Aaron Gwin On His World Champs Race Run

The official word from Trek World Racing regarding Aaron Gwin’s race run:

“Race favourite Aaron Gwin saw his hopes of taking a ‘bonus’ title this year come to an end around 1min 20secs into his final race run, when inexplicably both his front and rear brakes failed, resulting in a crash. Shortly after the crash Aaron pumped the brakes to try and get some pressure going but it was insufficient to complete the course safely at speed, and he cruised to the line disappointed he was unable to throw down a run on the three and half minute course.

At the World Championships there is no qualifying round or seeding run, but a timed practice session where riders can check their general race speed against official timing. Aaron was happy with his fourth in timed practice and as race day drew nearer, and the sun came out drying the track dramatically, all was set for a classic Aaron Gwin run. Unfortunately the brake failure, something he has never experienced before and in fact is his first mechanical in a race run since joining the team, really took him by surprise.

Aaron said at the finish line: “I really don’t understand what happened. I warmed up as usual, tested the brakes as usual at the top, walked down the course to have a look at how the track was running, went into my run, brakes working fine for the first minute or so, and then bang, nothing. I crashed and got up as soon as I could, pumped to see what was there, but it wasn’t enough, and knew my day was run”.

The brakes have been taken back to Japan for further analysis as there was nothing immediately evident from the post-race inspection, and nothing new was done to these brakes that Aaron and the team has run for most of the season.”

I think what it’s important to note here how calm and humble Gwin remained about the situation. Having crashed and lost the use of his brakes he could have easily thrown a trackside tantrum and refused to ride the rest of the course, but instead he put on a show for the thousands of fans that had come out to watch the race.

Unlike some sports there was no trash talking other riders or claims of “what if” had his brakes been working. Equally Greg Minnaar showed incredible sportsmanship in his victory, commenting on Gwin’s troubles that this was “not the best way to win”. In fact both riders had nothing but kind words to say to each other on twitter.

And that ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls is how you recover from a nightmare situation.

Greg Minnaar Wins The 2012 Downhill World Champs!

Greg Minnaar has won the 2012 UCI Downhill World Championships in Leogang, his second World Championship victory!

Minnaar proved once more that he is one of the greatest downhill riders the sport has seen, looking his usual composed self as he tore down the Austrian mountain side. This was Minnaar’s second World Championship victory, having first claimed the rainbow stripes back in 2003.

Speaking after the race Minnaar said: “It was tough. I was super nervous! I tried to nail the top section, made a few little mistakes but I managed to come back”. When asked about Gwin’s run Minnaar showed nothing but respect for the American racer saying this was “not the best way for me to win” adding “I can hardly believe I’ve won this!”

As it came down to the top 15 elite men Great Britain’s Sam Dale was sitting comfortably in the hot seat with a time of 3:28. Steve Peat, in his 20th World Championship race was up on Dale’s time and looking fast. Too fast in fact as he came into a corner with too much speed and crashed out. But Peaty is such a huge legend of the sport he could roll down on a kids tricycle and still get the loudest cheer from the crowd. Today was no exception and the Austrian fans went wild for him.

Back in May Troy Brosnan had a huge crash at the iXS race held in Leogang. The internal injuries he suffered put him out for the season and this was his first return to the world stage. Unfortunately it seems Leogang just isn’t Troy’s track, and last year’s Junior World Champ took another big slam and was unable to finish.

Andrew Neethling looked to be having a great run, the first rider to go seriously big on the tabletops. Like massive big. The momentum from these gave him an extra boost of speed but Needles just couldn’t control it on the bike park corner. How the wallride survived is anyone’s guess.

Mick Hannah was the fastest rider in Saturday’s timed practice with a 3:26. As I’ve said before, Mick is an incredibly powerful rider and the track at Leogang is perfect for his riding style. Mick crossed the line nearly two seconds faster than current leader Florent Payet and went into the lead.

Steve Smith was the next rider down, hot off three massive wins at Crankworx Whistler, including the Canadian Open DH. Smith was a second and a half back at the top section, but clawed the time back in the technical section on-board his Carbon Devinci Wilson to go into the hot seat and eventually take the bronze medal.

