Amgen tour of California 2012

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July 24, Downhill qualifying:

Conditions cause havoc for favourites

By:
Rob Jones
Published:
July 25, 2009, 09:19,
Updated:
July 25, 2009, 14:53

Jonnier and Hill go fastest ahead of final

Danice Uyesugi

Danice Uyesugi

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Downhill qualifying was a tough task on the racers thanks to very unusual course conditions. It was raining at the top of the course but, other than a few drops, nothing much fell at the bottom.

Case in point was fastest qualifier Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain). "I didn't have a good run. I was too slow. It had rained at the start, and I was too careful," said Jonnier. "As I got lower, it became much faster. Overall, I could be much faster. It's an awesome track and I want to win here." Jonnier's time was 5.28.34.

Finishing second was Mio Suemasa (FunFancy.jp), 0.81 seconds back, and in third was Celine Gros (Morzine-Avoriaz 74) at 5.59 seconds. Top Canadian qualifier was National Champion Claire Buchar (Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense) in seventh, 9.50 seconds back.

Buchar was happy with her run. "I took it easy. The flow is good here so I enjoyed myself. I'm saving it for tomorrow," said Buchar. "I like the changes to the course. It is faster and flows better. The mud is also holding up well right now. They've done a lot of maintenance on the course. I hope it doesn't rain more because it will be really gnarly."

Going into tomorrow's race, Jonnier holds a commanding lead in the overall standings over countrywoman Emmeline Ragot (Suspension Centre), with round one winner Tracy Moseley (Trek World Team) a distant third.

The men's series remains a battle between Santa Cruz Syndicate teammates Greg Minnaar - the series leader - and Steve Peat, who this year set a new record for World Cup victories, and will be looking for his 50th World Cup podium appearance in Mont Sainte Anne.

Going up against them will be perennial favourite Sam Hill (Monster-Specialized) - still looking for his first win of the season - plus, World Champion Dan Atherton (Animal-Commencal) and the resurgent Fabien Barel (Subaru), who has come back from a knee injury to become the only rider to beat Minnaar and Peat this season.

As with the women, the course conditions at the top of the hill are creating some issues among the men. The first victim was the first racer down the hill, Greg Minnaar, who suffered a flat. "I don't know what happened. It was in the first section of woods. I was having a fast run and the next thing I know the tyre's flat," said the South African. He was able to finish the course, but not in a competitive manner, qualifying in 151st.

As a top-20 ranked rider, he is allowed to race the final, albeit with a less-than-favourable start place. Minnaar was running an unusually narrow front tyre with huge spikey knobs, combined with a wide rear tyre. The set up is very reminiscent of off-road motorcycles. Perhaps the narrow front tyre was ultimately the issue.

Minnaar's mishap was to the benefit of Hill who clocked the fastest time of 4:34:02, and Minnaar's teammate Peat, in second at 7:03 seconds. Peat always does well at Mont Sainte Anne. "I had a good run. I'm a bit tired now, but I think my chances are good here," said Peat. "If anything, the changes to the course have made it a bit easier, but also faster. There are more berms and some of the sections in the woods are easier. I'm going to step it up a bit tomorrow and I should be alright." In third was Gee Atherton (Animal-Commencal), at 8.99 seconds.

Top North American was Canada's Steve Smith (MS Evil Racing) in 11th place, 13.85 seconds back. "I had a good run but I had a little mechanical. My fault completely," he explained. "I wasn't conservative at all and unfortunately I bashed a big rock in the middle of the trail. I bent my chainring and dropped my chain. I'll do better tomorrow. It's a good track but it's demanding. It's hard on the arms and it's mentally tough because you're thinking and planning the whole way down."

Another name of note in men's qualifying is former pro Shaun Palmer, who qualified 76th.

