Atherton takes second win of season
By Tour of Japan published
Briton narrows Minnaar's World Cup lead
The race for the World Cup title in the men's downhill became a two-horse race on Saturday, at round four in Champéry, Switzerland. Gee Atherton (Commencal) took his second win of the season to pull to within 13 points of Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), who finished second.
The rain, which had turned the steep 1500 metre course into a slippery mud slide during qualifying, finally backed off for race day, but the damage had been done and, in some ways, the drying conditions made things worse. As the thick mud began to dry, it clung to bikes and turned to the consistency of peanut butter, doubling the weight of bikes and slowing forward momentum to a crawl.
"It was really tough," said Atherton. "You know, some races you really enjoy, and others it's a battle the whole time. This I was just fighting the whole way, the run was hard work; it was like a battle from top to bottom. It was a matter of just finding that line, hanging it out and having it pinned, and not pushing too hard and crashing. I guess I was right on that line and right on the limit the whole time. I was half crashing all the way down the hill, just holding on, and luckily I got it dialed."
Minnaar had similar comments: "It was like Scalelectrix [model electric cars], it was one big rut the whole way down, so you just had to balance well and ride the rut as best you could."
Only six riders occupied the Hot Seat during the race, starting with the first rider on the course, Ben Cathro, who held the lead for nearly a third of the field before being unseated by Ruaridh Cunningham (Chain Reaction/Intense). Cunningham knocked an impressive 16-plus seconds off of Cathro's time, and was in the Hot Seat for 20 riders before his teammate Chris Kovarik bumped him by mere four-hundredths of a second.
Kovarik held on for 18 riders until U.S. champion Aaron Gwin (Yetis Fox Shox) took the lead down another two seconds.
At this point there were 20 riders still to race, but when Minnaar came through the finish six riders after Gwin and nearly nine seconds faster, it started to look like the World Cup leader had shaken off a poor qualifying run and was on track for his third victory of the season.
However, the South African knew better: "My training run was terrible... getting stuck in the gate with the rain [starting], there's not much we could do about it. But a result's a result, so you just have to move on and try your best and turn it into a positive. So I'm glad to turn it around and improve on that 15th in qualifying. I knew my time was beatable, and not a race-winning run. I'd made costly mistake on an easy section, and I knew I'd lost a lot of time in there, but it was hard to make no mistakes on this track."
Minnaar was correct, as Atherton was fastest through both intermediate splits and flew into the finish nearly three seconds faster than his rival. Only top qualifier Sam Blenkinsop (Lapierre International) was left to ride, and he could not match Atherton's run, slotting into fourth behind Brendan Fairclough (Monster Energy Specialized).
"I'm pretty stoked to put that time in on that track," said Atherton. "I knew Greg had the Hot Seat, and I knew I had my work cut out, and that it was going to be hard to knock him off. It is my second win of the season and I am over the moon right now."
Minnaar continues to lead the World Cup standings with 830 points but, due to his poor qualifier and Atherton's win and second place in qualifying, the British rider is only 13 points back with two races to go.
"I'm holding onto the [World Cup] lead by the skin of my teeth at this point," commented Minnaar, "and with two to go, it's not much of a gap. Gee and I will have to fight it out right to the end."
Race Notes
Nico Vink crashed hard in the men's race, hitting his helmet on the ground. It led to a 20-minute delay while he was airlifted out.
Full results
1 | Gee Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 0:04:02.19 |
2 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:02.79 |
3 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 0:00:04.56 |
4 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 0:00:04.81 |
5 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 0:00:05.32 |
6 | Brook MacDonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:07.34 |
7 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | 0:00:10.34 |
8 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:11.56 |
9 | Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:13.71 |
10 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:13.75 |
11 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) | 0:00:13.77 |
12 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles | 0:00:14.33 |
13 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:15.78 |
14 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) | 0:00:15.91 |
15 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 0:00:16.65 |
16 | Shaun O'connor (Aus) Kenda-Playbiker | 0:00:16.87 |
17 | Sam Dale (GBr) | 0:00:17.31 |
18 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:17.52 |
19 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 0:00:18.46 |
20 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) World Trail/Specialized | 0:00:21.23 |
21 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) Norco World Team | 0:00:21.85 |
22 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Team | 0:00:22.83 |
23 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Lac Blanc Massif Des Vosges | 0:00:23.96 |
24 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Blackmountain Morewood United | 0:00:24.28 |
25 | Oliver Burton (GBr) | 0:00:24.30 |
26 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 0:00:24.60 |
27 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS Racing Squad | 0:00:25.91 |
28 | Matthew Scoles (NZl) Team Cingolani - Protone | 0:00:27.55 |
29 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) | 0:00:27.88 |
