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July 25, Elite men downhill finals:

Hill wins downhill

By:
Rob Jones
Published:
July 25, 2009, 20:59,
Updated:
July 28, 2009, 16:34

American rider Gwin gets best-ever World Cup finish in third

Sam Hill takes hi first World Cup win of the season.

Sam Hill takes hi first World Cup win of the season.

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Sam Hill (Specialized/Monster Energy) finally broke the string of bad luck which produced one of the longest winless streaks of his career, when he took the sixth round of the World Cup on Saturday in Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, Canada. Hill's win propelled him into the overall World Cup series lead, ahead of Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate).

The first fast run of the afternoon was produced by Marcel Beer at 4:59.94. Beer held the Hot Seat for 17 racers, with Cameron Cole (Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles) the next to spend an extended time on top. Pierre Charles Georges (Solid Aclass) finally bumped him, but the final 20 riders saw frequent changes and, with ten riders to go, the leader was Aaron Gwin (Yeti/Fox), who defended his US National Championship title just last weekend.

Many were hoping to see a good run from World Cup leader Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) who started in 21st place due to a flat tire during qualifying yesterday. Unfortunately Minnaar had a crash, which cost him time. He could only manage a 22nd place finish. "I washed out my front wheel in some mud under the lift and down I went. I got up pretty quickly, but my glove was half off so I had to freewheel while I took it off. [It was] definitely not a good weekend."

Fabien Barel (Subaru) came close to Gwin, leaving the American to anxiously wait for the final four riders. Samuel Blenkinsop (Yeti/Fox) had a slow run (16th place) and quickly left the finish area, visibly unhappy. World champion Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal) came close. That left only Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate), a perennial favourite here, and Hill to come down.

To thunderous applause, Peat didn't disappoint, with a time of 4:41.48 to Gwin's 4:42.91. He took the Hot Seat, but didn't really settle in. All eyes were glued to the big screen TV and the scoreboard, which was showing the splits on the course. Hill was the fastest through every split, showing incredible control skills through the rock gardens. To huge applause he finished in 4:38.44, 3.04 seconds better than Peat.

Hill was pleased with his win, the first of the season for him after an uncharacteristically long drought. "This is one of the most high speed, and the longest courses, on the World Cup circuit. It was a lot slicker this morning. It dried out a lot. I was conservative in the first few corners just to check it out. It was good so I went hard from there."

Peat had another stellar day with his second place, which marked an unprecedented 50th World Cup podium appearance for the British star. He also holds the record for the most World Cup career wins. "I think this course suits me. You've got to be an all-arounder to do well here. I've got another podium which I'm pleased about."

Gwin hung on to third for his first World Cup podium appearance. On the podium, the other racers did their best to drown him in champagne. "It was pretty crazy watching Gee and those guys come through. I'm happy. It's about time!"

With his win, Hill moves from third to first in the World Cup Points race with 1,039, a mere four points in front of Peat. Minnaar drops from first to third. Canada's Steve Smith (Evil Bikes) retains his ninth place standing as the top North American, after finishing seventh at Mont Sainte Anne.

