The downhill pros provided a crowning conclusion to the 15th Sympatex BIKE Festival Willingen. Sixteen women and 40 men rode in the final for World Cup points and substantial prize money. Siblings Tracey Hannah and Mick Hannah won the elite races.
The winner among the women was favourite Tracey Hannah from Australia, with a time of 2:11.75, ahead of several-time German downhill champion and last year's winner Antje Kramer (2:18.71).
"I am very happy about my win. The track is really superb and technically very demanding," said winner and fourth-place rider in the World Cup Tracey Hannah after the race.
Third place went to Sarah Atkin, Steffi Marth was seventh, Ines Thoma took ninth place.
Among the men, Australian Josh Button was pushed from the "hot seat" shortly before the end by Filip Polc from Slovakia. German rider Johannes Fischbach, third in the seeding run, fell a short way from the finish and was unable to play a part in the rest of the race.
The many spectators watched the race with excitement on the route and followed the last racers on the video wall in the finishing area.
The top favourite and second in the seeding run, Michael Hannah, then cranked it up in the final. In a time of 1:53.77, he blazed down the Ettelsberg, beating Filip Polc (1:55.04) and Josh Button (1:56.26).
The last starter of the day and faster rider in the seeding run, George Brannigan from New Zealand, was fourth. The best German was Guido Tschugg in eighth place.
Full Results
Elite men
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|
| 1 | Michael Hannah (Aus) | 0:01:53.77 |
| 2 | Filip Polc (Svk) | 0:00:01.27 |
| 3 | Joshua Button (Aus) | 0:00:02.49 |
| 4 | George Brannigan (NZl) | 0:00:02.67 |
| 5 | Nico Vink (Bel) | 0:00:03.43 |
| 6 | Florent Payet (Fra) | 0:00:04.69 |
| 7 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) | 0:00:05.03 |
| 8 | Guido Tschugg (Ger) | 0:00:06.62 |
| 9 | Bryn Dickerson (NZl) | 0:00:07.24 |
| 10 | Christian Muller (Ger) | 0:00:07.28 |
| 11 | Mads Weidemann (Den) | 0:00:07.47 |
| 12 | Maximilian Bender (Ger) | 0:00:07.62 |
| 13 | Jacques Bouvet (Ger) | 0:00:08.15 |
| 14 | Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) | 0:00:08.38 |
| 15 | Richard Leacock (NZl) | 0:00:08.62 |
| 16 | Noah Grossman (Ger) | 0:00:08.91 |
| 17 | Nathaniel Goiny (Ger) | 0:00:09.62 |
| 18 | Josua Hein (Ger) | 0:00:10.65 |
| 19 | Mark Van Lankveld (Ned) | 0:00:10.98 |
| 20 | Leo Combee (Ned) | 0:00:11.15 |
| 21 | Dominik Mai (Ger) | 0:00:11.57 |
| 22 | Stefan Beck (Ger) | 0:00:11.96 |
| 23 | Moritz Kruse (Ger) | 0:00:12.19 |
| 24 | Birk Berghaeuser (Ger) | 0:00:12.59 |
| 25 | Ruben Torenbeek (Ned) | 0:00:12.66 |
| 26 | Janik Weber (Ger) | 0:00:12.87 |
| 27 | Marco Hermann (Ger) | 0:00:13.79 |
| 28 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) | 0:00:25.67 |
| 29 | Benjamin Oluoch (Ger) | 0:00:27.28 |
Elite women
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|
| 1 | Tracey Hannah (Aus) | 0:02:11.75 |
| 2 | Antje Kramer (Ger) | 0:00:06.96 |
| 3 | Sarah Atkin (NZl) | 0:00:07.22 |
| 4 | Diana Marggraff (Ecu) | 0:00:11.93 |
| 5 | Veronique Sandler (NZl) | 0:00:18.04 |
| 6 | Nicole Beege (Ger) | 0:00:18.90 |
| 7 | Steffi Marth (Ger) | 0:00:20.04 |
| 8 | Karin Pasterer (Aut) | 0:00:22.51 |
| 9 | Ana Raecke (Ger) | 0:00:50.75 |
