American downhiller Shaw wins junior World Cup in Pietermaritzburg
Vergier and Pierron round out top three
In the junior men's downhill World Cup, SRAM/TLD Racing's Luca Shaw charged to his first World Cup victory of the 2014 season as he edged out Lapierre Gravity Republic's Loris Vergier and the Frenchman's fellow countryman Amaury Pierron.
With riders starting in reverse order, second down the hill Pierron claimed the hot seat early on and with just Vergier and Shaw left to charge would have been excused for starting to believe his fairytale may just become reality.
It wasn't to be though as Vergier cruised passed him before Shaw, Friday's fastest qualifier, went one better yet to get his season off to the perfect start.
"I worked really hard this winter, this was always my goal and for it to finally happen is just such a relief and I'm just so happy," said an exhausted Shaw afterwards.
"I wanted to do a good run yesterday because this track's a little tricky to race, it's got some slippery corners. Qualifying first kind of took the pressure off me a little today but I was still nervous this morning for sure!
"I just tried to do what I did in qualifying again today though and clean up the couple of mistakes I made yesterday and it worked out so I'm just so happy.
"Last year was my first year as a junior and I learned a lot. I feel great this season and a lot smarter this season than I was last so I just can't wait for the rest of the World Cups," said the SRAM/TLD Racing rider.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Luca Shaw (USA) Sram/TLD Racing | 0:04:15.300 |
2 | Loris Vergier (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 0:00:01.990 |
3 | Amaury Pierron (Fra) France | 0:00:08.401 |
4 | Aiden Varley (Aus) Australia | 0:00:12.109 |
5 | Benjamin Boutie (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott | 0:00:14.464 |
6 | Francisco Matias (Chi) Chile | 0:00:15.809 |
7 | Taylor Vernon (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:16.331 |
8 | Thomas Estaque (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott | 0:00:17.593 |
9 | Frazer Mccubbing (GBr) Steve Peat Syndicate | 0:00:18.037 |
10 | Neil Stewart (GBr) Fmd Racing | 0:00:18.390 |
11 | Thibault Laly (Fra) France | 0:00:18.941 |
12 | Bradley Swinbank (GBr) Steve Peat Syndicate | 0:00:25.225 |
13 | Sam Herd (GBr) Perth City Cycles | 0:00:28.237 |
14 | Mike Schaer (Swi) Switzerland | 0:00:29.214 |
15 | Jonathan Philogene (RSA) South Africa | 0:00:36.427 |
16 | Sebastian Petersen (RSA) South Africa - B | 0:01:01.051 |
17 | Nicholas Camp (RSA) South Africa | 0:01:08.094 |
18 | Joshua Bryant (RSA) South Africa - B | 0:01:13.656 |
19 | Grey Keegan (RSA) South Africa - B | 0:01:16.769 |
20 | Christopher Cartwright (RSA) South Africa - B | 0:01:20.325 |
21 | Tynan Usswald (RSA) South Africa | 0:01:23.361 |
22 | Jacques Prins (RSA) South Africa | 0:03:10.944 |
DNF | Kevin Smale (RSA) South Africa | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Andrew Dorrit (GBr) MS Mondraker Team | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Luca Shaw (USA) Sram/TLD Racing | 60 | pts |
2 | Loris Vergier (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 40 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Amaury Pierron (Fra) France | 30 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Aiden Varley (Aus) Australia | 25 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Benjamin Boutie (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott | 20 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Francisco Matias (Chi) Chile | 18 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Taylor Vernon (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 16 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Thomas Estaque (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott | 14 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Frazer Mccubbing (GBr) Steve Peat Syndicate | 12 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Neil Stewart (GBr) Fmd Racing | 10 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Thibault Laly (Fra) France | 8 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | Bradley Swinbank (GBr) Steve Peat Syndicate | 6 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Sam Herd (GBr) Perth City Cycles | 4 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Mike Schaer (Swi) Switzerland | 2 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Jonathan Philogene (RSA) South Africa | 1 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'I proved last year I could beat them' – Gravel World Championships gives Tiffany Cromwell her rainbow jersey shot
Australian who won on a similar course at 2023 European Championships lines up with experience, proven form and every reason to harbour podium dreams