[Critical Analysis] The modern heroes

Extreme sports are not made for champion. Actually, in such sports it's interesting to look at the recent emergence of new personalities, who are clearly different from standards one. In downhill mountain bike in particular, it's significant to notice that Nicolas Vouilloz, who won 10 Downhill World champion titles is definitely not so popular than Cedric Gracia, who has never won any substantial title, but who's an icon in this extreme sport. The reason is obvious: of for sure Nicolas Vouilloz has been the most professional rider ever in his approach of the competition, using high-tech equipment, such as computerized data acquisition system similar to that used in Formula 1, to get the perfect bike tune. But in the end, he has been too serious and has never been a funny rider as Cedric Gracia is.

The point is that Cedric Gracia takes part in Freeride films and in a lot of major Freeride event. He's a well talented pilot who always appears relaxed and does not pay to much attention to the results. Most of the time, his first concern is to enjoy and to be the showman.

This phenomenon reveals the transformation that has operated in the sport during the "fun" years. Those alternative champions have become the new icons of the sports related communication. More and more fans of those sliding sports, even if they do not practice, try to look like these models. And of course, the best way to copy them is to take the easiest part: the look. Precisely, Cedric Gracia is one of the top athletes representing the Oakley brand, a major sponsor in extreme sports. So it clearly appears that extreme mountain bike rests on a deep counter-cultural dynamic that begun with fun sports like Surf, and continued with Snowboard and finally mountain bike.

This analysis is part of a sociological & marketing study I made on eXtreme MTB, released in September 07.

See also a sociological analysis of the new school trend.