Minnaar triumphs in Fort William

While Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) took the win in round two for the downhill World Cup in Fort William, Scotland, it was the young riders who finished second and third - Danny Hart (Giant) and Brook MacDonald (MS Evil Racing) - who were the real story of the day, signalling the arrival of the next generation of downhillers. Minnaar's win, coupled with round one winner Aaron Gwin's (Trek World Racing) fifth place, put the South African into the leader's jersey for the overall standings.

American Mitch Ropelato, another under 21-year-old, was the first leader to go under five minutes, but he was quickly supplanted by Australian Mitchell Delfs (Kona), who was in turn replaced in the lead by another Australian, Mick Hannah, who took the leading time down to 4:53.433 .

Hannah held onto the lead for a long time before a third Aussie, Josh Button (SC-Intense) just barely edged him. However, the faster riders were just starting to come down the track, and Fabien Pedemanaud (Scott 11) took the leading time down to 4:52.5 shortly afterward.

This set the stage for MacDonald's incredible ride. Starting 48th (out of 81), MacDonald absolutely nailed the pedalling bottom half of the course, to finish a staggering 5.643 seconds ahead of Pedemanaud. The young New Zealand rider, who won't turn 20 until November, was the junior World Champion in 2009, but this ride put him in a whole new league.

As rider after rider came down, none could surpass his time, with another young Kiwi - Cameron Cole (Lapierre) - slotting into second, but still 1.8 seconds back. Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate), world champion Sam Hill (Monster Energy/Specialized/Mad Catz), Fabien Barel (Mondraker) who DNF'd, and Canada's Steve Smith (Devinci) all came close but none came close enough.

It wasn't until Minnaar, a two-time winner at Fort William, and fourth from last to start, came down that MacDonald was finally dislodged from the lead. The South African, a prodigy himself when he won his world title in 2003, was eighth fastest at the top split, and continued to improve as the course went on, to knock nearly two seconds off of MacDonald's incredible run. Hart, starting just after Minnaar and only a month older than MacDonald, pushed the Kiwi down to third by 0.65 seconds. The final two starters - Gee Atherton (Commencal) and World Cup leader Gwin - slotted in to fourth and fifth respectively after their runs.

"It was tough today," said Minnaar. "I was really nervous, I didn't think I had it today. Yesterday's qualifying, I was behind, and I wasn't sure I could find the time. [Brook] MacDonald had a great ride, but I'm stoked to be on top ... it's just an awesome day. I'm just speechless."

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