Gwin back on top with downhill win at Pietermaritzburg World Cup
Hannah and Minnaar round out top three
Former downhill World Cup Aaron Gwin got his 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season underway in perfect fashion when he claimed a thrilling victory in the elite men's downhill final of the Pietermaritzburg leg at Cascades MTB Park on Saturday.
Last down the hill after winning the qualifying round on Friday, the Specialized Racing DH star charged to the top of the leaderboard early on in his run and never looked back as he surged ahead of title hopeful Mick Hannah (Hutchinson UR) and hometown hero Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate).
"I'm just happy, really stoked. It is definitely a team win!" said Gwin."The race was great this year! The track was good, the fans - as always - down here are great! I love racing here!
"We felt good all weekend. From the first practice run I was happy, I like the changes they made to the course and the bike was working, I was working, everything felt good. I knew from the first day that I had a win in me if I could put down my best run but that is a lot easier said than done. Qualifying went well and we just tried to keep the ball rolling.
"I am happy for Mick (Hannah), happy for Troy (Brosnan) and it was an amazing ride for Greg (Minnaar) to get back after his knee and still get on the podium," he said.
Hannah, having suffered a mechanical in qualifying and so started some way down the list in the finals, demolished the previous best time of the day set by South Africa's Andrew Neethling's (Giant Factory Off-road Team) by more than eight seconds to power into the hot seat.
With just Minnaar, Josh Bryceland (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and Gwin left to start their runs, Hannah's nerves were clear for all to see as he looked to go one better than the result he achieved at the same course at the 2013 Worlds.
A charging Minnaar however appeared to have the better of his Australian rival in the first two sectors. A slow final sector by the defending world champ and a top section mishap by Bryceland saw Hannah maintain his position he'd already for for a remarkable 18 riders.
That was until Gwin decided to get in on the act though as the American hero strung together the perfect final run to become the only person to break the four minute mark and, in the process, edge Hannah and Minnaar into second and third respectively.
Minnaar, having won both the 2012 World Cup and 2013 world champs in his own back yard, put in a dream performance given he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the final leg of the 2013 World Cup in Austria late last year and was satisfied with the outcome.
"I was really nervous up top, I wasn't super comfortable riding all the technical stuff. I haven't had a lot of time on my bike since my surgery so I just tried to suss things out beforehand and then just relax as much as I could before my run," said Minnaar.
"I had a really good run up top and I survived but, given the condition I'm in and a lack of time on the bike, I'm still really happy with my third place!
"The top section hadn't blown up that much but I just couldn't get that stretch right all week. It was really tricky, the rocks are placed really awkwardly and we were hitting our back wheel a lot so I was just super nervous and had a bit of a lack of confidence. I hit it really well in my final though so I was stoked!
"I really had a good final run and I lay it all out on the track. I'm just really thankful for all the people coming out and supporting me again, it's incredible to see all the support," he added.
Lapierre Gravity Republic's charging young star Loic Bruni crossed the line in fourth with and Gwin's Specialized Racing DH's team mate Troy Brosnan fifth with the likes of Gee Atherton, Nick Beer and Josh Bryceland all suffering mishaps or crashes which hampered their performances.
With his win, Gwin became the first World Cup series leader of 2014, resuming where he left off back in 2012.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Specialized Racing DH | 0:03:59.300 |
2 | Michael Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson UR | 0:00:02.037 |
3 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:02.824 |
4 | Loic Bruni (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 0:00:02.893 |
5 | Troy Brosnan (Aus) Specialized Racing DH | 0:00:03.331 |
6 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 0:00:04.043 |
7 | Sam Dale (GBr) Madison Saracen Factory Team | 0:00:06.003 |
8 | Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:06.361 |
9 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:06.851 |
10 | Gee Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:06.899 |
11 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:06.964 |
12 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:07.867 |
13 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Madison Saracen Factory Team | 0:00:09.133 |
14 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Mondraker Team | 0:00:09.460 |
15 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Hutchinson UR | 0:00:09.848 |
16 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:09.924 |
17 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:10.896 |
18 | Guillaume Cauvin (Fra) Hutchinson UR | 0:00:11.021 |
19 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:11.296 |
20 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:11.563 |
21 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:11.827 |
22 | George Brannigan (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:11.925 |
23 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) | 0:00:12.080 |
23 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) MS Mondraker Team | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Connor Fearon (Aus) Kona Factory Team | 0:00:12.314 |
26 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) | 0:00:12.537 |
