Minnaar takes slim World Cup win
By Cycling News published
Tight times sees Atherton miss podium
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.
1 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:02:32 |
2 | Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 0:00:01 |
3 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 0:00:01 |
4 | Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal | 0:00:01 |
5 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:02 |
6 | Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles | 0:00:02 |
7 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:02 |
8 | Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:03 |
9 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:04 |
10 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | |
11 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:05 |
12 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles | |
13 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:05 |
14 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes | 0:00:05 |
15 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) | 0:00:06 |
16 | Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Team America | 0:00:07 |
17 | Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles | 0:00:07 |
18 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) | 0:00:07 |
19 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 0:00:08 |
20 | Nathan Rankin (NZl) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker | 0:00:09 |
21 | Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team | 0:00:09 |
22 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:09 |
23 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi | 0:00:09 |
24 | Marcelo Gutierrez (Col) | 0:00:10 |
24 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi | |
26 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona | |
27 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team | 0:00:10 |
28 | Maxime Remy (Fra) Suspension Center | 0:00:10 |
29 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | |
30 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing | 0:00:10 |
31 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 0:00:10 |
32 | Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 0:00:11 |
33 | Antoine Badouard (Fra) | 0:00:11 |
34 | Dean Tennant (Can) | 0:00:12 |
35 | Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team | 0:00:12 |
36 | Joshua Button (Aus) | 0:00:12 |
37 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team | |
38 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team | 0:00:12 |
39 | Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 | 0:00:13 |
40 | Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:13 |
41 | George Brannigan (NZl) | |
42 | Camille Blanchard (Fra) Team Sport Bike | |
43 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Sunn | 0:00:14 |
44 | Lars Peyer (Swi) Suspension Center | 0:00:14 |
45 | Ludovic May (Swi) | 0:00:14 |
46 | Jamie Biluk (Can) | 0:00:14 |
47 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH | 0:00:14 |
48 | Kevin Aiello (USA) GT Bicycles | 0:00:15 |
49 | John Swanguen (USA) | 0:00:15 |
50 | Ivan Oziol (Fra) | 0:00:15 |
51 | Alex Bond (GBr) | 0:00:15 |
52 | Gareth Brewin (GBr) | 0:00:16 |
53 | Harry Molloy (GBr) | 0:00:16 |
54 | Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team | 0:00:16 |
55 | Groizard Félix (Fra) Team Sport Bike | 0:00:16 |
56 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:17 |
57 | Harry Heath (GBr) | 0:00:17 |
58 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:17 |
59 | David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon | 0:00:17 |
60 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:18 |
61 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 0:00:18 |
62 | Harry Armstrong (Aus) | |
63 | Danny Hart (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon | 0:00:19 |
64 | Yann Gauvin (Can) | 0:00:20 |
65 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood | 0:00:22 |
66 | Curtis Keene (USA) | 0:00:22 |
67 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) | 0:00:23 |
68 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Team Sport Bike | 0:00:25 |
69 | Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH | 0:00:25 |
70 | Herman Olund (Swe) | 0:00:25 |
71 | Robin Wallner (Swe) | 0:00:26 |
72 | Thirion Rémi (Fra) Team Sunn | 0:00:26 |
73 | Geoffrey Ulmer (USA) | 0:00:27 |
74 | Joris Bigoni (Fra) | 0:00:30 |
75 | Rhys Willemse (Aus) | 0:00:34 |
76 | Laurie Dinham (Aus) Suspension Center | 0:00:34 |
77 | Hans Lambert (Can) | 0:00:40 |
78 | David Eme (Fra) | 0:01:22 |
79 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 0:01:23 |
1 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 86 | pts |
2 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 66 | |
3 | Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 56 | |
4 | Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles | 54 | |
5 | Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 53 | |
6 | Trek World Racing | 50 | |
7 | Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker | 46 | |
8 | GT Bicycles | 45 | |
9 | Scott 11 | 36 | |
10 | Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team | 35 | |
11 | Animal Commencal | 30 | |
12 | Morzine-Avoriaz 74 | 28 | |
13 | Suspension Center | 26 | |
14 | Team Sunn | 19 | |
15 | Norco World Team | 18 | |
16 | MSC Bikes | 17 | |
17 | Specialized Team America | 15 | |
18 | Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team | 15 | |
19 | Massi | 15 | |
20 | Giant Mountain Bike Team | 10 | |
21 | Kona | 5 | |
22 | Solid Aclass Factory Team | 4 | |
23 | Duncan Riffle Racing | 1 |

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