The freshly-formed Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense Cycles race team has notched up its first win of the season just weeks after it was revealed the leading mail-order specialist was set to sponsor the team.

The team’s so new that Chris Kovarik didn’t have his new all-blue Intense M6 race bike and CRC/Intense kit for the first round of the Fontana Winter Series DH race in the US, but that didn’t stop him winning it with a substantial margin over Eric Carter and Aaron Gwin.

The Australian rider is living out in California, where his training and preparation for the upcoming DH season has obviously been going according to plan. Watch out for Kovarik and his teammates Ruaridh Cunningham, Julien Cammellini and Matt Simmonds over the coming season – the blue bikes will be racing at UCI World Cups and selected British, French and Avalanche Cup rounds. California’s Sea Otter Classic will be the first outing for the team as a whole.