Josh Bryceland didn’t have much luck at the World Champs last year, going over the bars coming out a corner and having to watch his V-10 spiral down the Swiss mountainside. Bryceland suffered more heartache yet again, his front wheel clipping a tree and sending him over the front.

Sam Hill didn’t have the best start, getting a bit too loose in one of the opening corners and dabbing a foot. Hill was 8.66 seconds back at the first split, yet somehow managed to get that down to just two seconds as he crossed the line, doing enough to finish fifth. Brook MacDonald also didn’t have the run he would have hoped for finishing in eighth place.

Gee Atherton won the World Champs in Val di Sole back in 2008 so knows exactly how it feels to earn those rainbow stripes, and what it takes to win them. Gee wasn’t the cleanest rider through the tabletops but was pedalling more than anyone else and went into the hot seat just over half a second up on Steve Smith’s time. With just two riders left Gee was guaranteed a medal round his neck for the return journey.

But this wasn’t to be Gee’s day and Minnaar put in an impeccable run finishing half a second faster than Gee. As Gwin approached the tabletops it was clear something was wrong and the first split confirmed it. The 2012 World Championship tilt e belonged to Greg Minnaar, and he couldn’t have been happier!

1 – Greg Minnaar 3:21.790
2 – Gee Atherton +0.581
3 – Steve Smith +1.214

Full results can be found here.

Photos by Ale di Lullo

IMB Issue 19 Goes LIve

The latest issue of IMB has just gone live! It was a pretty tough issue and it took a lot of hard work to get it finished, but it's full of some great features. Last month I was lucky enough to interview Brook MacDonald just days before his first World Cup victory in Val d'Isere. While I wasn't able to get into the venue itself, I was able to go to Hadleigh Farm to watch the Men's Cross Country Olympic race! The atmosphere in the town was incredible! They certainly got into the Olympic Spirit!

There's also the Red Bull Joyride slopestyle contest as well as a photography profile with Swedish snapper Simon Sjoren. And of course the trail guide made a return this issue! We headed to Coed Llandegla. I don't think I've been on a better trail ride in the UK. So many tabletops! Can't wait to head back for another ride without Rou and his hay fever...

You know what, looking at the contents page, the first five stories are all mine. True story.

Brook MacDonald

 London 2012

Simon Sjoren Photography Profile

Red Bull Joyride

Coed Llandegla Trail Guide

Brook MacDonald Wins Val d'Isere World Cup!

Brook MacDonald has won his first World Cup race in Val d'Isere, while Aaron Gwin's fifth place finish was enough for the Trek World Racing rider to take the overall series title! Brook qualified second on Friday and upped his pace today to take his first victory as an elite rider.

Not only was this Brook's first win, it was the first win by a New Zealand rider, and the first time a rider other than Greg Minaar or Aaron Gwin has stepped on the top of the podium since 2010. Ahead of the race Brook had said that he loved this rough and natural track, and it certainly showed in his race run! Brook's aggressive riding style saw him up at the second split, and he crossed the line half a second up on Gee Atherton's time of 2:19.973.

After the race Brook said: “I can't even explain it in words! I had a solid run and I'm over the moon about this win. I've had a big struggle throughout this season, but I've changed a few things and it's paid off this week. This was a hard track with the high altitude and it's only two and a half minutes long so you can't afford to lose any time. I put it together, it was a good run and I'm so happy with it!"

This was Gee's first World Cup race with the Union Jack on his sleeve, having won the National Champs last weekend. Gee has been on every podium at every race this season, and kept things low and fast over the opening jumps. This tactic worked with Gee up on the first split and moving into the hot seat 0.372 seconds up on Minnaar.

While the weather was nice and sunny for the race, it was a different story for qualifications on Friday with heavy storms rolling in. The bad weather and tough conditions caught out a number of top riders with punctures and big crashes, Aaron Gwin of course taking a big slam and needing five stiches in his hand, so Gwin joined a few other big names being slotted in to the top 20 start times for today.

Gwin didn't let his injury hold him back and almost crashed into the hot seat as he crossed the line. When asked whether the cut on his hand had held him back Gwin said: “Yeah it ended up being ok. Yesterday it was pretty sore! It didn't hurt too bad, just felt a bit weak at the bottom.”

