Gwin takes second consecutive downhill title

Aaron Gwin (Yeti Fox) raced to his second consecutive national championship victory in Granby, Colorado, on Sunday afternoon. The World Cup racer took the win with a convincing margin in excess of three seconds.

Gwin had plenty of time to get toasty in the hot seat as he went early in the finals after a less than stellar qualifying run.

"I wanted to have a good qualifying and get down, but it ended up being a really sick run and I crashed super hard and got a bunch of dirt in my goggles. I tried to keep going, then I ended up crashing again and I messed up my thumb," said Gwin.

"I didn't know if I was going to race the finals or not. I need to go get my thumb checked out. We ended up taping it up to the bars. I managed to put the run together. It wasn't the best run but it was pretty good."

It was good enough for the win.

Second place went to Logan Binggeli (KHS) in his best finish yet. "It was a fast run. It went by as a blur. I'm so stoked I can't really think. I've been training hard for this."

"The course was fun and gnarly. It wasn't way technical, but you had to have good flow and rhythm," said Binggeli, whose best previous finish at downhill nationals was 24th.

Tyler Immer took third place in his sixth race as a pro. The first-year elite rider is just 19, but he wasn't fazed by the 10-minute delay after Sean McClendon crashed and had to be carried off the course.

"I started out of the gate hard and came into the first rock garden really fast," said Immer. "I kicked loose and a little later, I almost took it into some trees, but from then on down, it was a good run."

Gwin certainly had the best conditions of the favorites. His early start meant he was done with his run before the winds picked up and light rain started falling on the last men down the mountain.