27 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Gstaad-Scott | 0:00:12.667 |
28 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:13.090 |
29 | Nick Beer (Swi) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:13.143 |
30 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:13.632 |
31 | Isak Leivsson (Nor) | 0:00:13.653 |
32 | Greg Williamson (GBr) Trek World Racing | 0:00:13.673 |
33 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott | 0:00:13.984 |
34 | Harry Heath (GBr) Orange Dirt World Team, O'neal | 0:00:14.450 |
35 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:14.531 |
36 | Tomas Slavik (Cze) | 0:00:15.384 |
37 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Gstaad-Scott | 0:00:15.422 |
38 | Faustin Figaret (Fra) Commencal | 0:00:15.571 |
39 | Florent Payet (Fra) Evil Vengeance Tour | 0:00:15.586 |
40 | Jack Reading (GBr) SC Intense | 0:00:15.722 |
41 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) Pivot Factory DH Team | 0:00:15.872 |
42 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 0:00:16.024 |
43 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:16.434 |
44 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) Evil Vengeance Tour | 0:00:16.619 |
45 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:16.860 |
46 | Jack Moir (Aus) Bergamont Hayes World Team | 0:00:16.891 |
47 | Matthew Walker (NZl) Banshee Bikes Factory Team | 0:00:17.033 |
48 | Timothy Bentley (RSA) | 0:00:17.048 |
49 | Dean Lucas (Aus) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:17.085 |
50 | Wyn Masters (NZl) Team Bulls - DH | 0:00:17.243 |
51 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:17.490 |
52 | Eliot Jackson (USA) Pivot Factory DH Team | 0:00:19.337 |
53 | Stefan Garlicki (RSA) | 0:00:19.943 |
54 | Francisco Pardal (Por) | 0:00:20.216 |
55 | Tiaan Odendaal (RSA) | 0:00:20.893 |
56 | Joseph Connell (GBr) SC Intense | 0:00:21.080 |
57 | Samuel Bull (RSA) | 0:00:21.981 |
58 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Hutchinson UR | 0:00:22.715 |
59 | Jasper Jauch (Ger) | 0:00:23.089 |
60 | Matej Charvat (Cze) Banshee Bikes Factory Team | 0:00:23.169 |
61 | Charly Di Pasquale (Fra) | 0:00:24.646 |
62 | Mario José Jarrin Molina (Ecu) | 0:00:25.089 |
63 | Alexandre Fayolle (Fra) | 0:00:25.249 |
64 | Jonty Neethling (RSA) | 0:00:25.480 |
65 | Brent Smith (Aus) | 0:00:26.785 |
66 | Zakarias Blom Johansen (Nor) | 0:00:26.802 |
67 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:30.084 |
68 | Chris Barlin (Aus) Green To Gold Race Development | 0:00:32.136 |
69 | Mathew Stuttard (GBr) | 0:00:32.174 |
70 | Jono Jones (GBr) | 0:00:32.706 |
71 | Josh Lowe (GBr) | 0:00:32.801 |
72 | Francesco Colombo (Ita) Gravitalia Squadra Corse | 0:00:32.985 |
73 | Alasdair Fey (RSA) | 0:00:33.802 |
74 | Kazuki Shimizu (Jpn) Madison Saracen Factory Team | 0:00:34.373 |
75 | Travis Browning (RSA) | 0:00:35.772 |
76 | Peter Williams (GBr) | 0:01:00.511 |
77 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Rrp Ghost | 0:01:16.797 |
78 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Rrp Ghost | 0:02:11.779 |
DNF | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Evil Vengeance Tour | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Madison Saracen Factory Team | 82 | pts |
2 | Lapierre Gravity Republic | 78 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Hutchinson UR | 71 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Specialized Racing DH | 68 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | GT Factory Racing | 68 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 56 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 47 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 37 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Trek World Racing | 32 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Ms Mondraker Team | 25 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 22 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | Fmd Racing | 18 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Gstaad-Scott | 18 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Evil Vengeance Tour | 16 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Unior Tools Team | 11 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Green To Gold Race Development | 10 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Pivot Factory DH Team | 9 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Kona Factory Team | 6 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Devinci Global Racing | 2 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Specialized Racing DH | 250 | pts |
2 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 170 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Michael Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson UR | 160 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Loic Bruni (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 150 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Troy Brosnan (Aus) Specialized Racing DH | 130 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 117 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Sam Dale (GBr) Madison Saracen Factory Team | 105 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing | 103 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 96 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Gee Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 85 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 82 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Madison Saracen Factory Team | 82 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 79 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Mondraker Team | 79 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 78 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 73 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Hutchinson UR | 71 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 69 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Nick Beer (Swi) Devinci Global Racing | 69 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
