Landscape

Landscape : Where do you see Freecaster in the future?

Raymond Dulieu : We're going to carry on focusing on live broadcasts of sports events. The website as people know it today is going to undergo a major change of identity and become www.extreme.com. Aside from that, we're going to stay involved in MTB and continue supplying good MTB content online. And then, we're teaming up with X-Free, another Belgian company, to launch a series of international downhill races for pro- and amateur riders – based on the Nissan European Downhill Cup - which will be broadcast live on Freecaster, with Rob Warner commentating. But it will no longer be a European Cup, because the teams want us to include courses in North America, where downhill has reestablished itself as a major force, thanks chiefly to the phenomenon that is Aaron Gwin. So we've hooked up with a local organiser over there, Kokanee Crankworx, who will be integrating their downhill course into our series. I think that will make for a fantastic final. We're not looking to go head to head with the other series like the World Cup or the IXS. Our series, which will be called DH1, will be designed to complement the World Cup events, both in terms of dates and locations. The teams will be able to participate in the different series without any problem; the event schedule will be planned logically. The aim is also to show the UCL that a series of this sort is viable if it is managed differently, and to see to what extent we can establish an understanding with them. We're not looking to try and claim the World Cup title for our own series; instead, we want to find a common ground that will enable us to develop the 15 courses jointly with them. If we can do that, then we will have achieved something really remarkable for the MTB world.