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Aaron Gwin (Yeti Fox Factory)0:02:21.17
2Logan Binggeli (KHS Bicycles)0:00:03.47
3Tyler Immer0:00:03.70
4Kyle Strait0:00:04.29
5Bradley Benedict (Specialized)0:00:04.44
6Joey Schusler (Yeti Fox Shox Factor)0:00:05.20
7Cody Warren (Foes Racing)0:00:05.42
8Brian Buell (TeamGeronimo/Banshee)0:00:05.80
9John Swanguen (ODI/X-Fusion)0:00:05.94
10Duncan Riffle (Giant Mountain Bike )0:00:06.13
11Kevin Aiello (GT Bicycles)0:00:06.32
12Jess Pedersen0:00:06.54
13Michael Sylvestri0:00:07.03
14Evan Turpen (Epicenter Cycling)0:00:07.32
15Kyle Thomas (Evil Bikes)0:00:10.06
16Chris Heath (KHS Factory)0:00:11.30
17Kain Leonard (Crested Butte)0:00:11.59
18Jason Memmelaar (Giant / HBG)0:00:11.85
19David Klaassenvanoorschot (ODI/Nema)0:00:12.34
20Curtis Keene (Specialized/Sram)0:00:12.41
21Cole Bangert (Sram / Yeti)0:00:12.45
22Eliot Jackson0:00:12.66
23Trevyn Newpher0:00:12.83
24Steven Wentz (Team SolVista / Comm)0:00:12.85
25Ben Furbee0:00:13.43
26Ethan Quehl0:00:13.74
27Amado Stachenfeld (amadomtb.com)0:00:13.82
28Will Collins (Spooky Bikes)0:00:13.93
29Michael Haderer (Corsair/Atomlab)0:00:14.72
30Ryan Sutton (CBMST/Fox)0:00:14.73
31David Camp0:00:14.75
32Lear Miller0:00:14.77
33Shawn Neer (Orbit Racing)0:00:15.12
34Brad Oien (ODI/X-Fusion)0:00:15.54
35Naish Ulmer (KHS / Spy Optics)0:00:15.57
36Adam Morse0:00:15.79
37David Beeson (Fezzari Bikes / Cafe)0:00:16.05
38Jon Wilson (Northstar/Giant)0:00:16.07
39Doug Ewer (Team Sol Vista Racin)0:00:16.22
40Billy Delacroix (Orbit Racing)0:00:16.46
41Nathaniel Hills0:00:16.49
42Heikki Hall (e*thirteen component)0:00:16.58
43Ben Craner (Canfield Brothers)0:00:16.63
44Nathan Adams0:00:16.80
45Philip Wheeler (Team Sol Vista)0:00:16.99
46Charlie Sponsel (MS Racing/Evil Bikes)0:00:17.11
47Sean Richins (Cafe Rio)0:00:17.39
48Dante Harmony (All Mountain Cyclery)0:00:17.93
49Sam Benedict (Specialized)0:00:18.02
50Mark Clemens0:00:18.12
51Mike Kreger (Sol Vista Bike Park)0:00:18.21
52Robin Baloochi (Corsair/Atomlab)0:00:18.39
53Gavin Vaughan (Giant HBG)0:00:18.50
54Matthew Johnston (MJ Cannonballs Racin)0:00:18.67
55Eric Landis (Grassroots Cycles)0:00:19.11
56Leif Lorenzen0:00:19.52
57Szymon Kowalski (trek co-op)0:00:19.76
58Phil Ott (Trek Co-op / Hayes)0:00:20.20
59Tasso Koch (Thug Mansion Racing )0:00:20.31
60Alexander McGuinnis (Team Krunk Shox.)0:00:20.39
60Trevor Martin (e13 / Corsair Bikes)Row 60 - Cell 2
62Luke Strobel (MS Evil / Rockstar E)0:00:20.53
63Pete Maniaci (Royal Racing)0:00:20.82
64Nic Hadley0:00:20.88
65Andrew Cavaletto0:00:21.60
66Phillip Wiering (Evil/Maxxis)0:00:22.32
67Logan James0:00:22.80
68Michael Buell (Team Geronimo/Banshe)0:00:24.80
69Matthew Russell (Road 34)0:00:25.92
70Pablo Tafoya (Corsair/Atomlab)0:00:26.86
71Brian Yannuzzi (Loweriders Derailed)0:00:28.26
72Andrew Templin (Canfield Brothers)0:00:31.18
73Gene Hamilton0:00:31.42
74Graeme Pitts (Team Geronimo/Banshe)0:00:32.21
75Blair Reed0:00:32.77
76Jamas Stiber (Lenz Sport/Oakley)0:00:33.46
77Ryan Condrashoff (ODI/X-Fusion)0:00:39.08
78Erik Gosselin (Gravity Project/High)0:00:39.68
79Michael Johnson (CR1 Engineering/661)0:00:41.38
80Alex Boday0:00:56.99
81Christopher Shewmake (Sol Vista Bike Park)0:01:55.97
82Matthew Thompson (Sol Vista / Commenca)0:03:01.17
Row 82 - Cell 0 Lars Sternberg (Transition Racing)Row 82 - Cell 2
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Cat. 1 Men 17-18
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sam Powers (Redstone Cyclery)0:02:30.16
2Bryson Martin (Oakley / Marzocchi /)0:00:02.48
3Nate Furbee0:00:02.49
4Evan Powell (Yeti Fox Regional)0:00:03.26
5Trevor Trinkino (Yeti RPM)0:00:04.60
6Adam Digby0:00:05.20
7Austin Aldrich0:00:06.48
8Christian Wright (Commencal / EX Drink)0:00:06.52
9Ian Keller (Synaptic Testing and)0:00:07.89
10Jake Payne (Scotts Independent P)0:00:07.99
11Andy Proctor (RPM / Yeti)0:00:08.63
12Alex Amaral0:00:08.70
13Adam Ransavage (Evil Bikes)0:00:10.76
14Anthony Marino0:00:11.06
15Scott Punt0:00:11.38
16Max Morgan (Team Morewood USA)0:00:12.74
17Bradley King (DRD Tomac)0:00:13.62
18Samuel Pensler0:00:13.72
19Ben Calhoun (Grom Racing)0:00:16.35
20Colby Benge (Backbone Racing)0:00:17.15
21Thomas Ravina (WTB)0:00:30.10
22Max Hautaniemi (Gravity Project)0:00:33.51
23Alexandre Couture (GIANT MTB TEAM)0:01:19.70
24Logan Kemp0:01:27.70
25Kyle Warner (Specialized Thunder )0:02:15.65
26Colin Mcadoo (Simano/Fox/Schwalbe)Row 25 - Cell 2
27Brian MullenRow 26 - Cell 2

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Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews.  She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.

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