Gwin dominates the downhill competition in Leogang

Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) retook the World Cup lead from rival Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) with a dominating performance at round three of the downhill World Cup in Leogang, Austria. Gwin, who lost the lead after crashing in round two, qualified fastest, and finished over two seconds ahead of Gee Atherton (Commencal) in the final, with Minnaar nearly six seconds back in third place. Gwin, with 628 points, remains only 46 points in front of Minnaar after three rounds while Atherton is at third, 101 points back.

The ground continued to dry out after the women finished and the men began their runs, which was a mixed blessing, since it made dry condition tires important for the pedaling sections, but the sticky mud and slippery roots in the wooded sections led to numerous crashes. As an indication, Gwin's winning time was still three seconds slower than his qualifying time.

The lead time slowly went down as the first riders came through the finish, but it wasn't until Romain Paulhan, the French national champion, came through that it dropped below four minutes. Paulhan held the lead for nearly a quarter of the field before local Austrian favourite Markus Pekoll (MS Evil) bumped him out of the Hot Seat by half a second.

Pekoll had the longest time in the lead, holding on until the first of the top-20 qualifiers began their runs. Brook MacDonald, the young New Zealand team mate of Pekoll who finished third a week earlier in round two, proved that was no fluke by knocking 4.2 seconds off the top time, good enough for 10th place at the end of the day.

Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate), racing with a suspected broken hand, slotted in behind MacDonald. World champion Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized-Mad Catz), six riders after MacDonald, had a very strong start, faded slightly at the bottom, but was still good enough to give him the lead, and an eventual fifth place. Cedric Gracia (CG Racing) and Danny Hart (Giant) both came within two-tenths of a second of Hill, but also faded at the bottom.

Hill, while happy to make the podium, admitted that Gwin is a step above everyone at the present. "Gwin is riding pretty amazing at the moment, so we're all going to have to work a little bit harder to stop him."

It was Minnaar, riding eighth from last in a surprisingly high qualifying spot for him, who finally made the next big cut to the top time, the first to go below 3:50. The next five riders all failed to better his time, with Fabien Barel (Mondraker) crashing in the slippery roots, and only Steve Smith (Devinci) able to squeeze between Minnaar and Hill.

"I didn't know what to think after [qualifying]," saidMinnaar, "because I had a good run and still got thrashed by a lot of guys. I was pretty tense at the start of the final, and I made some mistakes at the top; I wasn't making mine lines and was losing time ... that top section killed me, killed my run. Technically, I'm riding with the top guys, but Gee's [Atherton] going a bit better, and Gwinny's out-pedaling us all."

However, the final two riders, the top two qualifiers, showed that they were a notch above everyone else on this day. Atherton came through the first split three seconds up on Minnaar and finished 3.608 seconds ahead of the South African.

"It was a good result," said Atherton, "close to the win, but no cigar. Looking back, I probably should have put drys [tires] on, but that was just a bad decision on my part."

Atherton's time wouldn't prove to be enough for the win, unfortunately for the Brit, as Gwin, possibly still smarting from losing a week earlier after crashing while well in the lead, blew through every section of the course well ahead of his competition to score his second win in three races and recover the lead in the standings.

"It feels great to get that monkey off my back after last week's crash," said Gwin. "I knew I had it in me, I just had to put it together. My run went good until it almost fell apart at the bottom ... I blew my feet out of the pedals and rode the last minute of the track without being clipped in, but managed to hold it together. The bike was working awesome, everything just sort of clicked. I'm just happy it all came together."