Results

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy 0:04:38.44  
2 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0:00:03.04  
3 Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0:00:04.47  
4 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0:00:05.07  
5 Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 0:00:06.19  
6 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0:00:07.09  
7 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 0:00:07.95  
8 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 0:00:08.14  
9 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 0:00:09.14  
10 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 0:00:09.29  
11 Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 0:00:10.10  
12 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 0:00:10.66  
13 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 0:00:11.05  
14 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 0:00:11.10  
15 Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 0:00:11.97  
16 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0:00:12.95  
17 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0:00:13.25  
18 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0:00:13.87  
19 Ben Cathro (GBr) 0:00:14.17  
20 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 0:00:14.41  
21 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0:00:15.22  
22 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0:00:16.14  
23 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0:00:16.40  
24 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 0:00:16.56  
25 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0:00:17.13  
26 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 0:00:17.16  
27 Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team 0:00:17.47  
28 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi 0:00:17.94  
29 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 0:00:18.01  
30 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 0:00:18.09  
31 Nico Vink (Bel) 0:00:18.17  
32 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0:00:18.29  
33 Joshua Button (Aus) 0:00:18.98  
34 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 0:00:19.18  
35 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 0:00:19.60  
36 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 0:00:20.46  
37 Danny Hart* (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 0:00:20.74  
38 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 0:00:20.84  
39 Marcel Beer (Swi) 0:00:21.50  
40 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 0:00:21.64  
41 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0:00:21.74  
42 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) 0:00:21.75  
43 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 0:00:22.56  
44 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) 0:00:22.81  
45 Antoine Badouard (Fra) 0:00:23.09  
46 Nathan Rankin (NZl) 0:00:23.39  
47 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 0:00:23.51  
48 Wyn Masters (NZl) 0:00:23.60  
49 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 0:00:23.61  
50 Harry Heath* (GBr) 0:00:23.65  
51 Bernard ° Kerr (GBr) 0:00:24.43  
52 Herman Olund (Swe) 0:00:24.90  
53 Markus Pekoll (Aut) 0:00:25.65  
54 Harry Molloy* (GBr) 0:00:25.79  
55 Kyle Strait (USA) 0:00:26.00  
56 David Eme (Fra) 0:00:26.04  
57 Maxime Remy (Fra) 0:00:26.16  
58 Rémi Thirion (Fra) 0:00:26.30  
59 Patrick Thome* (Fra) 0:00:26.98  
60 Bradley Benedict (USA) 0:00:27.04  
61 Curtis Keene (USA) 0:00:27.37  
62 Jurgen Beneke (Ger) 0:00:27.51  
63 Aari Barrett* (NZl) 0:00:27.53  
64 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) 0:00:28.61  
65 Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) 0:00:28.83  
66 Dean Tennant (Can) 0:00:29.07  
67 George Brannigan* (NZl) 0:00:29.29  
68 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) 0:00:29.30  
69 Marco Bugnone (Ita) 0:00:29.37  
70 Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) 0:00:30.66  
71 Gerard Wolfe (Irl) 0:00:31.35  
72 Rémy Charrier (Fra) 0:00:32.13  
73 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 0:00:32.24  
74 Kyle Marshall* (Can) 0:00:32.36  
75 Shaun Palmer (USA) 0:00:32.89  
76 Bryn Atkinson (Aus) 0:00:33.83  
77 Shaun O'connor* (Aus) 0:00:38.35  
78 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 0:00:53.82  
79 Jared Graves (Aus) 0:03:06.57  
DNF Simon Garstin (Can)    
DNF John Swanguen (USA)    
Team
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Trek World Racing 72  pts
2 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 69  
3 Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 63  
4 Santa Cruz Syndicate 57  
5 Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 54  
6 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 54  
7 Scott 11 54  
8 GT Bicycles 38  
9 Suspension Center 35  
10 Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 35  
11 Animal Commencal 30  
12 Morzine-Avoriaz 74 30  
13 Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 28  
14 MS Evil Racing 26  
15 Norco World Team 21  
16 MSC Bikes 18  
17 Kenda Morewood 17  
18 Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 17  
19 Team Sunn 15  
20 Solid Aclass Factory Team 14  
21 2Stagefactory 13  
22 Duncan Riffle Racing 5  
23 Just Reid Race Team 4  
24 Massi 3  
25 Kona 1  
World cup standings after six rounds
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 1039  pts
2 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 1035  
3 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 973  
4 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 931  
5 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 821  
6 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 646  
7 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 584  
8 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 566  
9 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 515  
10 Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 505  
11 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 472  
12 Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 458  
13 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 439  
14 Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 410  
15 Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 395  
16 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi 382  
17 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 373  
18 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 365  
19 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 363  
20 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 360  
21 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 349  
22 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 348  
23 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 326  
24 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 322  
