Greg Minnaar Wins Pietermaritzburg World Cup!

Greg Minnaar has stormed to victory taking first place in the opening round of the World Cup on home soil in Pietermaritzburg!

Last year’s World Cup winner Aaron Gwin was just over half a second behind Minnaar’s time, and Mick Hannah who finished in third was only a second back, with Gee Atherton and Steve Smith rounding up the podium.

As the top 30 gathered at the top of the hill, Brendan Fairclough was sweating it out on the hot seat. Fairclough will be the first to admit that this isn’t a track that suits him, and it was a crash on this track last year that plagued his season, but with a new knee and a new bike, the Scott Gambler, he was able to come away finishing twentieth.

It was Gwin’s team mate Neko Mullaly who knocked Fairclough off the hot seat, only to have to make way for next rider down Julien Camellini. Camellini qualified third here last year but disaster struck in his race run when his gear cable snapped and he was forced to ride single speed, destroying his chances and leaving him absolutely devastated.

With this being the first race of the season we were going to see many riders on new teams or with new bikes, and Camellini is one such rider, going it alone this year on his own race program. Lots of big names set out, but it wasn’t until South African rider Andrew Neethling crossed the line that Camellini’s time was bettered, although he had done enough for a top ten finish.

Needles looked to be tucking between the jumps for speed and to conserve energy, and it paid of, with the home crowd going wild. Needles’ time at the top was short lived with Yeti/Fox rider Jared Graves just edging him off the hot seat. This year Graves is focussing purely on racing downhill, completely changing his training regime and it paid off, with Graves finishing in sixth place, just half a second off a spot on the podium.

Sick Mick famously qualified fastest here last year, only to crash out so hard he snapped his stem bolts in his race run. There would be no repeat of that today, and no doubt spurred on by his sister’s earlier victory Mick set off. Mick is an incredibly powerful rider and was nearly four seconds up at the second split after the gruelling pedalling section of the track, and was the first rider of the day to beat the qualifying times, with a 3:58.97 run.

Gee Atherton had a disappointing top section, but was able to make up time mid-track to finish in fourth. Steve Smith is another dangerously strong rider and was down at the second split, but was able to buck the trend of losing time on the bottom section and managed to sprint into fifth place.
Pietermaritzburg was the venue for Gwin’s first victory last year, and the start of his campaign for domination. Qualifying was so close between Gwin and Minnaar, with just eight hundredths of a second separating them.

Today saw more of the same, and Minnaar shot into the lead beating Gwin by just over half a second. Greg’s home crowd went wild as he sprinted past the line, taking his sixteenth World Cup victory greeted by team mate Steve Peat, then swamped by his One Life crew!

Men's Top Five

1 Greg Minnaar 3:57.98
2 Aaron Gwin 3:58.61
3 Mick Hannah 3:58.97
4 Gee Atherton 3:59.28
5 Steve Smith 4:02.36

Full results can be found here.

2011 World Cup Re-Cap Part Three

Never before in the history of downhill racing have the words “worst kept secret” been used so frequently in the off-season. In fact in many cases when the press releases were finally sent out their contents were no longer news at all. Still, rumours and gossip aside we were all sat at our screens waiting for those official statements to come out!

Comic by @teamrumours

The award for the biggest shake up as to go to the Athertons, who after five years of running Commencal bikes, said their goodbyes and joined the GT Factory Racing Team, alongside Marc Beaumont. As well as parting ways with Commencal, it was also announced the Athertons had parted ways with Animal after 10 years of support, and would now be riding for One Industries.

Not to be outdone, Brendan Fairclough had everyone gussing who his new team would be, before it was finally announced in December last year that he would be part of the Scott 11 Racing team. Fairclough carried over some of his major sponsors from previous years, including Troy Lee Designs and Monster Energy. Fairclough had a busy off season undergoing reconstructive surgery on his knee before hading out to California to get in some training in the sun. While we might know what team he’s on, it’s still not entirely clear what bike he’ll be running…

Ms Evil Racing paired with Mondraker Factory racing to become Ms Mondraker Team combining members of both former teams, along with the addition of Emmeline Ragot. This could well prove to be the team to beat with Emmeline riding alongside Brook MacDonald, Damien Spagnolo and Markus Pekoll.