20 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 64 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
21 | Guillaume Cauvin (Fra) Hutchinson UR | 63 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
22 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 61 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
23 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 60 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
24 | George Brannigan (NZl) Trek World Racing | 59 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
25 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 59 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
26 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) | 58 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
27 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) MS Mondraker Team | 58 | Row 26 - Cell 3 |
28 | Connor Fearon (Aus) Kona Factory Team | 56 | Row 27 - Cell 3 |
29 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) | 55 | Row 28 - Cell 3 |
30 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Gstaad-Scott | 54 | Row 29 - Cell 3 |
31 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 51 | Row 30 - Cell 3 |
32 | Isak Leivsson (Nor) | 50 | Row 31 - Cell 3 |
33 | Greg Williamson (GBr) Trek World Racing | 49 | Row 32 - Cell 3 |
34 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott | 48 | Row 33 - Cell 3 |
35 | Harry Heath (GBr) Orange Dirt World Team, O'neal | 47 | Row 34 - Cell 3 |
36 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) Trek World Racing | 46 | Row 35 - Cell 3 |
37 | Tomas Slavik (Cze) | 45 | Row 36 - Cell 3 |
38 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Gstaad-Scott | 44 | Row 37 - Cell 3 |
39 | Faustin Figaret (Fra) Commencal | 43 | Row 38 - Cell 3 |
40 | Florent Payet (Fra) Evil Vengeance Tour | 42 | Row 39 - Cell 3 |
41 | Jack Reading (GBr) SC Intense | 41 | Row 40 - Cell 3 |
42 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) Pivot Factory DH Team | 40 | Row 41 - Cell 3 |
43 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 39 | Row 42 - Cell 3 |
44 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) Evil Vengeance Tour | 37 | Row 43 - Cell 3 |
45 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 36 | Row 44 - Cell 3 |
46 | Jack Moir (Aus) Bergamont Hayes World Team | 35 | Row 45 - Cell 3 |
47 | Matthew Walker (NZl) Banshee Bikes Factory Team | 34 | Row 46 - Cell 3 |
48 | Timothy Bentley (RSA) | 33 | Row 47 - Cell 3 |
49 | Dean Lucas (Aus) Devinci Global Racing | 32 | Row 48 - Cell 3 |
50 | Wyn Masters (NZl) Team Bulls - DH | 31 | Row 49 - Cell 3 |
51 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 30 | Row 50 - Cell 3 |
52 | Eliot Jackson (USA) Pivot Factory DH Team | 29 | Row 51 - Cell 3 |
53 | Stefan Garlicki (RSA) | 28 | Row 52 - Cell 3 |
54 | Francisco Pardal (Por) | 27 | Row 53 - Cell 3 |
55 | Tiaan Odendaal (RSA) | 26 | Row 54 - Cell 3 |
56 | Joseph Connell (GBr) SC Intense | 25 | Row 55 - Cell 3 |
57 | Samuel Bull (RSA) | 24 | Row 56 - Cell 3 |
58 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Hutchinson UR | 23 | Row 57 - Cell 3 |
59 | Jasper Jauch (Ger) | 22 | Row 58 - Cell 3 |
60 | Matej Charvat (Cze) Banshee Bikes Factory Team | 21 | Row 59 - Cell 3 |
61 | Charly Di Pasquale (Fra) | 20 | Row 60 - Cell 3 |
62 | Mario José Jarrin Molina (Ecu) | 19 | Row 61 - Cell 3 |
63 | Alexandre Fayolle (Fra) | 18 | Row 62 - Cell 3 |
64 | Jonty Neethling (RSA) | 17 | Row 63 - Cell 3 |
65 | Brent Smith (Aus) | 16 | Row 64 - Cell 3 |
66 | Zakarias Blom Johansen (Nor) | 15 | Row 65 - Cell 3 |
67 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Rrp Ghost | 15 | Row 66 - Cell 3 |
68 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 14 | Row 67 - Cell 3 |
69 | Chris Barlin (Aus) Green To Gold Race Development | 13 | Row 68 - Cell 3 |
70 | Mathew Stuttard (GBr) | 12 | Row 69 - Cell 3 |
71 | Jono Jones (GBr) | 11 | Row 70 - Cell 3 |
72 | Josh Lowe (GBr) | 10 | Row 71 - Cell 3 |
73 | Francesco Colombo (Ita) Gravitalia Squadra Corse | 9 | Row 72 - Cell 3 |
74 | Alasdair Fey (RSA) | 8 | Row 73 - Cell 3 |
75 | Kazuki Shimizu (Jpn) Madison Saracen Factory Team | 7 | Row 74 - Cell 3 |
76 | Travis Browning (RSA) | 6 | Row 75 - Cell 3 |
77 | Peter Williams (GBr) | 5 | Row 76 - Cell 3 |
78 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Rrp Ghost | 3 | Row 77 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Madison Saracen Factory Team | 82 | pts |
2 | Lapierre Gravity Republic | 78 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Hutchinson UR | 71 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Specialized Racing DH | 68 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | GT Factory Racing | 68 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 56 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 47 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 37 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Trek World Racing | 32 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Ms Mondraker Team | 25 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 22 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | Fmd Racing | 18 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Gstaad-Scott | 18 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Evil Vengeance Tour | 16 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Unior Tools Team | 11 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Green To Gold Race Development | 10 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Pivot Factory DH Team | 9 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Kona Factory Team | 6 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Devinci Global Racing | 2 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
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