Team Lapierre Internaional's Loic Bruni has had an amazing season so far; leading the Junior series and claiming his first spot on the podium at the last race in Windham, every spectator trackside was cheering him on, wanting to see a repeat here today on home soil. Loic was under half a second back on Gwin's time at the second split and giving it his all but his front wheel just caught the edge of the track and sent him over the bars as he entered the final section.

Disaster also struck his compatriot, MS Mondraker's Damien Spagnola who had a big over the bars crash high up on the track. Nick Beer, who had qualified fifth, also had a huge crash on one of the top jumps, his bike almost sending him into a front flip as he took off.

As he left the gate Greg Minnaar knew that he had to win here today and put as much space as he could between himself and Aaron Gwin to stand a chance of taking the overall. A small dab high up cost him some time but Minnaar clawed it back to go half a second ahead of Gwin.

Minnaar may have beaten Gwin, but with Brook, Gee and his teammate Josh Bryceland finishing ahead of him, the points difference between the two wasn't enough, and the series overall title went to Aaron Gwin for the second year running!

Val d'Isere Elite Men's Top Five

1  Brook MacDonald 2:19.478
2  Gee Atherton 2:19.973
3  Josh Bryceland 2:20.155
4  Greg Minnaar 2:20.345
5  Aaron Gwin 2:20.844

Full results can be found here.

Aaron Gwin Wins Windham World Cup

There can’t be a better feeling than winning a World Cup Race on home soil with your friends and family waiting for you at the finish line. And Aaron Gwin should know, he’s done it two years in a row now! Gwin qualified fastest here without a chain on Friday. With no mechanicals in his race run there was nothing to stop him from dominating once again.

A crash on Friday left Danny Hart with 20 stitches in his arm, and saw him qualifying much lower down in the field than usual. A little bit of needlework did nothing to slow Hart down, and he sprinted across the line knocking Kona rider Mitch Delfs off the hot seat. Delfs’ time of 2:30.679 was enough to see him finishing just outside of the top ten in eleventh place, his best World Cup result to date.
Greg Minnaar hasn’t really had much luck in Windham. Missing out on the top spot here in 2010 gave the series overall title to Gee Atherton. Last year he finished twelfth and this year Greg had to settle for joint tenth with fellow compatriot Andrew Neethling.

Loic Bruni missed out on racing in Mont Sainte Anne last week, having to finish off his final school exams back in France. Loic’s had a great season so far and his good form continued here in Windham where he finished fifth, earning his first of what is bound to be many podium appearances.

Gee Atherton was the next man down the hill and had clearly put all the misfortunes from the previous week behind him, the first rider to be up on Hart’s time at the second split. Gee carried his speed through the final section of this short track, knocking Hart off the hot seat and going into the lead.
Whilst the track at Windham is relatively short, there’s a few nasty sections waiting to catch riders out; none more so than the rock garden in the woods. A few riders got a bit sketchy, but Brook McDonald took crashing to crazy new levels with one of the biggest slams ever seen. How Brook escaped unharmed is mad enough, but crazier still was seeing Brook jump back up, turn his bike around and continue riding at his usual, full throttle pace. Even with such a hard crash Brook finished thirty-fourth , just 12 seconds off Gwin’s time.

Brook’s team mate Damien Spagnola qualified third on Friday, his highest starting position this year and was having a great race run and no doubt would have podiumed. Even with a rear puncture Spagnola flew through the second split time in second place, but a hundred metres or so later admitted defeat and was forced to push his bike down the rest of the track.

With Gee still on the hot seat it loked like he could get his first World Cup victory since 2010. Only two riders were left at the top of the hill: Steve Smith and Aaron Gwin. Smith was down at the first split, but was super fast through the rock garden and went into the lead.

Just Gwin left then, and everyone knows where this is going. With crowd behind him and going wild Gwin laid down the perfect run, somehow finding nearly a second on Smith’s time, and claiming his signature spot at the top of the podium.

Gwin said: “Whether I won or lost today I knew the fans would have my back and be supportive of my racing, but there’s no doubt that the win here feels very special. You can hear the fans all the way down and it pushes you on. I actually took the chairlift quite late today and it allowed me to see what times the top guys were posting and I knew I’d have to be on it to win.

