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Ben Savage :

After the 2007 Koxxdays, the British rider Ben Savage, who have finished 6th in Elite, agreed to answer my interview.

- Hi Ben, how old are you ?
19.

- For how long have been riding Trials?
For 12 years.

- How did you discover Trials riding ?
My father always rode trials.

- How many times do you train per week?
5 times a week.

- Do you prefer to ride natural or street?
Natural all the way.

- Who are the pilots who impress you and why?
Kenny Belaey, really focused and copes with pressure really well.

- What are your personal records (transfers, steps, sidehops ...) ?
Never really measure to be honest.

- What was your most beautiful victory ?
UCI world champs 2004 junior world champ.

- Can you summarize your palmares?
2003 cadet world champ, 2004 junior world champ, 2006 master world champ, 10 times British champ.

- What was your scariest or biggest crash/bail out?
Spain, in 2003 I cut my face just before the world championships, ended up with about 10 stitches.

- We see you evolving on all the Koxx Promodels, have you a testing role in the Koxx Team ?
No.

- Among the promodels you have tried, what was your favourite ?
V-racing.

- Do you get on well with the other members of the Koxx Team ?
Yes, but its always a bit of a problem with the language barrier.

- For how long have you been in the Koxx Team?
5 years.

- Can you make a living now by being part of the Koxx Team?
Yes.

- What are your objectives for the 2007 season in UCI and in BIU ?
Biu world champion is my goal for the year and in UCI I will just have to see.

- Do you prefer BIU or UCI ?
I like both.

- Do you think having two different federations for trial is good for the sport (BIU and UCI) ?
No.

- What are the biggest differences betwen the UCI and the BIU federation ?
The main differance is that it is really easy to score lots of points in uci without even knowing about it.

- Some people criticize a lot the rules and format of the BIU comps (pedals, etc ...). What is your opinion on these rules ?
If you can use padals, use them.

- You finished 6th at the 2007 Koxx Days. What do you think of your result ?
It was a good result, i was pleased to be level with benito on the first day.

- At the Koxx days, I had seen Waynio (Wayne Mahomet) and your father (i think) following you. Do they follow you at all the comps ?
Wayne normally rides the comps, Fred is always there to help whenever possible.

- According to you, what made it possible for you to reach your actual level ?
Lots of hard work

- What was the biggest difficulty you encountered in your career as a trials rider ?
The french.

- Have you got any web site?
Only trialsman.co.uk. I am working on getting bensavage.co.uk back up and running.

- Is Trialsman.co.uk your shop ? How long have you had that online shop opened ?
Its my dads shop I have helped him with it, its only new about 4 months old.

- What is your occupation when you don’t ride ?
Just chilling.

- Why don’t you make more vids? You have a really great style !
Comming soon.

- What does riding with Craig Lee Scott or Neil Tunnicliffe bring you ?
I have never rode with these guy's.

- What was the best terrain you ever rode on in trials ?
Ogwen, Wales.

- What are your most important quality ?
Balance.

- What is your music style ?
Any.

- What is your clothing style ?
Shorts and t-shirt.

- What is your favourite drink and your favourite food ?
Milkshake and baked beans.

- What are your hobbies ?
Running, X-country.

- What advice would you give young riders who would like to reach your level ?
Keep trying, never give up.

I thank enormously Ben for having agreed to answer the interview. We can conclude that from it, he is a very cool guy, simple and very approachable. You can find this rider on most of the sleeves of UCI and BIU World cup. You can see a Ben video at the 2007 Koxxdays in the video menu.