30 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) | 0:00:27.99 |
31 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 0:00:28.49 |
32 | Troy Brosnan (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 0:00:29.02 |
33 | Wyn Masters (NZl) Kenda-Playbike | 0:00:29.11 |
34 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 0:00:29.35 |
35 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 0:00:29.84 |
36 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi Team | 0:00:30.07 |
37 | Florent Payet (Fra) Blackmountain Morewood United | 0:00:30.09 |
37 | Ben Cathro (GBr) MTBcut.tv | |
39 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal Superiders | 0:00:30.50 |
40 | Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:30.63 |
41 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 0:00:30.79 |
42 | Harry Heath (GBr) | 0:00:31.21 |
43 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona | 0:00:32.31 |
44 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:33.03 |
45 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:33.65 |
46 | Luke Strobel (USA) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:34.04 |
47 | Martin Frei (Swi) | 0:00:35.51 |
48 | Dennis Dertell (Swe) | 0:00:35.64 |
49 | Harry Molloy (GBr) 661/DMR/Last Bikes | 0:00:36.62 |
50 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:36.86 |
51 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) MBKOrbea | 0:00:38.25 |
52 | George Brannigan (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 0:00:39.47 |
53 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 0:00:39.89 |
54 | Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles | 0:00:40.32 |
55 | Billy Caroli (Swi) | 0:00:40.95 |
56 | Faustin Figaret (Fra) Team Sport Bike | 0:00:41.15 |
57 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 0:00:41.69 |
58 | Ben Baker (GBr) | 0:00:42.54 |
59 | Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:42.57 |
60 | Robert Smith (GBr) | 0:00:43.22 |
61 | Carlo Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop | 0:00:43.89 |
62 | Benny Strasser (Ger) | 0:00:44.28 |
63 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:44.58 |
64 | Ralph Jones (GBr) | 0:00:45.00 |
65 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:45.22 |
66 | Thomas Jeandin (Swi) | 0:00:46.61 |
67 | Kyle Strait (USA) | 0:00:48.03 |
68 | Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 0:00:49.38 |
69 | Kristof Lenssens (Bel) | 0:00:50.15 |
70 | Yannick Colomb (Fra) | 0:00:51.21 |
71 | Matej Charvat (Cze) K.T.R. Racing Team | 0:00:52.06 |
72 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) | 0:00:52.21 |
73 | Arthur Racaud (Fra) US Cagnes VTT | 0:00:52.72 |
74 | Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:54.83 |
75 | Joseph Nation (NZl) | 0:00:55.44 |
76 | Bertrand Gilles (Bel) | 0:00:58.72 |
77 | Romain Paulhan (Fra) | 0:01:07.79 |
78 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Giant Factory Team | 0:01:08.78 |
79 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 0:01:13.53 |
80 | Fergus Lamb (GBr) Perth City Cycles | 0:01:14.41 |
81 | Olivier Nicole (Fra) | 0:01:16.91 |
DNF | Nico Vink (Bel) | |
DNF | Joris Bigoni (Fra) |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 85 | pts |
2 | Scott 11 | 70 | |
3 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 48 | |
4 | Commencal | 40 | |
5 | Suspension Center | 40 | |
6 | Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 35 | |
7 | Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 32 | |
8 | Commencal Superiders | 32 | |
9 | Norco World Team | 32 | |
10 | Lapierre International | 30 | |
11 | Mondraker Factory Team | 28 | |
12 | Trek World Racing | 28 | |
13 | MS Evil Racing | 26 | |
14 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 23 | |
15 | RC Alpine Commencal Austria | 23 | |
16 | Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 21 | |
17 | GT Bicycles | 19 | |
18 | Dr-Gravity Union | 18 | |
19 | Solid Aclass Factory Team | 17 | |
20 | Kenda-Playbiker | 15 | |
21 | Giant Factory Team | 9 | |
22 | Team Lac Blanc Massif Des Vosges | 8 | |
23 | Blackmountain Morewood United | 7 | |
24 | XMS Racing Squad | 4 | |
25 | Team Cingolani - Protone | 3 |
World Cup Standings after four rounds
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 830 | pts |
2 | Gee Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 817 | |
3 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 569 | |
4 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 510 | |
5 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 495 | |
6 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 450 | |
7 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | 360 | |
8 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 333 | |
9 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 318 | |
10 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 311 | |
11 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 305 | |
12 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles | 301 | |
13 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Team | 295 | |
14 | Shaun O'connor (Aus) Kenda-Playbiker | 263 | |
15 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 259 | |
16 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 251 | |
17 | Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing | 247 | |
18 | Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles | 245 | |
19 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) | 239 | |
20 | Luke Strobel (USA) MS Evil Racing | 235 | |
21 | Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 218 | |
22 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing | 211 | |
23 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing | 207 | |
24 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) | 205 | |
25 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 203 | |
26 | Florent Payet (Fra) Blackmountain Morewood United | 201 | |
27 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) | 199 | |
28 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona | 195 | |