25 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 312  
26 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 288  
27 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 278  
28 Robin Wallner (Swe) 276  
29 Danny Hart° (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 274  
30 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 255  
31 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 253  
32 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 243  
33 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 239  
34 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 237  
35 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 236  
36 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi 219  
37 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 219  
38 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 215  
39 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 212  
40 Joshua Button (Aus) 211  
41 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 202  
42 Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team 197  
43 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 183  
44 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 181  
45 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Kenda Morewood 180  
46 Nathan Rankin (NZl) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 176  
47 Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 171  
48 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 166  
49 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Team America 164  
50 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 156  
51 Sam Dale (GBr) 149  
52 Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 148  
53 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 144  
54 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Kenda Morewood 143  
55 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 141  
56 Bryn Atkinson (Aus) 137  
57 Antoine Badouard (Fra) 137  
58 Ben Cathro (GBr) 134  
59 Aari Barrett° (NZl) Scott 11 134  
60 Cody Warren (USA) Specialized Team America 131  
61 Rhys Willemse° (Aus) 127  
62 Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 125  
63 Bernard Kerr° (GBr) 124  
64 Benny Strasser (Ger) 115  
65 Nico Vink (Bel) 114  
66 Joe Barnes (GBr) 112  
67 Tom Deacon (GBr) 2Stagefactory 110  
68 Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 107  
69 Cesar Rojo (Spa) 105  
70 Herman Olund (Swe) 104  
71 Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 99  
72 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Sunn 98  
73 Harry Heath° (GBr) 98  
74 Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 91  
75 Brook Macdonald° (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 90  
76 Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 90  
77 Maxime Remy (Fra) Suspension Center 89  
78 Matthew Scoles (NZl) 81  
79 Marcel Beer (Swi) 79  
80 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 72  
81 Romain Paulhan (Fra) 67  
82 Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 66  
83 Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH 65  
84 Cédric Gracia (Fra) 62  
85 Adam Vagner (Cze) 61  
86 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze) 57  
87 Nicolas Ortiz (Fra) 57  
88 Ryan Condrashoff (USA) X-Fusion-Intense 54  
89 Neil Donoghue (GBr) 52  
90 Jonty Neethling (RSA) 51  
91 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 51  
92 Toni Berg (Fin) 50  
93 Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 48  
94 Rémy Charrier (Fra) Team Sunn 45  
95 Curtis Keene (USA) 43  
96 Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 40  
97 Johann Potgieter (RSA) 38  
98 David Eme (Fra) 38  
99 Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 38  
100 Adam Brayton (GBr) Just Reid Race Team 38  
101 Matej Charvat (Cze) 36  
102 Dennis Dertell (Swe) 33  
103 Mathieu Troquier (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 31  
104 Carlo Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop 31  
105 Rowan Sorrell (GBr) 28  
106 Harry Molloy° (GBr) 27  
107 Arnau Sugranes Mateu (Spa) 27  
108 Claudio Cozzi (Ita) Dytech DH 25  
109 Emanuel Pombo (Por) 24  
110 Kevin Aiello° (USA) GT Bicycles 24  
111 Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Team Sunn 23  
112 Shaun O'connor° (Aus) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 23  
113 Patrick Thome° (Fra) Team Sport Bike 22  
114 Maximilian Bender (Ger) 21  
115 Robert Smith (GBr) 21  
116 Jurgen Beneke (Ger) 19  
117 Scott Laughland (Irl) 19  
118 Scott Mears (GBr) 19  
119 Arran Gannicott° (GBr) 19  
120 Martin Mikulenka (Cze) 18  
121 Ralph Jones (GBr) 18  
122 Dean Tennant (Can) 15  
123 Pierre Van Der Merwe° (RSA) 15  
124 George Brannigan° (NZl) 14  
125 Roman Roschi (Swi) 14  
126 Timothy Bentley° (RSA) 14  
127 Daniel Wolfe (Irl) 13  
128 Kim Petersson° (Swe) 13  
129 Iago Garay Tamayo° (Spa) 12  
130 Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) 12  
131 Laurie Dinham° (Aus) Suspension Center 11  
132 Jorge Aguin Castro (Spa) 11  
133 Elias Somvi (Ita) 11  
134 Gerard Wolfe (Irl) 10  
135 Gary Barnard (RSA) 10  
136 Markus Olkkonen (Fin) 10  
137 Andréa Gamenara° (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 10  
138 Mario Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 9  
139 Darryn Stow (RSA) 9  
140 Nejc Rutar (Slo) MBK Orbea 8  
141 Hayden Brown (RSA) 8  
142 Espen Johnsen (Nor) 7  
143 Kyle Marshall° (Can) 7  
144 James Hughes (GBr) 7  
145 Rick Balbierer (Ger) 6  
146 Shaun Palmer (USA) 6  
147 Emyr Davies (GBr) 5  
148 Martin Frei (Swi) 4  
149 Simon Dinkelman° (RSA) 4  
150 Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 3  
151 Ziga Pandur° (Slo) 1  
Team World Cup standings
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Santa Cruz Syndicate 424  pts
2 Trek World Racing 414  
3 Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 301  
4 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 289  
5 Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 289  
6 Scott 11 270  
7 GT Bicycles 241  
8 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 220  
9 MS Evil Racing 215  
10 Suspension Center 203  
11 Animal Commencal 188  
12 Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 180  
13 Morzine-Avoriaz 74 148  
14 Norco World Team 139  
15 Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 118  
16 Massi 86  
17 Kenda Morewood 82  
18 Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 78  
19 2Stagefactory 77  
20 Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 62  
21 MSC Bikes 61  
22 Team Vario Racing 56  
23 Duncan Riffle Racing 41  
24 Team Sunn 37  
25 Specialized Team America 34  
26 Solid Aclass Factory Team 25  
27 Dytech DH 12  
28 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 9  
29 XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 6  
30 Just Reid Race Team 4  
31 Kona 3