Danny Hart has cemented his place in the history books, winning the 2011 World Champs by an incredible 11 and a half seconds! Champéry is without a shadow of a doubt the steepest and most technical track out there and conditions could not have been any worse. Rain poured down the mountainside for the entire race, and the fog and mist made it almost impossible for the riders to see more than a few feet in front of them.
Brendan Fairclough was the first contender for the World Champion title, and was up at the first split onboard his new carbon-fiber demo 8. Fairclough has had a pretty tough season, after seriously damaging his knee in the opening round of the World Cup at Pietermaritzburg. Fairclough opted to have his ACL removed so he could be back on his bike as soon as possible, his sole aim for the season to do well here in Champéry. He crossed the line in 3:55.124 putting him in the hot seat and earning him fourth place. Not the result he would have wanted, but still a great performance none-the-less.
Fairclough’s MES team mate Sam Hill was also a serious contender for getting the gold. Hill may have missed out on the final rounds of the World Cup series after aggravating his shoulder injury in a crash whilst training, but as he proved last year he’s never one to rule out, especially on a track as steep and technical as this.
With his title to defend Hill put on one hell of a show, picking some crazy lines and looking seriously fast. But it wasn’t to be enough and he crossed the line just over two and a half seconds behind Fairclough, but still taking a top ten finish. Hopefully next year Hill will be able to stay injury free throughout and make a return to form.
According to the rumor mill the French team has been training at Champéry ever since the final round of the World Cup at Val di Sol. However true that may or not be, any time the French riders had been putting in, it certainly paid off, with Damien Spagnola and Mickael Pascal finishing in second and fifth place respectively. Fellow countryman Fabien Barel was waiting to congratulate both of them as soon as they crossed the finish line. No doubt his racing experience played a huge roll in the team’s success.
Josh Bryceland was hotly tipped to do well, however after taking the high line on a berm early on in the track he crashed out over the bars and his carbon V-10 sailed passed the crash net and down the side of the mountain, leaving him unable to finish his race run and understandably devastated.
Kiwi rider Sam Blenkinsop was also tipped to do well here and he didn’t disappoint. Blinky seems to really excel on tracks such as this and he proved that once again today finishing in third place. Like so many other riders Blenkinsop was caught out by a blown out berm that also trapped many others.
Blenkinsop’s former team mate and fellow New Zealander Justin Leov is a solid rider and top ten regular but he crashed out and ended up finishing 23rd. Andrew Neethling and Brook Macdonald were also unable to beat Spagnola’s time.
All eyes were on Danny Hart as he set off from the start gate. At just 19 years old Danny has had the season of his life and he was looking to end it with another stellar performance. Hart was the first and only rider to tackle the blind log drop putting him over four seconds in the lead at the first split. Riding his incredible, all-out loose style Hart was in a different league to everyone else and went up an incredible 10 seconds at the next split! Coming into the final section, Danny pulled an insane whip and sprinted across the finish line over eleven seconds faster than anyone else. No question about it, Danny absolutely destroyed the competition.
Only three riders could knock Hart off the top spot, and Gee Atherton was one of them. A former World Champion himself, and winner here last year in similar conditions, if Gee held it together the title could be his once again. Gee hadn’t had the best couple of days in the run up to the race, knocking himself out in a crash in practice, and the nightmare continued for him today, crashing twice in his race run and ending up way down in the field.
Minnaar can always be relied on to succeed, but he just couldn’t put everything together, and although he put in a great run, he just couldn’t match Hart’s time and finished in eighth place.
Just Aaron Gwin left. Could he be the first American rider to win the World Champs since 2000? Gwin exploded onto the race scene with a top ten finish in his first World Cup race at Mont Sainte Anne, and this season with a new team and a new bike he’s had a second wave, winning five of the World Cup rounds and taking the season overall. Gwin seems to find time where no-one else can, so if anyone could beat Hart it would be him.
At the first split Gwin was just under a second behind Hart’s time. With so much of the track left Gwin had every chance of making that time up and taking the win. But a crash nearing the final second handed the title to Hart. Today Danny truly is the champion of the world!
1st Danny Hart (GBR) – 3:41.989
2nd Damien Spagnola (FRA) – 3:53.688
3rd Sam Blenkinsop (NZL) – 3:54.982
4th Brendan Fairclough (GBR) – 3:55.124
5th Mickael Pascal (FRA) – 3:56.631
Of course it would be impossible to talk about today’s race without mentioning Fabien Barel. After finishing fourth at La Bresse at the start of August, and on home soil, Barel announced that he would be retiring from racing and that the World Championships would be his last race.
A few days later, whilst on a training ride Barel crashed and broke four ribs leaving him unable to compete at the final round of the World Cup in Val di Sol. Barel was one of the most determined and focused riders on the circuit and has come back from injury before. Riding clipped in pedals and with his ribs still broken Barel sprinted across the finish line and finished 10th.
No doubt bikes will continue to play a huge part in Barel’s life, but he will be sadly missed from the race scene. All the best Fabien, and thank you for being one of the best riders out there, both on and off the track.