With the Athertons now riding for GT, many people were left wondring what would happen to former GT rider Mick Hannah. Well, along with his sister, Hannah, Sick Mick will be a part of the Hutchinson United Ride team. Also new to the team is Guillaume Cauvin, who finished 3^rd at the last Junior World Championship in Champéry.

Whilst no-one joined or left the Santa Cruz Syndicate, there were a few changes within the team. After an eight year long partnership it was announced that they would no longer be running SRAM/RockShox components, and were making the switch to a Shimano and Fox setup. This marked the end of a 16 year relationship between Steve Peat and Rock Shox. After what’s got to be a similar length of time Greg Minnaar parted ways with Alpine Star, and will now be riding for O’Neal.

Giant Factory Off Road said goodbye to Duncan Riffle, who found a new ride with the Dirt Norco team, meaning it will be just Danny Hart and Andrew Neethling taking care of the downhill duties for Giant, but I’m sure they’ll be more than capable. Just like his teammate, Neethling is now a part of the SRAM BlackBox program.

After winning the BDS Alex Bond was picked up by Chain Reaction Cycles/Nukeproof then flew out to California for some pre-season training with the Athertons, only to break his collarbone. But having packed his hand luggage full of paracetemol Al will be racing in Pietermaritzburg this weekend.

Tracy Moseley announced at the end of 2011 that she would not be a member of the Trek World Racing team for 2012, and would instead be doing her own thing as part of T-Mo Racing focussing on competing in select events, still with support from Trek. Whilst TWR haven’t got any new riders, they have enlisted former World Champion Myles Rockwell to act as a rider liaison to help the team with their training and race strategy’s. Aaron Gwin’s hard work last year paid of with the overall World Cup title as well as being picked up by Red Bull.

Not wanting to be left out of all the Chinese whispers, Red Bull decided they wanted to join in the fun and games and hinted that they would be broadcasting the World Cup series, and then waited until last week, when we could take no more suspense before announcing that they would indeed be brining us every single race, along with commentary from Rob Warner.

So be sure to be logged on to www.redbull.com/bike at 2pm local time South Africa, when the World’s best will come together to kick start the greatest race series. Are you excited yet, because you sure as hell should be!

2011 World Cup Re-Cap Part Two

While the track at Mont Sainte Anne may have witnessed many changes over the years, with tweaks to the course and new lines carved down the mountainside, the venue itself still remains one of the oldest on the World Cup circuit. It’s quite ironic then that the top ten was made up entirely of the ‘new wave’ of riders.

The Punisher - Mont Sainte Anne world cup 2011 from TriRide on Vimeo.

It was here in 2008 that Aaron Gwin made his World Cup debut, exploding onto the scene with a number ten finish. With three years more experience and knowledge, not to mention the confidence from already winning to World Cups that season, Gwin returned and took the victory. Also full of confidence from a win at the BDS the previous week was Josh Bryceland who had the race of his life, finishing in second place just half a second behind Gwin.

Also making a return to the podium in Mont Sainte Anne were Brook MacDonald, Danny Hart and Cameron Cole. Disaster struck Gee Atherton early on in his race run when his tyre blew off and wrapped itself around his wheel. Gee could barely contain his frustration as he was forced to carry his bike down the rest of the track. Greg Minnaar also suffered on the Canadian track with a crash in his race run that saw him finish in eight place.

Having won the World Champs here in 2010, Sam Hill would have been hoping for a similar result, but a crash the week before the race re-aggravated his shoulder injury from crashing in Fort William, also in the 2010 season, which left him unable to continue with the 2011 series.

