Gwin tops the podium again at Mont-Sainte-Anne downhill
By Tour of Japan published
Bryceland, MacDonald all within about half a second
The men's downhill at the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup was expected to be a battle between current leader Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) and second-placed Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), who was only 36 points back. Minnaar had qualified first and Gwin second, and the rider who won the final would don the leader's jersey. Unfortunately, Minnaar's crash derailed his attempt to take the jersey, while Gwin padded his lead with his third win of the season.
Czech national champion Matej Charvat set the early standard of 4:47, but riders following him steadily chipped away at it. Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) was the first to go under 4:40, and his time would be good enough for 10th at the end of the day.
Andrew Neethling (Giant) knocked a few tenths off Leov's time, but junior World Cup leader Troy Brosnan (Monster Energy/Specialized/Mad Catz) then took a significant 1.2 seconds off the lead. Brook MacDonald (MS Evil), one of the revelations of the season, then took a massive five and a half seconds off the leading time two riders later.
MacDonald's time held up through pre-race and local favourite Steve Smith (Devinci), Sam Blenkinsop (Lapierre International), Gee Atherton (Commencal) - who flatted - and Danny Hart (Giant) and Cameron Cole (Lapierre International). It took Josh Bryceland (Santa Cruz Syndicate), the third fastest qualifier, to finally remove MacDonald from the top spot, by five-hundredths of a second.
All that were left were Gwin and Minnaar. Gwin had a good, solid run, but less than half a second faster than Bryceland; not the spectacular gaps we have seen earlier in the season. Minnaar started strongly, setting the highest speed through the speed trap - the only rider to crack 60 kilometres an hour. At the first split he was less than a tenth of a second behind Gwin, but then disaster struck for the South African, when he hit a rock and crashed. While he was back on his bike quickly, the damage was done, and Minnaar would finish 18th, seceding an additional 137 points to Gwin in the World Cup race.
"I was on a good one, having a smooth fast top," said Minnaar, "so I backed off a bit at the bottom to continue the flow through, and somehow I got too close to a tree, got hooked on a rock and went over the bars. I'm pretty banged up right now, but hopefully I'll be back next week to keep the challenge going.
Gwin tried to put the pressure of the World Cup lead out of his mind for the final. "My qualifying run didn't go as well as I hoped it would, so I was focussed on not making any mistakes and riding like I knew I could. I know at this point that if I put a good one together I should be right up there, so I just focussed on doing that. Minus one massive mistake at the top, I think I did that, so it was good."
Gwin now has 868 points, followed by Minnaar with 695, and then Gee Atherton at 547. Brosnan leads the junior World Cup standings with 314 points.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:04:31.771 |
2 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:00.465 |
3 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:00.515 |
4 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:02.679 |
5 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Lapierre International | 0:00:03.726 |
6 | Troy Brosnan° (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 0:00:06.126 |
7 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:06.807 |
8 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 0:00:07.156 |
9 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:07.327 |
10 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:07.711 |
11 | Fabien Barel (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 0:00:08.624 |
12 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) | 0:00:08.647 |
13 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 0:00:08.836 |
14 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 0:00:09.053 |
15 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:09.487 |
16 | Shaun O'connor (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:10.450 |
17 | Michael Hannah (Aus) | 0:00:10.572 |
18 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:10.651 |
19 | Matthew Scoles (NZl) Team Cingolani Trek | 0:00:11.023 |
20 | Romain Paulhan (Fra) | 0:00:11.149 |
21 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 0:00:11.179 |
22 | Neko Mulally° (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:12.706 |
23 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:12.840 |
24 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark Powered By W - Racing | 0:00:13.377 |
25 | George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:13.467 |
26 | Sam Dale (GBr) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 0:00:14.090 |
27 | Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:14.510 |
28 | Luke Strobel (USA) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:14.599 |
29 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 0:00:14.817 |
30 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 0:00:15.523 |
31 | Loic Bruni° (Fra) Lapierre International | 0:00:15.645 |
32 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges | 0:00:15.846 |
33 | Matej Charvat (Cze) | 0:00:16.006 |
