Hill wins downhill
By Tour of Japan published
American rider Gwin gets best-ever World Cup finish in third
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.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy | 0:04:38.44 |
2 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:03.04 |
3 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:04.47 |
4 | Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal | 0:00:05.07 |
5 | Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 0:00:06.19 |
6 | Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:07.09 |
7 | Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:07.95 |
8 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 0:00:08.14 |
9 | Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles | 0:00:09.14 |
10 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:09.29 |
11 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 0:00:10.10 |
12 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:10.66 |
13 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes | 0:00:11.05 |
14 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood | 0:00:11.10 |
15 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles | 0:00:11.97 |
16 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:12.95 |
17 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 0:00:13.25 |
18 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:13.87 |
19 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 0:00:14.17 |
20 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | 0:00:14.41 |
21 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:15.22 |
22 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:16.14 |
23 | Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles | 0:00:16.40 |
24 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 0:00:16.56 |
25 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles | 0:00:17.13 |
26 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing | 0:00:17.16 |
27 | Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team | 0:00:17.47 |
28 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi | 0:00:17.94 |
29 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:18.01 |
30 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona | 0:00:18.09 |
31 | Nico Vink (Bel) | 0:00:18.17 |
32 | Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal | 0:00:18.29 |
33 | Joshua Button (Aus) | 0:00:18.98 |
34 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:19.18 |
35 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) | 0:00:19.60 |
36 | David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon | 0:00:20.46 |
37 | Danny Hart* (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon | 0:00:20.74 |
38 | Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team | 0:00:20.84 |
39 | Marcel Beer (Swi) | 0:00:21.50 |
40 | Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team | 0:00:21.64 |
41 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:21.74 |
42 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) | 0:00:21.75 |
43 | Joris Bigoni (Fra) | 0:00:22.56 |
44 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) | 0:00:22.81 |
45 | Antoine Badouard (Fra) | 0:00:23.09 |
46 | Nathan Rankin (NZl) | 0:00:23.39 |
47 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 0:00:23.51 |
48 | Wyn Masters (NZl) | 0:00:23.60 |
49 | Will Rischbieth (Aus) | 0:00:23.61 |
50 | Harry Heath* (GBr) | 0:00:23.65 |
51 | Bernard ° Kerr (GBr) | 0:00:24.43 |
52 | Herman Olund (Swe) | 0:00:24.90 |
53 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) | 0:00:25.65 |
54 | Harry Molloy* (GBr) | 0:00:25.79 |
55 | Kyle Strait (USA) | 0:00:26.00 |
56 | David Eme (Fra) | 0:00:26.04 |
57 | Maxime Remy (Fra) | 0:00:26.16 |
58 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) | 0:00:26.30 |
59 | Patrick Thome* (Fra) | 0:00:26.98 |
60 | Bradley Benedict (USA) | 0:00:27.04 |
61 | Curtis Keene (USA) | 0:00:27.37 |
62 | Jurgen Beneke (Ger) | 0:00:27.51 |
63 | Aari Barrett* (NZl) | 0:00:27.53 |
64 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) | 0:00:28.61 |
65 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) | 0:00:28.83 |
66 | Dean Tennant (Can) | 0:00:29.07 |
67 | George Brannigan* (NZl) | 0:00:29.29 |
68 | Esteban Deronzier (Fra) | 0:00:29.30 |
69 | Marco Bugnone (Ita) | 0:00:29.37 |
70 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) | 0:00:30.66 |
71 | Gerard Wolfe (Irl) | 0:00:31.35 |
72 | Rémy Charrier (Fra) | 0:00:32.13 |
73 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) | 0:00:32.24 |
74 | Kyle Marshall* (Can) | 0:00:32.36 |
75 | Shaun Palmer (USA) | 0:00:32.89 |
76 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) | 0:00:33.83 |
77 | Shaun O'connor* (Aus) | 0:00:38.35 |
78 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) | 0:00:53.82 |
79 | Jared Graves (Aus) | 0:03:06.57 |
DNF | Simon Garstin (Can) | |
DNF | John Swanguen (USA) |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Trek World Racing | 72 | pts |
2 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 69 | |
3 | Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 63 | |