Windham, USA made its return to the World Cup Circuit, and while it might be the shortest track, it still remains one of the most popular with the riders. While Gwin might have been on home soil all eyes were firmly on Steve Peat, who had a flying race run here with a time that would seen him take a comfortable win, but had a huge crash coming into the final stretch. Peaty may have only qualified in ninth spot, but he held things together in his race run and was sitting comfortably in the hot seat up until last man down the hill Aaron Gwin set off and beat Peat’s time by nearly two and a half seconds.

The last time Gee and Greg raced here there were just a handful of points separating them, that would decide who would take the overall win. Once again on this course it was Gee who would beat Greg, but this time they were down in 11th and 12th place respectively, and their chances of taking the overall title were slipping further away from them.

After two races stateside the World Cup returned to Europe for round six, with French venue La Bresse also returning to the circuit. Peaty was the last rider to win here, and in doing so equaled Nico Vouilloz’s record of an incredible 16 World Cup wins. Peaty qualified in fourth place with Gee Atherton, Steve Smith and of course Aaron Gwin ahead of him.

Old School - La Bresse world cup 2011 from TriRide on Vimeo.

Ben Cathro had an incredible race run, and spent most the afternoon on the hot seat until top ten regular Justin Leov nudged him out the way. In fact apart from the opening and closing rounds of the series Leov was always a top ten finisher. Aaron Gwin may have been scooping up the big points, but Leov’s consistency certainly helped Trek World Racing take the team title.

Josh Bryceland had a flying run and could have been on for a second podium, but just metres away from the finish line he slipped a pedal, went over the bars and ended up in a disappointing 54th place. Team mate and mentor Steve Peat was equally unlucky in his race run, slipping off the track at the top of the course and slipping in through some tape fractionally further along, slowing him down by a few seconds and giving him a time that would have placed him fourth. But the UCI decided that as he had left the track, and did not re enter from the same spot, he would be disqualified from the race.

Greg Minnaar stepped in and saved the day for the Santa Cruz guys, with his second and final win of the series. Gee Atherton was just half a second behind Greg, but ended up with his best result of the series. While Gwin didn’t have the perfect race run, he did enough to finish in third place, and that was all he needed to be crowned the overall winner of the 2011 series.

But the real story at La Bresse was the announced retirement of Fabien Barel. On home soil and standing on the podium for a final time, Barel announced that this would be his final season of downhill racing. His big crash last year had obviously taken it’s toll on him, and with two podiums this season Barel had proved to himself that he had successfully returned to top level riding, but he had done enough, and would be bowing out.

Having already taken the overall series win, Val di Sole in Italy would prove to be Gwin’s victory lap. With no pressure to perform Gwin comfortably qualified first for Sunday’s race just ahead of Steve Smith. Unfortunately for Steve he crashed hard during Sunday mornings practice and broke a bone in his ankle. But his high performance across the season meant he hobbled onto the overall podium in fifth place, even after missing out on the final race.

Troy Brosnan had a fantastic race run, sprinting out of every corner and tucking in every straight. He finished fourth here in Val di Sole, earning his first spot on the Elite mens podium. In 2011 Troy not only won the Junior World Cup series, but also finished eighth overall in the Elite class.

Gee Atherton had done well at VdS before, winning the World Champs here in 2008, but Danny Hart had one hell of a wild race run knocking beating Gees time by nearly three seconds. Somehow though Gwin managed to dig even deeperand took his fifth victory of the season, the first rider ever to do so in the history of the sport.

There is no denying it, Gwin dominated the 2011 season. The question on everyone's lips now is whether or not he can pull it off again, or if his success has acted as inspiration to force everyone to train harder and put in more hours on the bike. I guess we’ll find out in nine days time…

Stay tuned for the final part of this feature, when I’ll be looking at the team changes coming in to the new series.

2011 World Cup Re-Cap Part One

There's now just over a week to go until the opening race of the 2012 UCI Downhill World Cup, so lets take a look back at some of the action from last year’s series!

Freecaster 2011 DVD trailer from WFO Media on Vimeo.

Similarly to this year the series kicked off in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The course had been treated to a slight face lift since it’s debut on the World Cup circuit, with the start gate pushed back a minute and a half up the hill, but the long energy sapping motorway section half way down the track still proved largely unpopular with most riders.