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing0:03:44.200
2Gee Atherton (GBr) Commencal0:00:02.113
3Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate0:00:05.721
4Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing0:00:07.942
5Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz0:00:09.225
6Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team0:00:09.253
7Cédric Gracia (Fra) CG Racing Brigade0:00:09.357
8Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing0:00:09.984
9Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International0:00:10.163
10Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing0:00:10.615
11Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate0:00:12.173
12Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate0:00:13.445
13Marc Beaumont (GBr)0:00:13.580
14Luke Strobel (USA) MS Evil Racing0:00:13.720
15Troy Brosnan° (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz0:00:13.832
16Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Evil Racing0:00:14.803
17Mickael Pascal (Fra) Morewood Unitedride0:00:15.053
18Julien Camellini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre0:00:15.164
19Lorenzo Suding (Ita)0:00:15.169
20Romain Paulhan (Fra)0:00:15.284
21Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges0:00:15.374
22Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team0:00:15.589
23Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa)0:00:16.152
24Cameron Cole (NZl) Lapierre International0:00:16.205
25Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain0:00:16.279
26Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 110:00:16.312
27Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona0:00:16.331
28Fabien Barel (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team0:00:16.339
29Matthew Scoles (NZl) Team Cingolani Trek0:00:16.401
30Nico Vink (Bel) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges0:00:16.453
31Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz0:00:17.130
32Neko Mulally° (USA) Trek World Racing0:00:17.608
33Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria0:00:17.916
34Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team0:00:18.320
35Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing0:00:18.363
36Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team0:00:18.515
37Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team0:00:18.562
38Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Morewood Unitedride0:00:18.751
39Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa)0:00:19.053
40Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark Powered By W - Racing0:00:19.069
41Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Cg Racing Brigade0:00:20.586
42Benny Strasser (Ger)0:00:20.637
43Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team0:00:20.783
44Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team0:00:20.914
45Alex Bond (GBr)0:00:21.221
46Mark Scott° (GBr)0:00:21.325
47Loic Bruni° (Fra) Lapierre International0:00:21.844
48Patrick Thome (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team0:00:21.900
49Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof0:00:22.604
50Mitch Ropelato (USA)0:00:22.607
51Nejc Rutar (Slo) Unior Tools Team0:00:23.067
52Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof0:00:23.626
53Lewis Buchanan° (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof0:00:24.053
54Johann Potgieter (RSA)0:00:24.166
55George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing0:00:24.463
56Emanuel Pombo (Por)0:00:25.245
57Curtis Keene (USA)0:00:25.962
58Florent Payet (Fra) SC - Intense0:00:27.082
59Simon Cardon (Fra) XCYTT Racing0:00:27.161
60Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal0:00:27.219
61Wyn Masters (NZl) MS Evil Racing0:00:27.378
62Michael Hannah (Aus)0:00:28.832
63Dean Tennant (Can)0:00:29.704
64Thomas Jeandin (Swi)0:00:30.140
65Duncan Riffle (USA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team0:00:30.151
66Sam Dale (GBr) Team Sunn Montgenevre0:00:31.925
67Joshua Button (Aus) SC - Intense0:00:32.737
68Thomas Braithwaite (GBr)0:00:32.828
69Robert Smith (GBr)0:00:34.244
70Joe Barnes (GBr)0:00:34.601
71Alexander Kangas (Swe)0:00:38.721
72Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team0:00:39.333
73Marco Milivinti (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop0:00:41.296