34 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) CG Racing Brigade | 0:00:16.224 |
35 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) Morewood Unitedride | 0:00:16.228 |
36 | Lewis Buchanan° (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 0:00:16.828 |
37 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:16.831 |
38 | Florent Payet (Fra) SC - Intense | 0:00:16.855 |
39 | Julien Camellini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 0:00:16.898 |
40 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:17.241 |
41 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:17.782 |
42 | Kyle Sangers° (Can) | 0:00:18.197 |
43 | Nico Vink (Bel) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges | 0:00:18.483 |
44 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 0:00:18.951 |
45 | Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 0:00:19.008 |
46 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 0:00:19.328 |
47 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:19.454 |
48 | Florian Arthus (Fra) | 0:00:19.722 |
49 | Fergus Lamb (GBr) | 0:00:19.872 |
50 | Connor Fearon° (Aus) Kona | 0:00:20.003 |
51 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 0:00:20.567 |
52 | Chris Del Bosco (Can) | 0:00:20.897 |
53 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:22.709 |
54 | Dean Tennant (Can) | 0:00:22.714 |
55 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Madison Saracen | 0:00:23.259 |
56 | Yann Gauvin (Can) | 0:00:23.349 |
57 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 0:00:23.583 |
58 | Gareth Brewin (GBr) | 0:00:24.973 |
59 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) | 0:00:25.235 |
60 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 0:00:25.326 |
61 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal | 0:00:25.968 |
62 | Dominik Gspan (Swi) | 0:00:26.017 |
63 | Remi Gauvin (Can) | 0:00:27.697 |
64 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Morewood Unitedride | 0:00:27.844 |
65 | Greg Williamson (GBr) | 0:00:28.236 |
66 | Oliver Burton (GBr) | 0:00:29.943 |
67 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 0:00:30.357 |
68 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 0:00:30.544 |
69 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal | 0:00:32.145 |
70 | Hajime Imoto (Jpn) | 0:00:33.788 |
71 | Logan Binggeli (USA) | 0:00:34.380 |
72 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | 0:00:35.092 |
73 | Yuuki Kushima° (Jpn) | 0:00:35.690 |
74 | Mark Scott° (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 0:00:37.322 |
75 | Daniel Sims (NZl) | 0:00:40.255 |
76 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) CG Racing Brigade | 0:00:45.667 |
77 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 0:00:47.554 |
78 | Niklas Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark Powered By W - Racing | 0:00:48.667 |
DNF | Gee Atherton (GBr) Commencal | |
DNF | Martin Frei (Swi) | |
DNS | Joshua Button (Aus) SC - Intense |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Trek World Racing | 101 | pts |
2 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 64 | |
3 | Scott 11 | 57 | |
4 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 52 | |
5 | Lapierre International | 51 | |
6 | Mondraker Factory Team | 37 | |
7 | Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 36 | |
8 | MS Evil Racing | 35 | |
9 | Commencal | 30 | |
10 | Devinci Global Racing | 30 | |
11 | Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 26 | |
12 | Riding Addiction Commencal | 22 | |
13 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 18 | |
14 | Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 18 | |
15 | Team GR | 17 | |
16 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 15 | |
17 | Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 14 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing | 868 | pts |
2 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 695 | |
3 | Gee Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 547 | |
4 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 506 | |
5 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 459 | |
6 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 431 | |
7 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing | 430 | |
8 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 371 | |
9 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Lapierre International | 356 | |
10 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 347 | |
11 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 344 | |
12 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 315 | |
13 | Troy Brosnan° (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 314 | |
14 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) | 309 | |
15 | Fabien Barel (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 304 | |
16 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) CG Racing Brigade | 304 | |
17 | Matthew Scoles (NZl) Team Cingolani Trek | 243 | |
18 | Luke Strobel (USA) MS Evil Racing | 241 | |
19 | Romain Paulhan (Fra) | 226 | |
20 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 221 | |
21 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 216 | |
22 | Julien Camellini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 210 | |
23 | Michael Hannah (Aus) | 207 | |
24 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 207 | |
25 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) Morewood Unitedride | 207 | |
26 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 204 | |