4 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 57 | |
5 | Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles | 54 | |
6 | Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 54 | |
7 | Scott 11 | 54 | |
8 | GT Bicycles | 38 | |
9 | Suspension Center | 35 | |
10 | Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 35 | |
11 | Animal Commencal | 30 | |
12 | Morzine-Avoriaz 74 | 30 | |
13 | Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker | 28 | |
14 | MS Evil Racing | 26 | |
15 | Norco World Team | 21 | |
16 | MSC Bikes | 18 | |
17 | Kenda Morewood | 17 | |
18 | Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 17 | |
19 | Team Sunn | 15 | |
20 | Solid Aclass Factory Team | 14 | |
21 | 2Stagefactory | 13 | |
22 | Duncan Riffle Racing | 5 | |
23 | Just Reid Race Team | 4 | |
24 | Massi | 3 | |
25 | Kona | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 1039 | pts |
2 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 1035 | |
3 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 973 | |
4 | Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal | 931 | |
5 | Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles | 821 | |
6 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 646 | |
7 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 584 | |
8 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 566 | |
9 | Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing | 515 | |
10 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 505 | |
11 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing | 472 | |
12 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 458 | |
13 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 439 | |
14 | Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 410 | |
15 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles | 395 | |
16 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi | 382 | |
17 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing | 373 | |
18 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood | 365 | |
19 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing | 363 | |
20 | David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon | 360 | |
21 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 349 | |
22 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes | 348 | |
23 | Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 326 | |
24 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | 322 | |
25 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) | 312 | |
26 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) | 288 | |
27 | Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles | 278 | |
28 | Robin Wallner (Swe) | 276 | |
29 | Danny Hart° (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon | 274 | |
30 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles | 255 | |
31 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 253 | |
32 | Joris Bigoni (Fra) | 243 | |
33 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona | 239 | |
34 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 237 | |
35 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn | 236 | |
36 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi | 219 | |
37 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 219 | |
38 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH | 215 | |
39 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 212 | |
40 | Joshua Button (Aus) | 211 | |
41 | Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team | 202 | |
42 | Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team | 197 | |
43 | Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal | 183 | |
44 | Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 181 | |
45 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Kenda Morewood | 180 | |
46 | Nathan Rankin (NZl) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker | 176 | |
47 | Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 171 | |
48 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 166 | |
49 | Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Team America | 164 | |
50 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) | 156 | |
51 | Sam Dale (GBr) | 149 | |
52 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 148 | |
53 | Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team | 144 | |
54 | Nathan Rennie (Aus) Kenda Morewood | 143 | |
55 | Will Rischbieth (Aus) | 141 | |
56 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) | 137 | |
57 | Antoine Badouard (Fra) | 137 | |
58 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 134 | |
59 | Aari Barrett° (NZl) Scott 11 | 134 | |
60 | Cody Warren (USA) Specialized Team America | 131 | |
61 | Rhys Willemse° (Aus) | 127 | |
62 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team | 125 | |
63 | Bernard Kerr° (GBr) | 124 | |
64 | Benny Strasser (Ger) | 115 | |
65 | Nico Vink (Bel) | 114 | |
66 | Joe Barnes (GBr) | 112 | |
67 | Tom Deacon (GBr) 2Stagefactory | 110 | |
68 | Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 107 | |
69 | Cesar Rojo (Spa) | 105 | |
70 | Herman Olund (Swe) | 104 | |
