, the first round of the World Cup is always a good comp to try and get a bit of a lead. I think it’s taking place in Rippol in Catalonia. I’m confident, ready to go on the offensive!

Jébegood: It was your first competition on the Sky, were you happy with it?

Gilles Coustellier: I’m really happy with this frame. From the first little spin, I could tell it was a top frame, and I couldn’t wait to test it in competition on these new sections! I’ve never ridden as well as I do on this frame, I really can’t find anything to fault with it. The new aluminium is perfect - really stiff!

Jébegood: I see you’re using new tyres?

Gilles Coustellier: They’re actually the same tyres I used last year, proto Try-Alls, I love them! They’re currently in development, and promise to be great...

Jébegood: Is it a folding tyre? A lot of people seem to prefer them these days...

Gilles Coustellier: It is! They’re a bit lighter. However, some people say that it tends to deform a bit under pressure, but it’s not so bad - it certainly won’t stop me!

Jébegood: Ok, thanks very much for answering our questions. There’ll be an article online soon along with a gallery of photos.

Gilles Coustellier: Cool man. I’ve got to go, I need to work on my bikes.

Jébegood: OK, thanks again, have a good day!

Gilles Coustellier: Cheers, bye!

Photos...

We thought about cutting this album down to just the dozen or so best shots, but we you’d prefer to see all of the photos of the current champion over both days of this fantastic competition. Photos by Jébegood, Mister Ti, Thorfin, Robin & Laurent Grillon. Click on a photo to see it Full-Screen and access the slide-show!

Saturday’s warm-up...

Day 1...

Day 2, Interview and Warm-up...

The final, en route to victory!