"I made a mistake early on where I hit 3 course marking poles and I know I lost time in the first sector but I was trying to stay cool and keep the pace right to the line. Walking out onto the podium here with the US flag here means a great deal to me.”

Men’s Top Five
1 Aaron Gwin 2:26.416
2 Steve Smith 2:27.374
3 Gee Atherton 2:28.127
4 Danny Hart 2:29.499
5 Loic Bruni 2:29.773

Full results can be found here.

2012 Cube Fritzz Pro

The Cube Fritzz was the first bike that opened my mind to the potential of air shocks and proved that they’re not just for the reserve of cross country bikes. I wanted a bike with playful nature, but that I’d also be able to cover some distance on for trail riding. That’s exactly what I got from the Fritzz!

Whilst my Fritzz Pro, might be the lower equipped model, the spec list throws up some rather impressive kit; Deore XT rear shifter, Race Face Respond cranks, Formula brakes, Easton Wheels and a Fox RP23 rear shock. It’s the Rock Shox Lyric RC2P fork that’s really impressed me though. This was my first time using a Rock Shox for other than the Boxxer’s. They’ve been fantastic straight out of the box, and I’m yet to find a single fault with them. 780mm wide bars from Syntace might look a lot written down, but feel great on the trail.

Even in this pitiful weather we’ve been having the Fritzz has been such a joy to ride. The Scwahlbe Fat Alberts just bulldoze through all the mud and sludge on the trail, although once summer finally shows up I’ll be looking for a narrower and faster rolling tyre. That said, as it is the Fritzz still picks up speed pretty quickly, and with a low centre of gravity is great at cornering.

At 14.6 kilos the Fritzz is hardly the lightest bike out there, but with a few little tweaks that weight can easily be shed.

For now though, I’m having too much fun riding the bike to worry about things like that!

This bike is screaming out to be ridden up high in the mountains, so I’m going to focus on that instead…

Aaron Gwin Wins Mont Sainte Anne World Cup

Aaron Gwin has won his third World Cup race of the season taking victory in Mont Sainte Anne. Out the gate Gwin went fastest straight away, and while he lost time in the rock garden in the middle of the long, demanding course, he still crossed the line nearly a second and a half up on Minnaar’s time.

Mick Hannah was having a great race run and looked to be making a return to the form we saw at the start of the season in Pitermaritzburg, up at the first two splits and fastest through the speed trap, but a snapped chain stole his chances of a podium spot. Still, Hannah crossed the line just a few hundredths of a second back from current hot seat occupier Thibaut Ruffin. Brendan Fairclough was also having a greta race, squashing the jumps and skipping over the rocks but suffered the same misfortune of a lost chain.

This was Neko Mulally’s first World Cup race with the American Flag on his sleeve having been belatedly awarded the title USA National Champion title. Having decided not to race at Fort William and to instead rest his injured ankle, Mulally was hoping for another solid top 20 result. But Mulally’s front wheel slid out on the take off to the hip jump and he took a heavy slam and looked to have been knocked out.

After treatment on site by medical staff, he walked away without any broken bones, and is suffering from a mild concussion. He will be under observation for the next 48hrs but is expected to make a speedy recovery. Mulally wasn’t the only victim on this punishing course. Matti Lehikoinen had a big crash in the rock garden that left him with a seperated shoulder.

Gee Atherton knows only too well how hard the ground is here in Mont Sainte Anne. A huge crash in practice left many people questioning if Gee would be able to ride in qualifying, let alone how he managed to ride so fast. Gee obviously hadn’t let the crash phase him and was back to race speed, finishing fourth and earning his spot on the podium.

Brook MacDonald had been looking fast all through practice and after qualifying fourth had been tipped by many to make his return to the podium. Brook was up at the first split and wrestled his way through the rock gardens, but lost time and had to settle for sixth place, just 0.3 seconds back from Sam Hill.

Danny Hart only has one riding style; wild, and that’s exactly how he made his way down the mountain, cutting in to every berm and getting loose on every jump. It’s only got to be a matter of time before Hart wins his first World Cup, but he should be more than happy with a third place.
Greg Minnaar’s c riding couldn’t be more different to Hart’s if he tried. He just looks so clean and calculated. Minnaar is also a more powerful rider than Hart, and was able to put that power down and go up on the second split, carrying the speed down and finishing in second place.

