Hill wins downhill

Sam Hill (Specialized/Monster Energy) finally broke the string of bad luck which produced one of the longest winless streaks of his career, when he took the sixth round of the World Cup on Saturday in Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, Canada. Hill's win propelled him into the overall World Cup series lead, ahead of Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate).

The first fast run of the afternoon was produced by Marcel Beer at 4:59.94. Beer held the Hot Seat for 17 racers, with Cameron Cole (Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles) the next to spend an extended time on top. Pierre Charles Georges (Solid Aclass) finally bumped him, but the final 20 riders saw frequent changes and, with ten riders to go, the leader was Aaron Gwin (Yeti/Fox), who defended his US National Championship title just last weekend.

Many were hoping to see a good run from World Cup leader Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) who started in 21st place due to a flat tire during qualifying yesterday. Unfortunately Minnaar had a crash, which cost him time. He could only manage a 22nd place finish. "I washed out my front wheel in some mud under the lift and down I went. I got up pretty quickly, but my glove was half off so I had to freewheel while I took it off. [It was] definitely not a good weekend."

Fabien Barel (Subaru) came close to Gwin, leaving the American to anxiously wait for the final four riders. Samuel Blenkinsop (Yeti/Fox) had a slow run (16th place) and quickly left the finish area, visibly unhappy. World champion Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal) came close. That left only Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate), a perennial favourite here, and Hill to come down.

To thunderous applause, Peat didn't disappoint, with a time of 4:41.48 to Gwin's 4:42.91. He took the Hot Seat, but didn't really settle in. All eyes were glued to the big screen TV and the scoreboard, which was showing the splits on the course. Hill was the fastest through every split, showing incredible control skills through the rock gardens. To huge applause he finished in 4:38.44, 3.04 seconds better than Peat.

Hill was pleased with his win, the first of the season for him after an uncharacteristically long drought. "This is one of the most high speed, and the longest courses, on the World Cup circuit. It was a lot slicker this morning. It dried out a lot. I was conservative in the first few corners just to check it out. It was good so I went hard from there."

Peat had another stellar day with his second place, which marked an unprecedented 50th World Cup podium appearance for the British star. He also holds the record for the most World Cup career wins. "I think this course suits me. You've got to be an all-arounder to do well here. I've got another podium which I'm pleased about."

Gwin hung on to third for his first World Cup podium appearance. On the podium, the other racers did their best to drown him in champagne. "It was pretty crazy watching Gee and those guys come through. I'm happy. It's about time!"

With his win, Hill moves from third to first in the World Cup Points race with 1,039, a mere four points in front of Peat. Minnaar drops from first to third. Canada's Steve Smith (Evil Bikes) retains his ninth place standing as the top North American, after finishing seventh at Mont Sainte Anne.

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