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Missy the Missile
Full throttle with mountain biker Missy Giove
by Brion O'Connor
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 Even in the wild, white-knuckle sport of downhill mountain bike racing, Missy Giove stands apart, with her shocking multi-colored mane, tattoos, body piercings, dead fish, dog ashes, and ferocious injuries-be-damned approach to competition. Giove is the complete package, a barely-restrained explosion of energy who rails against race courses with the tenacity of a lightning strike. Her conversation mirrors her riding, with words firing off like the report of a machine gun, as if her mouth has trouble keeping pace with the rapid-fire synapses upstairs.
In short, the 27-year-old firebrand is a poster child for the sport, a former world champion and one of the most decorated and highest-paid racers in mountain biking. Much has been written about Giove's accomplishments and her sometimes outlandish behavior. She's been known to nibble on the dirt of a race course before competing to become more in tune with the mountain. Still, this woman is far too complicated to fit neatly into any "rad girl" descriptions -- she's thoughtful, loyal, impulsive, opinionated, brash, funny, charming, caring, provocative, competitive, and combative.
Giove's special talent is the ability to push herself past all limits, to ride her bike downhill faster than most people on the planet. She has long been regarded as one on the sport's elite riders, fearless on the steeps. For the past two years, she's been locked in a tong war with French biker Anne-Caroline Chausson for the UCI [Union Cycliste Internationale] World Cup title. To add a little spice to the rivalry, Chausson was recently hired by Giove's former team, Volvo-Cannondale. That chain of events, without question, stoked Giove's competitive furnace. Giove will be racing as an independent for the first time in her career, atop a Foes full-suspension downhill mountain bike.
We caught up with Giove at her home in Durango, Colorado, where she spends most of the off-season, just after her stint at ESPN's Winter-X games. But there is little time to rest for this warrior, who has set her sights on reclaiming a World Cup crown and the World Championship.
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Missy Giove
;)
