Four cross World Champ Graves takes top downhill spot in Monterey

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Australian Jared Graves and American Aaron Gwin (Yeti/Fox teammates) finished one-two in the men's pro downhill race at Sea Otter on Sunday. Graves, who was seeded early in the event, watched 120 riders try to knock him out of the hot seat before his result was confirmed. Oakley sponsored American Brian Lopes finished third.

The downhill gods were easy on competitors in Monterey, leaving riders with some of the driest, mildest and most windless conditions in recent years. Graves, who was seeded early in the almost 150-rider strong field, powered the course to set the early lead then settled into the hot seat as downhill star after downhill star fell short of his 2:04:7 run.

"I really wanted to win both races this weekend (dual slalom and downhill)," Graves said at the finish. "It didn't quite work out in the dual slalom last night (Graves earned fourth, losing to Jared Rando in the consolation round - ed.) so I was pretty determined to make up for it today."

With four short-course specialists in the top five, Sea Otter's dry and pedally downhill course was tough for the top riders in the discipline. Downhill World Champion Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) managed only eighth. Former World Champion Cedric Gracia finished seven seconds down in 16th. Another former World Champion, Greg Minaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), coasted through the finish line, obviously frustrated with his run and 55th placing.

Graves says the skills that earned him four cross World Cup and World Championship wins in 2009 were keys to success on the Sea Otter downhill course. "The lower part of the course is pretty chopped up compared to previous years," Graves said. "So just finding good lines, missing the holes, and skipping over the top and carrying good momentum everywhere was the key."

"My training is geared around being quick for no more than 30 seconds at a time, so I felt a little bit of a burn at the end there, but I just kept thinking about how I didn't get what I wanted last night and pushed hard to the line."

Graves says racing downhill at Sea Otter is an anomaly to his season's plans. "I'm not doing downhill World Cups this year, Four cross is my focus," Graves said. "Sea Otter being the first big international race of the year, it's different to a World Cup, but all the top guys are here so it's a good race to start the season; if you do well here, you know you're preparation is good - it's a confidence boost." Graves will take that confidence to the first four cross World Cup in Slovenia in two weeks.

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