IMB Issue 12 Goes Live

Issue 12 of IMB has just gone live. It's quite funny looking back through the last launch post and reading the words: "here's to hoping it won't be as bad next issue!". It was as bad. This issue there was the added challenge of trying to write the Trail Guide with no recollection of any of the day's riding.

After driving all the way up to Fort William for the World Cup it made sense to visit one of the 7Staines trail centres, and we hooked up with ride guide/coach Clive Forth. The photos from the day look amazing, so I can only assuming the riding matched it, as I overshot one of the jumps in the skills area, crashing on the take-off to the next jump and knocking myself unconscious. Smooth.

I woke up on the ground with no idea where I was, what I'd been doing or where the brand new DaKine clothes I was wearing had come from. Hopefully it'll make for a good read!

Fort William

Mabie Trail Guide

Leogang World Cup

Please somebody tell me they also got confused by the whole time difference thing and missed out on an hours racing!

After a month of waiting we've been spoilt with two back to back weekends of top notch World Cup racing. Trek's Aaron Gwin has now won two of the three races this season after beating second place Gee Atherton by just over two seconds.

Brook Mcdonold was looking for a repeat of last week's success at Fort William and once again found himself on the hot seat watching the rest of the field coming down trying to better his time. Sadly Brook's hadn't done enough this week but he still finished in an impressive tenth place.

It was Sam Hill who knocked him off the top spot and went on to finish fifth, giving the Monster Energy Specialized rider his World Cup podium since 2009. Team mate and fellow Australian Troy Brosnan finished 15th after a small crash on a corner that caught out many. Brendan Fairclough came in a disappointing 31st on a track that many thought would suit his riding style.

Danny Hart really excels on these steep tracks and was surely hoping for another spot on the podium. He was the fastest rider down in Friday's timed practice so knew he was capable of something special. Hart looked much more in control of his bike this week and almost seemed to float over the roots strewn across the course. Hart came so close to Hill's time and ended up finishing in sixth place.

Blenkinsop is another rider who laps up the steeper technical courses. Blinky finished fourth here last year after qualifying first but just couldn't find it this year and ended up in ninth place.

Last year's winner and next man down Greg Minnaar was up on Hill's time at the first split and took the lead by three and a half seconds. Justin Leov couldn't catch Minnaar's time, then Andrew Neethling and Fabien Barel crashed in their race runs, guaranteeing Minnaar a spot on the podium.

Steve Smith's first split time placed him in 21st but he went on to put down a solid run and earnt himself a place on the podium finishing in fourth. Gee Atherton was absolutely flying down and looked faster than anyone. Atherton proved exactly why he's the defending World Cup champion and finished three and a half seconds up on Minnaar's time.

All eyes were now on Aaron Gwin who had once again finished first. Even with a crash at Fort William Gwin finished fifth. How would he cope today, would the pressure of being last rider down get to him again? Well, the short answer is no! Gwin looked to be in a league of his own and was up at the first split by five seconds. A slip on the pedals cost him time but he still won with a two second lead!

1st Aaron Gwin - 3:44.181
2nd Gee Atherton - 3:46.294
3rd Greg Minnaar - 3:49.902
4th Steve Smith - 3:52.123
5th - Sam Hill - 3:53.406

Gwin's win means that he is once again heading up the overall standings, with a lead over Minnaar of 46 points. There's now a three week break before racing continues at Mont Saine Anne, Canada; home to last year's World Champs race won by Sam Hill.

Full results as well as press releases from all the teams can be found here.

Fort William World Cup

Santa Cruz Syndicate's Greg Minnaar and Trek World Racing's Tracy Moseley have now made it an incredible five wins each at Fort William after an afternoon of some of the most exciting racing ever seen on the world cup circuit.


After a bad start to his World Cup Season in Pietermaritzburg, and a disappointing qualifying run Mick Hannah was keen to make amends and promptly did so, getting himself onto the hot seat.

Few riders came close to Hannah's time but no-one seemed able to match the power Hannah put down in the final part of the track. Josh Button managed to knock Hannah off the top spot, closely followed by Scott 11 rider Fabien Pedemanaud. Then Brook McDonald smashed Pedemanaud's time by over seven seconds, really putting the pressure on every at the top of the mountain.

McDonald's time was untouchable and it wasn't until Minnaar crossed the line that he was knocked off, but with only three riders left McDonald was guaranteed a place on the podium.

Danny Hart was the next rider down and was getting seriously wild on the top section of the track. He was over the moon placing third in qualifying but would he be able to step it up on his race run? He crossed the line greeted by the loudest roar from the crowd just over a second behind Greg's time.

Next rider down Gee Atherton was under so much pressure after winning here last year, but as he crossed the finish line it was clear that something wasn't quite right. In fact Gee's rear wheel was smashed to pieces yet he was still able to ride to the bottom of the course and finish in fourth place.

All eyes were on Aaron Gwin as he set off from the starters gate. After winning the first round and the US open many people were expecting Gwin to walk away with first place again today. Gwin's time at the second split would have put him in first place, but a small mistake cost him dearly and he ended up finishing in fifth, allowing Minnaar not only to win at Fort William for the fifth time, but also to take the overall lead.

1st Greg Minnarr - 4:43.854
2nd Danny Hart - 4:45.153
3rd Brook McDonold - 4:45.788
4th Gee Atherton - 4:46.858
5th Aaron Gwin - 4:47.047

Full results here.