71 | Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team | 99 | |
72 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Sunn | 98 | |
73 | Harry Heath° (GBr) | 98 | |
74 | Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing | 91 | |
75 | Brook Macdonald° (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 90 | |
76 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 90 | |
77 | Maxime Remy (Fra) Suspension Center | 89 | |
78 | Matthew Scoles (NZl) | 81 | |
79 | Marcel Beer (Swi) | 79 | |
80 | Dominik Gspan (Swi) | 72 | |
81 | Romain Paulhan (Fra) | 67 | |
82 | Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 66 | |
83 | Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH | 65 | |
84 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) | 62 | |
85 | Adam Vagner (Cze) | 61 | |
86 | Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze) | 57 | |
87 | Nicolas Ortiz (Fra) | 57 | |
88 | Ryan Condrashoff (USA) X-Fusion-Intense | 54 | |
89 | Neil Donoghue (GBr) | 52 | |
90 | Jonty Neethling (RSA) | 51 | |
91 | Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 | 51 | |
92 | Toni Berg (Fin) | 50 | |
93 | Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense | 48 | |
94 | Rémy Charrier (Fra) Team Sunn | 45 | |
95 | Curtis Keene (USA) | 43 | |
96 | Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 40 | |
97 | Johann Potgieter (RSA) | 38 | |
98 | David Eme (Fra) | 38 | |
99 | Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team | 38 | |
100 | Adam Brayton (GBr) Just Reid Race Team | 38 | |
101 | Matej Charvat (Cze) | 36 | |
102 | Dennis Dertell (Swe) | 33 | |
103 | Mathieu Troquier (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 31 | |
104 | Carlo Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop | 31 | |
105 | Rowan Sorrell (GBr) | 28 | |
106 | Harry Molloy° (GBr) | 27 | |
107 | Arnau Sugranes Mateu (Spa) | 27 | |
108 | Claudio Cozzi (Ita) Dytech DH | 25 | |
109 | Emanuel Pombo (Por) | 24 | |
110 | Kevin Aiello° (USA) GT Bicycles | 24 | |
111 | Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Team Sunn | 23 | |
112 | Shaun O'connor° (Aus) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker | 23 | |
113 | Patrick Thome° (Fra) Team Sport Bike | 22 | |
114 | Maximilian Bender (Ger) | 21 | |
115 | Robert Smith (GBr) | 21 | |
116 | Jurgen Beneke (Ger) | 19 | |
117 | Scott Laughland (Irl) | 19 | |
118 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 19 | |
119 | Arran Gannicott° (GBr) | 19 | |
120 | Martin Mikulenka (Cze) | 18 | |
121 | Ralph Jones (GBr) | 18 | |
122 | Dean Tennant (Can) | 15 | |
123 | Pierre Van Der Merwe° (RSA) | 15 | |
124 | George Brannigan° (NZl) | 14 | |
125 | Roman Roschi (Swi) | 14 | |
126 | Timothy Bentley° (RSA) | 14 | |
127 | Daniel Wolfe (Irl) | 13 | |
128 | Kim Petersson° (Swe) | 13 | |
129 | Iago Garay Tamayo° (Spa) | 12 | |
130 | Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) | 12 | |
131 | Laurie Dinham° (Aus) Suspension Center | 11 | |
132 | Jorge Aguin Castro (Spa) | 11 | |
133 | Elias Somvi (Ita) | 11 | |
134 | Gerard Wolfe (Irl) | 10 | |
135 | Gary Barnard (RSA) | 10 | |
136 | Markus Olkkonen (Fin) | 10 | |
137 | Andréa Gamenara° (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team | 10 | |
138 | Mario Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 9 | |
139 | Darryn Stow (RSA) | 9 | |
140 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) MBK Orbea | 8 | |
141 | Hayden Brown (RSA) | 8 | |
142 | Espen Johnsen (Nor) | 7 | |
143 | Kyle Marshall° (Can) | 7 | |
144 | James Hughes (GBr) | 7 | |
145 | Rick Balbierer (Ger) | 6 | |
146 | Shaun Palmer (USA) | 6 | |
147 | Emyr Davies (GBr) | 5 | |
148 | Martin Frei (Swi) | 4 | |
149 | Simon Dinkelman° (RSA) | 4 | |
150 | Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 3 | |
151 | Ziga Pandur° (Slo) | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 424 | pts |
2 | Trek World Racing | 414 | |
3 | Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles | 301 | |
4 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 289 | |
5 | Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 289 | |
6 | Scott 11 | 270 | |
7 | GT Bicycles | 241 | |
8 | Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 220 | |
9 | MS Evil Racing | 215 | |
10 | Suspension Center | 203 | |
11 | Animal Commencal | 188 | |
12 | Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker | 180 | |
13 | Morzine-Avoriaz 74 | 148 | |
14 | Norco World Team | 139 | |
15 | Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 118 | |
16 | Massi | 86 | |
17 | Kenda Morewood | 82 | |
18 | Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 78 | |
19 | 2Stagefactory | 77 | |
20 | Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon | 62 | |
21 | MSC Bikes | 61 | |
22 | Team Vario Racing | 56 | |
23 | Duncan Riffle Racing | 41 | |
24 | Team Sunn | 37 | |
25 | Specialized Team America | 34 | |
26 | Solid Aclass Factory Team | 25 | |
27 | Dytech DH | 12 | |
28 | Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team | 9 | |
29 | XMS-Devinci World Cup Team | 6 | |
30 | Just Reid Race Team | 4 | |
31 | Kona | 3 |

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