 In the last 11 World Cup races there have only been two winners; Greg and Gwin. With Greg already in the finish pit Gwin was on his way down to claim his eight victory, thus extending his lead in the overall standings by 135 points. Speaking about his win in Mont Sainte Anne, the track he debuted on in 2008, Gwin said: “It feels amazing! I kind of made some mistakes towards the end, but the rest of the run was good enough. This track is hard from the top to the bottom, you really have to work for it!”

Elite Men’s Top Five

1 Aaron Gwin 4:14.022
2 Greg Minnaar 4:15.329
3 Danny Hart 4:16.162
4 Gee Atherton 4:17.082
5 Sam Hill 4:17.631

Full results can be found here.

Racing continues in Windham next weekend where no doubt Gwin will be looking for another victory on home soil.

IMB Issue 18 Goes Live

IMB Issue 18 has just gone live and features a photo taken by me as the front cover! The main feature this issue is 'The Spanish Inquisition', mine and Will's adventure to Spain with Pure Mountains. This was easily the best riding trip I've been on and was so fun to write about. Plus Will's photos are pretty amazing!

Big interview this issue has to be the Anthill Films talking about their new film 'Strength In Numbers', which hails their return to the top of the game. This issue I also interviewed Swiss Cross Country rider Ralph Naef who races for the Multivan Merida Team.

Naef's been having a great 2012 season and after his podium finish in La Bresse was selected to be a part of the Swiss Olympic mtb squa. Cross country riding isn't my usual field of expertise so it was cool to have to do a bit of research and find out more about what it takes to be an elite rider. Definitely an eye opener and a great read.

Anthill Films - Strength In Numbers

The Spanish Inquisition

 Ralph Naef

Aaron Gwin Wins Fort William World cup

Aaron Gwin has claimed his seventh first place finish having won the third round of the UCI Downhill World Cup in Fort William! Gwin laid down a flawless race run in less than perfect conditions.

 Having crashed twice in his qualifying run Gwin, testing new tyres, relied on being a protected top 20 racer to secure his spot at the top of the mountain, meaning he set off for his race run a lot sooner than he’s used to. Gwin joked afterwards that this was the longest time he’d ever spent in the hot seat, and as a Californian native was starting to feel the cold!

Steve Peat suffered a nasty crash in a practice run that left him with a torn hamstring and unable to do anything more in his qualifying run than too simply roll out the start gate to reserve his place in the race. Unfortunately though Peaty’s injury was too much and after the first section was forced to simply roll down the hill, clearing the track for Gwin and Transition’s Sam Dale, who finished eighth, his highest ever World Cup finish.

There’s a lot of history at Fort William and last year Brook MacDonald played his part in it finishing third, but today a crash in the woods dashed any chances of a repeat success so instead the Mondraker put on a great show for the crowds, turning on the style and whipping all the new tabletops on the motorway section and the famous Fort William archway. Cam Cole is another kiwi who has done well here in the past, but today tenth place was the best he could muster up.

Sam Hill has had a rough past two seasons, but a seventh place in Val di Sole last week and a fourth place finish today means one thing. Hill is back, no doubt about it. Greg Minnaar has won here more than any other rider, but today wasn’t his day and as he crossed the line it looked like he had to nurse home a mechanical and he finished in sixth place.

With conditions worsening and the top section of the track almost a white out conditions were not too dissimilar to those in Champery last September. If one man was going to excel in circumstances like this and knock Gwin off the hot seat it was going to be Danny Hart. At the first split Hart was up on Gwin’s time and the pit area was getting wild, but Hart lost time in the middle section, and hard as he tried in the final section he crossed the line just eight hundredths of a second back on Gwin, his first World Cup victory still eluding him.

Gee Atherton was also up on Gwin’s time at the first split, but if there’s one thing Gwin is known for it’s finding time where no-one else has, and that’s exactly what he did here in Fort William, with Gee slipping back into third place when he crossed the line. It’s all about context though. Just a few weeks ago it was questionable whether Gee would be able to even make it to this race, let alone stand proudly on the podium.

