Gwin wins home World Cup

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Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) capped a strong weekend of racing at the World Cup in Windham, New York, with the first American World Cup victory on home soil in over a decade when he won the men's downhill. Gwin finished over two seconds ahead of Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate), with Andrew Neethling (Giant) taking third. Gwin's fourth win of the season gives him an almost insurmountable lead in the overall World Cup standings.

Josh Bryceland (Santa Cruz Syndicate) set the first sub-2:30 time, despite having to do a re-run when Romain Paulhan (Giant Planete 2 Roues) crashed hard ahead of him, requiring a race delay while he was removed from the mountain. Fabien Barel (Mondraker) immediately bumped Bryceland out of the hot seat, but the time gaps were marginal, as riders chipped away at the lead. Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) continued to struggle with this course, and eventually finished 12th. Neethling, at 10 riders to go, recorded the next big drop in the leading time, only to be immediately topped by Peat, who recorded 2:26.376 .

This is where it stood, as the final rider, Gwin, was about to start. Expectations among the spectators were high, after Gwin qualified first, and the partisan nature of the crowd was clear, with American flags everywhere. The Trek rider was fastest through every part of the course, finishing 2.339 seconds ahead of Peat.

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He was mobbed by adoring fans and patiently signed autographs and posed for photos. "It was awesome today, all week actually. It was so great to race in front of the hometown crowd. They were all so cool to me. It's been a fun weekend. I'm very happy."

Peat was also having a great time with the whole scene. This was an astounding 52nd World Cup podium appearance for the legendary Brit. "I was very confident and I felt good in practice. I had some problems in qualifying but it came together well today. I've had a bit of problem being consistent recently, and I'm stoked to be able to have it come all together to claim second place."

Behind Neethling, in fourth place, was Steve Smith (Devinci Global Racing) at 3.476. "I'm really pumped to be on the podium. I had a massive, massive mistake at the top of the course that cost me some time. I thought it put me out of the race but I was able to make some time on the bottom of the course. I'm happy to have the fourth."

With his fourth win of the five races so far in the World Cup, Gwin has a total of 1,110 points. Greg Minnaar sits in second with 776 points. Gee Atherton (Commencaly) is in third with 657 points after finishing 11th today. Troy Brosnan (Monster Energy/Specialized/Mad Catz) continues to lead the junior standings after finishing eighth in Windham.

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