27 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges | 202 | |
28 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Evil Racing | 198 | |
29 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark Powered By W - Racing | 196 | |
30 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Morewood Unitedride | 188 | |
31 | Florent Payet (Fra) SC - Intense | 185 | |
32 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 172 | |
33 | Shaun O'connor (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 171 | |
34 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 170 | |
35 | Neko Mulally° (USA) Trek World Racing | 170 | |
36 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | 160 | |
37 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona | 155 | |
38 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 153 | |
39 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 146 | |
40 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 141 | |
41 | Nico Vink (Bel) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges | 135 | |
42 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal | 131 | |
43 | Sam Dale (GBr) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 130 | |
44 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 130 | |
45 | Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 129 | |
46 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team | 129 | |
47 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 127 | |
48 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 126 | |
49 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 118 | |
50 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) CG Racing Brigade | 118 | |
51 | Guardia Pascual Bernat (Spa) | 113 | |
52 | Button Joshua (Aus) SC - Intense | 109 | |
53 | Braithwaite Thomas (GBr) | 100 | |
54 | Ropelato Mitch (USA) | 99 | |
55 | Simmonds Matthew (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 98 | |
56 | Buchanan Lewis° (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 94 | |
57 | Bruni Loic° (Fra) Lapierre International | 91 | |
58 | Tetzlaff Boris (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 90 | |
59 | Brannigan George (NZl) Devinci Global Racing | 85 | |
60 | Scott Mark° (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 85 | |
61 | Suding Lorenzo (Ita) | 82 | |
62 | Atkinson Bryn (Aus) | 80 | |
63 | Pombo Emanuel (Por) | 72 | |
64 | Giordanengo Aurélien (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 70 | |
65 | Atherton Dan (GBr) Commencal | 69 | |
66 | Graves Jared (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 68 | |
67 | Bond Alex (GBr) | 68 | |
68 | Lamb Fergus (GBr) | 68 | |
69 | Ferreiro Pajuelo Antonio (Spa) | 67 | |
70 | Bentley Timothy (RSA) Morewood Unitedride | 67 | |
71 | Keene Curtis (USA) | 66 | |
72 | Rutar Nejc (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 64 | |
73 | Brayton Adam (GBr) | 63 | |
74 | Thomas Richard (GBr) | 57 | |
75 | Williamson Greg (GBr) | 56 | |
76 | Mears Scott (GBr) | 55 | |
77 | Potgieter Johann (RSA) | 53 | |
78 | Charvat Matej (Cze) | 48 | |
79 | Arthus Florian (Fra) | 48 | |
80 | Klausmann Marcus (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 47 | |
81 | Masters Wyn (NZl) MS Evil Racing | 47 | |
82 | Kerr Bernard (GBr) | 46 | |
83 | Tennant Dean (Can) | 45 | |
84 | Sangers Kyle° (Can) | 39 | |
85 | Strasser Benny (Ger) | 39 | |
86 | Jeandin Thomas (Swi) | 36 | |
87 | Rischbieth Will (Aus) | 35 | |
88 | Reading Jack (GBr) | 32 | |
89 | Fearon Connor° (Aus) Kona | 31 | |
90 | Beer Marcel (Swi) | 31 | |
91 | Harnstrom Oscar (Swe) | 31 | |
92 | Del Bosco Chris (Can) | 29 | |
93 | Neethling Jonty (RSA) | 27 | |
94 | Molloy Harry (GBr) Madison Saracen | 26 | |
95 | Kangas Alexander (Swe) | 26 | |
96 | Gauvin Yann (Can) | 25 | |
97 | Gspan Dominik (Swi) | 25 | |
98 | Brewin Gareth (GBr) | 23 | |
99 | Brown Hayden (RSA) | 23 | |
100 | Cardon Simon (Fra) Xcytt Racing | 22 | |
101 | Gauvin Remi (Can) | 22 | |
102 | Peyer Lars (Swi) SC - Intense | 18 | |
103 | Mcglone Fraser° (GBr) | 17 | |
104 | Pombo Daniel (Por) | 16 | |
105 | Burton Oliver (GBr) | 15 | |
106 | Purchase Kelvin (RSA) | 15 | |
107 | Pandur Ziga (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 14 | |
108 | Hutchens Chris (GBr) | 14 | |
109 | Odendaal Tiaan° (RSA) | 13 | |
110 | Di Pasquale Charly (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 13 | |
111 | Smith Robert (GBr) | 12 | |
112 | Ruffin Gaetan (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal | 12 | |
113 | Barnes Joe (GBr) | 11 | |
114 | O'riordan Seanan (Irl) | 11 | |
115 | Petrucci Francesco Danilo (Ita) Team Cingolani Trek | 11 | |
116 | Imoto Hajime (Jpn) | 11 | |
117 | Roschi Roman (Swi) | 10 | |
118 | Binggeli Logan (USA) | 10 | |
119 | Oulego Moreno Ivan (Spa) | 9 | |
120 | Milivinti Marco (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop | 8 | |
121 | Parret Arthur° (Fra) Passion Velo Thiers Stemtee | 8 | |
122 | Kushima Yuuki° (Jpn) | 8 | |
123 | Mcglinchey Christopher° (Irl) | 8 | |
124 | Bigoni Joris (Fra) | 8 | |
125 | Payet Jérôme (Fra) | 7 | |
126 | Sims Daniel (NZl) | 6 | |
127 | Haas Mathias (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 5 | |
128 | Gallean Mathieu (Fra) Ryde - Racing | 5 | |
129 | Critchlow Daniel (GBr) | 4 | |
130 | Vagner Adam (Cze) | 3 | |
131 | Wallner Niklas (Swe) Team Are Bikepark Powered By W - Racing | 3 | |
132 | Browning Travis (RSA) | 3 |

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