Results

Elite men
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 0:04:34.02  
2 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0:00:07.03  
3 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0:00:08.99  
4 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0:00:09.67  
5 Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 0:00:11.53  
6 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 0:00:11.60  
7 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 0:00:11.61  
8 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 0:00:12.36  
9 Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 0:00:13.03  
10 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0:00:13.27  
11 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 0:00:13.85  
12 Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0:00:15.05  
13 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0:00:15.12  
14 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 0:00:15.47  
15 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 0:00:15.99  
16 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 0:00:16.07  
17 Bryn Atkinson (Aus) 0:00:16.27  
18 Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team 0:00:17.08  
19 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0:00:18.28  
20 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 0:00:18.37  
21 Danny Hart* (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 0:00:18.46  
22 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 0:00:18.54  
23 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 0:00:18.80  
24 Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 0:00:19.08  
25 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0:00:19.69  
26 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0:00:19.99  
27 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 0:00:20.34  
28 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi 0:00:20.37  
29 Antoine Badouard (Fra) 0:00:20.42  
30 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 0:00:20.63  
31 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 0:00:20.85  
32 Ben Cathro (GBr) 0:00:20.87  
33 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 0:00:20.91  
34 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0:00:21.03  
35 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0:00:21.69  
36 Joshua Button (Aus) 0:00:21.87  
37 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 0:00:22.04  
38 Shaun O'connor* (Aus) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 0:00:22.08  
38 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi    
40 Aari Barrett* (NZl) Scott 11 0:00:22.31  
41 Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0:00:23.05  
42 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0:00:23.36  
43 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 0:00:23.58  
44 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 0:00:23.80  
45 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 0:00:24.10  
46 Nico Vink (Bel) 0:00:24.16  
47 Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 0:00:24.63  
48 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 0:00:24.73  
49 John Swanguen (USA) 0:00:24.87  
50 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 0:00:25.06  
51 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 0:00:25.12  
52 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Sunn 0:00:25.44  
53 George Brannigan* (NZl) 0:00:25.56  
54 Harry Heath* (GBr) 0:00:25.60  
55 Maxime Remy (Fra) Suspension Center 0:00:25.73  
56 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0:00:25.83  
57 Curtis Keene (USA) 0:00:25.97  
58 Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 0:00:26.71  
59 Bernard Kerr* (GBr) 0:00:27.40  
60 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 0:00:27.47  
61 David Eme (Fra) 0:00:27.84  
62 Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 0:00:27.96  
63 Herman Olund (Swe) 0:00:28.05  
64 Harry Molloy* (GBr) 0:00:28.07  
65 Dean Tennant (Can) 0:00:28.15  
66 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Team America 0:00:28.21  
67 Gerard Wolfe (Irl) 0:00:28.25  
68 Rémy Charrier (Fra) Team Sunn 0:00:28.27  
69 Nathan Rankin (NZl) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 0:00:28.31  
70 Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 0:00:28.41  
71 Simon Garstin (Can) 0:00:28.45  
72 Jurgen Beneke (Ger) 0:00:28.71  
73 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 0:00:28.81  
74 Kyle Marshall* (Can) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 0:00:29.00  
75 Patrick Thome* (Fra) Team Sport Bike 0:00:29.10  
76 Shaun Palmer (USA) 0:00:29.84  
77 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Kenda Morewood 0:00:29.97  
78 Marcel Beer (Swi) 0:00:30.17  
79 Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0:00:30.62  
80 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 0:00:30.76  