In his qualifying run Brendan Fairclough dabbed his foot whilst coming through the rock garden and injured his knee, leaving him unable to compete in Sunday’s race. It was only upon returning to the UK Brendan was able to get his knee properly examined and the full extent of the damage became clear, resulting in Brendan having his ACL removed just 12 days before the race in Fort William. This injury continued to plague Brendan throughout his 2011 season.

Back in South Africa and in his first World Cup race since since breaking his femur in May 2010, Fabien Barel proved he’d made a full recovery by storming into fourth place, making a welcome return to the podium, alongside Steve Peat in fifth, who had also made a long awaited return to form. But it was Aaron Gwin, who with a new team, a new bike and a new coach who took top spot on the day, onboard a Session 88 fitted with a semi slick rear tyre and a dropper seatpost.

Bike setup aside Gwin’s victory in Pietermaritzburg showed that his intense off season training had paid off, and that he had the bike handling skills to go with it. Whilst the 2010 season might have been all about Gee Atherton and Greg Minnaar, 2011 firmly belonged to Gwin. In only his third full season Gwin went on to become the first rider in history, to win five rounds of the World Cup in one season, and took the overall victory with a 465 point lead.

Interestingly while Gwin may have been stealing the limelight, the battle between Gee and Greg rolled over into the ’11 season, only this time the two were left to fight for second place. Minnaar might have beaten Gee on his him soil in Pietermaritzburg, but would he be able to do it again in Round Two at Fort William when the tables were turned and it was Gee with the home advantage.
Fort William 2011 will forever be remembered for producing some of the most exciting race action in the history of the sport. Gwin had qualified in first place but right behind him were last year’s winner Gee Atherton, Danny Hart and Greg Minnaar.

Mick Hannah had a disastrous start to the season, qualifying first in Pitermaritzburg, but crashing out in his race run with such force that he sheered the bolts on his stem. After a disappointing qualifying run here in Fort Bill Mick 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 reminded everyone of his former Juniour World Champion smashing Pedemanaud’s time by over seven seconds, really putting the pressure on everyone at the top of the mountain. MacDonald’s time was untouchable and it wasn’t until Minnaar crossed the line that he was knocked off, but with only three riders left MacDonald was guaranteed his first ever place on the Elite men’s podium.

Fabien Barel is always a rider to watch out for but a slip up at the top of the track left him with a broken wheel and unable to finish. Similarly Steve Smith made a small mistake but he somehow managed to keep things under control and still finished in tenth place. A second place here for Cameron Cole last year catapulted him into the limelight. This year he was just half a second off a spot on the podium and had to settle for sixth place. Right behind him were fellow kiwi’s Sam Blenkinsop and Justin Leov, meaning in total there were four riders from New Zealand in the top ten.

With the crowds just settling from Minnaar’s run, Danny Hart set off and started getting seriously wild on the top section of the track. His first and second split times put him above Greg but he lost speed in the final section and crossed the line greeted by the loudest roar from the crowd just over a second behind Greg’s time. This would be Hart’s first podium as an elite rider, as well as Giant’s first podium in ten years, and Danny couldn’t be happier.

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. Not the result he’d been hoping for, but one he should be proud of considering the circumstances.

All eyes were on Aaron Gwin as he set off from the starters gate. After winning the first round of the World Cup as well as the US open many people were expecting Gwin to walk away with first place again today. Gwin’s time at the second split put him in front of Greg by five seconds, but a small crash cost him dearly and he ended up finishing in fifth. Greg had now been victorious at Fort Bill more times than any other rider, with four first place finishes!

Just seven days later the world’s best gathered in Leogang, Austria on a track that is slowly gaining the affection of those who compete on it. Brook Macdonold 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 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 other riders. Brendan Fairclough, still coming to terms with his injured knee 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!

Stay tuned for part two where we’ll be looking at all the action from Mont Sainte Anne, La Bresse and Val di Sole.