Minnaar takes slim World Cup win

Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) took his third win this season in the men’s World Cup series, at Bromont, Quebec in Canada. Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized) retains the lead in the men’s series after finishing third in Bromont, but Minnaar is only 16 points back, so this title will come down to the final round in Schladming, Austria, one month from now.

“The course was really tough after all the rain,” said Minnaar. “Many of the sections were just blown right out, and it was easy to make mistakes. I didn’t have a clean run; I don’t think anyone did, but I just tried to keep it clean and flowy, and be as smooth as I could.

“Definitely, this win is a confident booster, going into the Worlds, and I’ll be looking forward to having it all come down to the Final in Schladming,” he added.

The off-again, on-again rain of the past week finally moved away overnight, with blue skies and bright sun appearing shortly before race time. The open sections of track dried out quickly, however, in among the trees the mud remained, forcing riders to carefully negotiate slippery rock gardens and rooted sections.

There were a number of top riders who crashed, led by Evil Bikes team mates Steve Smith and Matti Lehikoinen, who both qualified in the top-10. Lehikoinen’s crash was particularly hard, and he did not finish. It appears that he may have broken his collarbone.

Jared Rando (Giant) was the first man to take the Hot Seat for an extended period, holding onto the lead for over 20 riders before Nathan Rankin (Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker) just squeaked by him. After that, the lead changed fairly steadily, as riders brought the time down in increments of a quarter to half a second.

Mick Hannah (GT Bicycles), with 11 riders remaining, was the first to make a significant dent in the top time, taking it below 2:34 minutes. His time would hold until the young American revelation Aaron Gwin (Yeti Fox Shox) knocked a quarter of a second off the best time, to eventually take the fifth podium spot.

World champion Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal) bumped Gwin, but Minnaar was only two riders later, and his time would prove to be the best, as the final two riders - Hill and number one qualifier Fabien Barel (Subaru) - could only manage the second and third fastest times respectively.