Peaty set the standard for the day smashing his qualifying time and looked more than comfortable in the hot seat. It was so good to see Peaty back on form and back on top, especially after the trouble he had last season.
Devinci's Steve Smith came close but just couldn't catch Peaty's time. Sam Hill was up at the first split but lost time in the unforgiving flat section where every pedal stroke counted.
But it was Aaron Gwin who put together the run of his life and destroyed Peaty's time by nearly seven seconds! Gwin didn't even look out of breathe as he stepped off his bike.
Fabien Barel was the next man down with a brilliant comeback to racing but didn't have it in him to nudge Gwin off the top spot. Even a new line on the hip jump from Gee Atherton didn't turn out to be enough.
Cedric Gracia had made a brilliant return to form at Pietermaritzburg with the fastest run in timed practice and qualifying in fourth, but on race day he just couldn't get it right and ended up finishing 16th. Fellow French rider Julien Camellini also had trouble putting a solid run together and couldn't match Gwin's time.
All eyes were on Greg Minnaar as he set off. Pietermaritzburg is his hometown and the crowds were out in force to cheer him on, would he be able to secure another win on home turf? As hard as he tried Greg would have to settle for second place.
The only man that could stop Gwin now was GT's Mick Hannah, but a crash early on soon ended Hannah's plans for a victory, and Gwin secured his first World Cup win.
1st Aaron Gwin - 4.08.634
2nd Greg Minnarr - 4.08.875
3rd Gee Atherton - 4.10.555
4th Fabien Barel - 4.12.880
5th Steve Peat - 4.15.443
In the women's race it ended up being a British one two with World Champion Tracy Moseley winning and Fionn Griffiths taking second place. They were joined on the podium by French trio Emmeline Ragot, Sabrina Jonnier and Floriane Pugin. Madison/Saracen rider Manon Carpenter managed a top ten fnish and crossed the line in eigth place.
Check out the full results and press releases from the teams here.
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