29 | Sam Dale (GBr) | 193 | |
30 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 192 | |
31 | Wyn Masters (NZl) Kenda-Playbiker | 185 | |
32 | Matthew Scoles (NZl) Team Cingolani - Protone | 182 | |
33 | Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 181 | |
34 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 165 | |
35 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 165 | |
36 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 160 | |
37 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 155 | |
38 | Nico Vink (Bel) | 154 | |
39 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal Superiders | 153 | |
40 | Romain Paulhan (Fra) | 148 | |
41 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS Racing Squad | 146 | |
42 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 143 | |
43 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 138 | |
44 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 138 | |
45 | Troy Brosnan° (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 137 | |
46 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 136 | |
47 | Harry Molloy (GBr) | 135 | |
48 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 133 | |
49 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) | 125 | |
50 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi Team | 122 | |
51 | Joshua Button (Aus) Kona | 121 | |
52 | George Brannigan° (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 118 | |
53 | Kyle Strait (USA) | 112 | |
54 | Joe Barnes (GBr) | 105 | |
55 | Dennis Dertell (Swe) | 99 | |
56 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Blackmountain Morewood United | 98 | |
57 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) Norco World Team | 94 | |
58 | Adam Vagner (Cze) | 94 | |
59 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 92 | |
60 | Matej Charvat (Cze) K.T.R. Racing Team | 92 | |
61 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Lac Blanc Massif Des Vosges | 88 | |
62 | Robert Smith (GBr) | 88 | |
63 | Oliver Burton (GBr) | 87 | |
64 | Joris Bigoni (Fra) | 87 | |
65 | Emanuel Pombo (Por) | 86 | |
66 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 83 | |
67 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) | 83 | |
68 | Fergus Lamb (GBr) | 78 | |
69 | Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team | 78 | |
70 | Marco Milivinti (Ita) Team Cingolani - Protone | 78 | |
71 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) | 77 | |
72 | Benny Strasser (Ger) | 75 | |
73 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Giant Factory Team | 69 | |
74 | Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 65 | |
75 | Nathan Rankin (NZl) Kenda-Playbiker | 65 | |
76 | Ralph Jones (GBr) | 62 | |
77 | Harry Heath (GBr) | 59 | |
78 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 59 | |
79 | Chris Hutchens (GBr) | 53 | |
80 | Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS Racing Squad | 50 | |
81 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) MBK Orbea | 50 | |
82 | Ludovic May (Swi) | 47 | |
83 | Alexander Kangas (Swe) | 44 | |
84 | Curtis Keene (USA) | 40 | |
85 | Antoine Badouard (Fra) | 39 | |
86 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 39 | |
87 | Emyr Davies (GBr) | 35 | |
88 | Martin Frei (Swi) | 34 | |
89 | Lars Peyer (Swi) Suspension Center | 32 | |
90 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team | 31 | |
91 | Lewis Buchanan° (GBr) MS Evil Racing | 30 | |
92 | Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Ryde-Racing | 29 | |
93 | Billy Caroli (Swi) | 26 | |
94 | Olivier Nicole (Fra) | 26 | |
95 | Aari Barrett (NZl) Scott 11 | 26 | |
96 | Faustin Figaret° (Fra) Team Sport Bike | 25 | |
97 | Ben Baker (GBr) | 23 | |
98 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 23 | |
99 | Carlo Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop | 20 | |
100 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team | 19 | |
101 | Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team | 18 | |
102 | Thomas Jeandin (Swi) | 15 | |
103 | Maxime Remy (Fra) Suspension Center | 15 | |
104 | Scott Laughland (Irl) | 14 | |
105 | Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 13 | |
106 | Kristof Lenssens (Bel) | 12 | |
107 | Marcel Beer (Swi) | 11 | |
108 | Yannick Colomb (Fra) | 11 | |
109 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi Team | 11 | |
110 | Sam Flockhart° (GBr) Lapierre International | 10 | |
111 | Jan Javornik (Svk) | 9 | |
112 | Florian Arthus (Fra) | 8 | |
113 | Arthur Racaud° (Fra) US Cagnes VTT | 8 | |
114 | Neko Mulally° (USA) Trek World Racing | 7 | |
115 | Mark Scott° (GBr) | 7 | |
116 | Joseph Nation (NZl) | 6 | |
117 | Bertrand Gilles (Bel) | 5 | |
118 | Kim Petersson (Swe) | 4 | |
119 | Evan Turpen (USA) | 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 309 | pts |
2 | Scott 11 | 260 | |
3 | Commencal | 240 | |
4 | Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 235 | |
5 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 219 | |
6 | Trek World Racing | 196 | |
7 | Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 125 | |
8 | Suspension Center | 124 | |
9 | Commencal Superiders | 122 | |
10 | MS Evil Racing | 119 | |
11 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 109 | |
12 | Lapierre International | 105 | |
13 | GT Bicycles | 96 | |
14 | RC Alpine Commencal Austria | 92 | |
15 | Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 89 | |
16 | Norco World Team | 71 | |
17 | Dr-Gravity Union | 60 | |
18 | Giant Factory Team | 57 | |
19 | Mondraker Factory Team | 50 | |
20 | Kenda-Playbiker | 42 | |
21 | Kona | 41 | |
22 | Solid Aclass Factory Team | 28 | |
23 | Team Cingolani - Protone | 20 | |
24 | Team Sunn Montgenevre | 20 | |
25 | Blackmountain Morewood United | 16 | |
26 | Dirt Norco Race Team | 15 | |
27 | Massi Team | 8 | |
28 | Team Lac Blanc Massif Des Vosges | 8 | |
29 | Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 6 | |
30 | XMS Racing Squad | 4 |

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