81 Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 0:00:31.49  
82 Alex Bond (GBr) 0:00:32.16  
83 Joe Barnes (GBr) 0:00:32.35  
84 Loïc Delteil (Fra) 0:00:32.63  
85 Ludovic May (Swi) 0:00:32.76  
86 Scott Mears (GBr) 0:00:32.92  
87 Will Longden (GBr) 0:00:33.48  
88 Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0:00:33.57  
89 Camille Blanchard* (Fra) Team Sport Bike 0:00:33.83  
90 Félix Groizard* (Fra) Team Sport Bike 0:00:33.87  
91 Ivan Oziol* (Fra) 0:00:34.40  
92 Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0:00:34.42  
93 Chris Heath (USA) 0:00:34.72  
94 Harry Armstrong (Aus) 0:00:34.74  
95 Lindsay Klein (Aus) 0:00:34.79  
96 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 0:00:34.99  
97 Hans Lambert (Can) 0:00:35.24  
98 James Dodds (NZl) 0:00:35.29  
99 James Stock (GBr) 0:00:35.33  
100 Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH 0:00:35.60  
101 Remi Gauvin* (Can) 0:00:35.76  
102 Claudio Cozzi (Ita) 0:00:36.32  
103 Tamryn Murrell* (Aus) 0:00:36.56  
104 Brad Oien (USA) 0:00:36.91  
105 Daniel Sims (NZl) 0:00:36.94  
106 Yann Gauvin (Can) 0:00:37.43  
107 James Rennie (NZl) 0:00:37.57  
108 Mario Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0:00:38.24  
109 Gareth Brewin* (GBr) 0:00:38.55  
110 Emyr Davies (GBr) 0:00:38.87  
111 Geoffrey Ulmer* (USA) 0:00:39.38  
112 Oliver Kristevic (Aus) 0:00:39.57  
113 Antony Moore* (Aus) 0:00:39.65  
114 Dylan Prohm (Aus) 0:00:40.58  
115 Alan Crisp (Aus) 0:00:40.70  
116 Thomas Jeandin (Swi) 0:00:41.29  
117 Kristof Lenssens (Bel) 0:00:41.50  
118 Kevin Aiello* (USA) GT Bicycles 0:00:42.13  
119 Clément Benoit* (Fra) Team Sport Bike 0:00:42.41  
120 Martin Frei (Swi) 0:00:42.49  
121 Scott Papola (USA) 0:00:42.53  
122 Andrew Mitchell (Can) 0:00:42.57  
123 Sean Mcclendon (USA) 0:00:42.70  
124 Scott Laughland (Irl) 0:00:42.84  
125 Dylan Morley* (Can) 0:00:43.50  
126 Lars Peyer (Swi) Suspension Center 0:00:44.07  
127 Matthew Vincent (Aus) 0:00:44.10  
128 Junya Nagata (Jpn) 0:00:44.13  
129 Andy Thibodeau (Can) 0:00:44.16  
130 Laurie Dinham* (Aus) Suspension Center 0:00:44.47  
131 Rob Fraser (Can) 0:00:45.44  
132 Daniel Lavis* (Aus) 0:00:45.95  
133 Richard Leacock* (NZl) 0:00:46.31  
134 Heikki Hall (USA) 0:00:46.32  
135 Jason Memmelaar (USA) 0:00:46.41  
136 Liam Paiaro (Aus) 0:00:46.42  
137 Nataniel Giacomozzi (Bra) 0:00:47.17  
138 Daniel Wolfe (Irl) 0:00:47.26  
139 Cody Warren (USA) Specialized Team America 0:00:47.77  
140 Ewan Doherty (Irl) 0:00:48.29  
141 Amado Stachenfeld (USA) 0:00:48.30  
142 Joseph Horton (GBr) 0:00:48.45  
143 Karl O'sullivan (Irl) 0:00:48.46  
144 Chris Barlin (Aus) 0:00:50.04  
145 Daisuke Kurosawa (Jpn) 0:00:50.35  
146 Stuart Jenkinson (GBr) 0:00:54.37  
147 Benjamin Ayling (Aus) 0:00:57.87  
148 Nicolas Gspan (Swi) 0:01:00.26  
149 Chayse Marshall* (Can) 0:01:12.36  
150 Trenton Zoobkoff* (Can) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 0:01:13.87  
151 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0:02:25.20  
152 Sam Dale (GBr) 0:04:16.69  
153 Mathias Haas (Aut) 0:14:43.22  
DNF Jamie Biluk (Can)    
DNF Robin Wallner (Swe)    
DNS Rhys Willemse* (Aus)    
DNS Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Team Sunn    
Elite women
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0:05:28.34  
2 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) 0:00:00.81  
3 Céline Gros (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 0:00:05.59  
4 Floriane Pugin (Fra) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 0:00:06.35  
5 Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center 0:00:08.07  
6 Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing 0:00:08.32  
7 Claire Buchar (Can) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0:00:09.50  
8 Melissa Buhl (USA) 0:00:11.69  
9 Rebecca Mcqueen (Can) 0:00:12.71  
10 Anita Molcik (Aut) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0:00:15.28  
11 Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott 11 0:00:18.88  
12 Anais ° Pajot (Fra) Team Sunn 0:00:18.96  
13 Micayla Gatto (Can) 0:00:22.98  
14 Petra Bernhard (Aut) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 0:00:23.16  
15 Jessica Stone (GBr) 2Stagefactory 0:00:23.37  
16 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco World Team 0:00:23.57  
17 Kathleen Pruitt (USA) 0:00:23.90  
18 Danice Uyesugi (Can) 0:00:28.12  
19 Darian Harvey (USA) 0:00:29.75  
20 Gabrielle Molloy (NZl) 0:00:32.98  
21 Anne Laplante (Can) 0:00:38.34  
22 Harriet Harper (NZl) 0:00:38.64  
23 Jacqueline Harmony (USA) 0:00:57.50  
24 Joanna Petterson (RSA) 0:01:01.50  
25 Katie Holden (USA) 0:01:01.92  
26 Sophie Borderes (Fra) 0:01:03.35  
27 Claudia Paquin (Can) 0:01:07.45  
28 Katrina Strand (Can) 0:01:09.43  
29 Allegra Burch (USA) 0:01:12.95  
30 Neven Steinmetz (USA) 0:02:13.93  
31 Connie Misket (USA) 0:03:20.07  
DNS Myriam Nicole (Fra)    
DNS Amy Laird (NZl)