74Charly Di Pasquale (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team0:00:44.108
75Dominik Gspan (Swi)0:00:47.416
76Timothy Bentley (RSA) Morewood Unitedride0:00:50.641
77Remi Gauvin (Can)0:00:58.742
78Adam Vagner (Cze)0:01:56.033
79Joris Bigoni (Fra)0:05:53.834
DNFEliot Jackson (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race TeamRow 79 - Cell 2
DSQMatti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles / NukeproofRow 80 - Cell 2
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Teams
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Trek World Racing93pts
2Santa Cruz Syndicate71Row 1 - Cell 3
3Commencal70Row 2 - Cell 3
4Scott 1163Row 3 - Cell 3
5MS Evil Racing53Row 4 - Cell 3
6Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz44Row 5 - Cell 3
7Devinci Global Racing30Row 6 - Cell 3
8Lapierre International29Row 7 - Cell 3
9Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain28Row 8 - Cell 3
10Riding Addiction Commencal26Row 9 - Cell 3
11Giant Factory Off-Road Team26Row 10 - Cell 3
12CG Racing Brigade24Row 11 - Cell 3
13Alpine Commencal Austria20Row 12 - Cell 3
14Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie14Row 13 - Cell 3
15Morewood Unitedride14Row 14 - Cell 3
16Team Sunn Montgenevre13Row 15 - Cell 3
17Passion Velo Thiers Stemtee12Row 16 - Cell 3
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World Cup standings after three rounds
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing628pts
2Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate582Row 1 - Cell 3
3Gee Atherton (GBr) Commencal527Row 2 - Cell 3
4Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team359Row 3 - Cell 3
5Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing352Row 4 - Cell 3
6Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz315Row 5 - Cell 3
7Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing274Row 6 - Cell 3
8Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing269Row 7 - Cell 3
9Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International268Row 8 - Cell 3
10Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate267Row 9 - Cell 3
11Cédric Gracia (Fra) Cg Racing Brigade245Row 10 - Cell 3
12Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate241Row 11 - Cell 3
13Marc Beaumont (GBr)240Row 12 - Cell 3
14Fabien Barel (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team234Row 13 - Cell 3
15Cameron Cole (NZl) Lapierre International221Row 14 - Cell 3
16Troy Brosnan° (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz206Row 15 - Cell 3
17Luke Strobel (USA) MS Evil Racing188Row 16 - Cell 3
18Matthew Scoles (NZl) Team Cingolani Trek181Row 17 - Cell 3
19Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain180Row 18 - Cell 3
20Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Morewood Unitedride171Row 19 - Cell 3
21Julien Camellini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre168Row 20 - Cell 3
22Duncan Riffle (USA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team163Row 21 - Cell 3
23Mickael Pascal (Fra) Morewood Unitedride161Row 22 - Cell 3
24Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Evil Racing157Row 23 - Cell 3
25Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona155Row 24 - Cell 3
26Romain Paulhan (Fra)155Row 25 - Cell 3
27Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges153Row 26 - Cell 3
28Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof148Row 27 - Cell 3
29Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team148Row 28 - Cell 3
30Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11146Row 29 - Cell 3
31Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing144Row 30 - Cell 3
32Florent Payet (Fra) SC - Intense142Row 31 - Cell 3
33Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark Powered By W - Racing139Row 32 - Cell 3
34Michael Hannah (Aus)128Row 33 - Cell 3
35Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team127Row 34 - Cell 3
36Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof126Row 35 - Cell 3
37Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa)113Row 36 - Cell 3
38Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal111Row 37 - Cell 3
39Neko Mulally° (USA) Trek World Racing111Row 38 - Cell 3
40Joshua Button (Aus) SC - Intense109Row 39 - Cell 3
41Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Cg Racing Brigade104Row 40 - Cell 3
42Ben Cathro (GBr)102Row 41 - Cell 3
43Shaun O'connor (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team99Row 42 - Cell 3
44Mitch Ropelato (USA)99Row 43 - Cell 3
45Nico Vink (Bel) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges97Row 44 - Cell 3
46Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 1194Row 45 - Cell 3
47Patrick Thome (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team91Row 46 - Cell 3
48Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team89Row 47 - Cell 3
49Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team83Row 48 - Cell 3
50Lorenzo Suding (Ita)82Row 49 - Cell 3
51Bryn Atkinson (Aus)80Row 50 - Cell 3
52Thomas Braithwaite (GBr)79Row 51 - Cell 3
53Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team79Row 52 - Cell 3
54Mark Scott° (GBr)78Row 53 - Cell 3
55Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria76Row 54 - Cell 3
56Sam Dale (GBr) Team Sunn Montgenevre75Row 55 - Cell 3
57Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team75Row 56 - Cell 3
58Emanuel Pombo (Por)72Row 57 - Cell 3
59Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team70Row 58 - Cell 3
60Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team68Row 59 - Cell 3
61Alex Bond (GBr)68Row 60 - Cell 3
62Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa)67Row 61 - Cell 3
63Timothy Bentley (RSA) Morewood Unitedride67Row 62 - Cell 3
64Curtis Keene (USA)66Row 63 - Cell 3
65Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof61Row 64 - Cell 3
66Richard Thomas (GBr)57Row 65 - Cell 3
67Johann Potgieter (RSA)53Row 66 - Cell 3
68Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz50Row 67 - Cell 3
69Lewis Buchanan° (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof49Row 68 - Cell 3
70Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team47Row 69 - Cell 3
71Wyn Masters (NZl) MS Evil Racing47Row 70 - Cell 3
72Bernard Kerr (GBr)46Row 71 - Cell 3
73Scott Mears (GBr)42Row 72 - Cell 3
74Loic Bruni° (Fra) Lapierre International41Row 73 - Cell 3
75Greg Williamson (GBr)40Row 74 - Cell 3
76Benny Strasser (Ger)39Row 75 - Cell 3
77Fergus Lamb (GBr)36Row 76 - Cell 3
78Thomas Jeandin (Swi)36Row 77 - Cell 3
79Will Rischbieth (Aus)35Row 78 - Cell 3
80Adam Brayton (GBr)33Row 79 - Cell 3
81Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal33Row 80 - Cell 3
82Jack Reading (GBr)32Row 81 - Cell 3
83Marcel Beer (Swi)31Row 82 - Cell 3
84Nejc Rutar (Slo) Unior Tools Team30Row 83 - Cell 3
85George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing29Row 84 - Cell 3
86Jonty Neethling (RSA)27Row 85 - Cell 3
87Alexander Kangas (Swe)26Row 86 - Cell 3
88Hayden Brown (RSA)23Row 87 - Cell 3
89Simon Cardon (Fra) XCYTT Racing22Row 88 - Cell 3
90Dean Tennant (Can)18Row 89 - Cell 3
91Lars Peyer (Swi) SC - Intense18Row 90 - Cell 3
92Fraser Mcglone° (GBr)17Row 91 - Cell 3
93Daniel Pombo (Por)16Row 92 - Cell 3
94Florian Arthus (Fra)15Row 93 - Cell 3
95Kelvin Purchase (RSA)15Row 94 - Cell 3
96Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team14Row 95 - Cell 3
97Chris Hutchens (GBr)14Row 96 - Cell 3
98Tiaan Odendaal° (RSA)13Row 97 - Cell 3
99Charly Di Pasquale (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team13Row 98 - Cell 3
100Robert Smith (GBr)12Row 99 - Cell 3
101Joe Barnes (GBr)11Row 100 - Cell 3
102Seanan O'riordan (Irl)11Row 101 - Cell 3
103Francesco Danilo Petrucci (Ita) Team Cingolani Trek11Row 102 - Cell 3
104Roman Roschi (Swi)10Row 103 - Cell 3
105Oscar Harnstrom (Swe)9Row 104 - Cell 3
106Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa)9Row 105 - Cell 3
107Marco Milivinti (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop8Row 106 - Cell 3
108Arthur Parret° (Fra) Passion Velo Thiers Stemtee8Row 107 - Cell 3
109Christopher Mcglinchey° (Irl)8Row 108 - Cell 3
110Joris Bigoni (Fra)8Row 109 - Cell 3
111Jérôme Payet (Fra)7Row 110 - Cell 3
112Dominik Gspan (Swi)6Row 111 - Cell 3
113Mathias Haas (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria5Row 112 - Cell 3
114Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Ryde - Racing5Row 113 - Cell 3
115Remi Gauvin (Can)4Row 114 - Cell 3
116Daniel Critchlow (GBr)4Row 115 - Cell 3
117Adam Vagner (Cze)3Row 116 - Cell 3
118Travis Browning (RSA)3Row 117 - Cell 3

 

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