Gee’s teammate Marc Beaumont was the last man down, qualifying fastest in very different conditions. No doubt Marc wanted a repeat of Val di Sole and to be up on the podium with Gee once again but a crash on the boardwalk at the top of the track halted any chances of that. Marc wasn’t the only rider to have been caught out by the slippery boardwalk. Steve Smith qualified fourth even with his hand injury, but also wiped out on the top of the track.

With Marc down victory went to Gwin and he reclaimed the series overall! Gwin said: “That was a hard run! I was hanging out by the bottom and didn’t have much left to give. I just tried to conserve it at the top and I can’t believe it paid off! The fans here are just taking it to another level so thanks so much to them for making it so cool for us!”

Elite Men’s Top Five
1 Aaron Gwin 4:48.210
2 Danny Hart +0.834
3 Gee Atherton + 2.516
4 Sam Hill + 3.532
5 Josh Bryceland + 5.056

Full results can be found here.

CRC/Nukeproof’s Joe Smith and Matt Simmonds finished seventh and ninth respectively, which along with Sam Dale in eighth meant there were six British riders in the top ten. I’m no mathematician but even I know that’s 60%! That’s a big turn around from the kiwi domination here last year. Must be all the jubilee celebrations!

Aaron Gwin Wins Val di Sole World Cup

Aaron Gwin has just blown the competition out the water, winning the second round of the UCI Downhill World Cup by nearly eight seconds. Gwin is now tied with Greg Minnaar, who finished second today, in the overall standings. In the women’s race Rachel Atherton made an incredible return to World Cup racing winning the women’s race on her new GT Fury.

 
In fact it was a great day for the GT team, with every member of the team earning a podium finish. It’s crazy think it’s four years ago since Gee Atherton won the World Champs here back in 2008, and today, having only been off crutches for a few weeks, Gee finished in third. Adopted brother Marc Beaumont is no stranger to success here himself, winning here in 2010, and today he stepped onto the podium again with a fourth place finish.

Loic Bruni had a fantastic race run with a time that would have seen the junior rider qualifying second. Richie Rude, another junior rider also had a brilliant race, only his second at World Cup level, oozing speed and style but unfortunately lost time dabbing his foot and finished 21st.

Devinci rider Steve Smith hasn’t really had much luck on this course, breaking his foot here at the final race of the year last season, and broke his hand here in practice. Smith opted to skip qualifying, not a problem for the top 20 protected rider, and raced today with his hand taped up and knocked Loic off the hot seat, and ended up finishing tenth.

Danny Hart just missed out on a podium spot to Cameron Cole in his first World Cup race this year after breaking his arm at the World Champs. Josh Bryceland was on a great run until his foot bounced off his pedal, and spun his bike into a nasty crash. New father Sam Hill made a return to form with his typical loose style seeing him finishing seventh.

Gee Atherton was already up on current leader Cameron Cole by three and a half seconds at the first split, lost time in the lower section but had done enough early on to take the hot seat. As usual Minnar’s smooth style saw him so composed and unphased by anything the course threw at him and he crossed the line half a second up on gee.

But Gwin somehow managed to find time where nowhere else could and just like he did in qualifying, finished over seven seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Gwin said: “It was a good solid run. I felt good here all weekend so all I had to do was put everything together. I just tried to focus on riding and not that it was a race run”.

 Elite Men’s Top Five

1 Aaron Gwin 3:10.577
2 Greg Minnaar 3:18.427
3 Gee Atherton 3:18.970
4 Marc Beaumont 3:19.514
5 Cameron Cole 3:20.320

In the women’s race Rachel Atherton, Myriam Nicole and Emmeline Ragot looked to be in a different league to all the other riders, and their times proved it. Tracey Hannah admitted that the course didn’t suit her riding style, and Manon Carpenter had to sit this race out with a shoulder injury. Rachel came back to World Cup racing with a bang, taking the win with a comfortable four and a half second lead over Myriam Nicole.

Elite Women’s Top Five

1 Rachel Atherton 3:49.438
2 Myriam Nicole 3:53.921
3 Emmeline Ragot 3:57.519
4 Florian Pugin 4:04.822
5 Morgane Charre 4:09.737