Minnaar edges Atherton in La Bresse
By Tour of Japan published
Gwin claims third, locks up World Cup title
Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) took his second win of the season at La Bresse, France, in round six of the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup. However, it was not enough to stop Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) from locking up the men's World Cup overall title with a third place, an impressive feat with one race still remaining in the series. Gee Atherton (Commencal) took second on the day.
The men started with the same course-drying conditions as the women, and the first rider on the course, Tim Bentley (Morewood United Ride), set the first fast, sub-2:20 time. He was bumped a few riders later by Brit Greg Williamson, before Sam Dale (Sunn Montgenevre) took a more significant 3.2 seconds off the lead, to drop it to 2:16.100.
Harry Heath (Junior Tools) scrubbed a tenth of a second off, but it was Britain's Ben Cathro who set what would prove to be the first top-ten time, and spend much of the race in the Hot Seat. Cathro was aided by intermittent rain, heavy at times, that made some drying dirt sections slippery again, forcing riders to navigate more cautiously than riders that went down earlier in the seeding.
Cathro stayed on top through 34 riders before Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) finally displaced him by 0.414 seconds. Leov was immediately pushed out of the top spot one rider later by Marc Beaumont (GT). It was a certainty that the next rider down, Josh Bryceland (Santa Cruz Syndicate), was about to bump Beaumont when he crashed spectacularly in sight of the finish line. Bryceland, using flat pedals, was over a half a second faster at the second split, but just before the final jump his right foot slipped off his pedal and he went tumbling.
Fabien Barel (Mondraker), the two-time world champion and French favourite, managed to recover from a near crash at the top of the course, and slip-slid his way through the mud to finish 0.675 seconds ahead of Beaumont and move into the hot seat, which he held through Andrew Neethling (Giant) and Cam Cole (Lapierre), before Minnaar came down the track.
Minnaar had qualified a relatively slow fifth, but was on fire for his final run. The South African was near flawless, avoiding the slide-outs that cost others time, while still managing to throw in pedal strokes where others were coasting. He came flying across the line nearly 3.5 seconds faster than Barel, setting the first sub-2:10 time of the day.
Minnaar's teammate Steve Peat rode next, with a time that was initially good enough for fifth in the final standings. However, the Brit had slid off course on the wet grass near the top, sliding through the tape on one side of a pole and then back in on the other side. It wasn't intentional, and didn't offer him any advantage, but was enough to subsequently disqualify him.
It was down to the final three riders, with Gee Atherton looking at upsetting Minnaar after recording the fastest split of the day at the upper half of the course. However, he slowed significantly through the tight, twisty middle section, to finish 0.459 seconds behind Minnaar at the line. Canada's Steve Smith (Devinci) could not repeat his second place run from qualifying and finished seventh, leaving only World Cup leader Gwin to ride.
From the start, it was clear that Gwin was not showing the dominating form that he has had all season, four-tenths of a second back at the first split and almost two seconds back at the second split. He lost another half a second by the finish line, but it was good enough for third, and locked up the World Cup title, with an insurmountable lead of 310 points over Minnaar. Gee Atherton remains third, a further 151 points back.
"After I crashed at Mont-Sainte-Anne, I wasn't carrying a lot of confidence through Windham," said Minnaar. "So I went to Santa Cruz [California] and spent three weeks getting ready for this last trip. I felt bit discouraged being beat by Aaron by so much in the qualies, so after practice this morning I went back to my room and just hung out by myself and just really thought about the run that I needed to put together if I was to have any chance to win this race.
"I ran into a lot of mud spray at the top, and I was being somewhat cautious, so I didn't think it was enough to win, but I guess I kept it smooth, and I guess that was enough to win. It's awesome to do that. It was just a great weekend, with a great crowd and a great atmosphere."
Race notes
- Minnaar's win was his 52nd podium appearance, tying him with teammate Steve Peat for the most (Peat would have gotten his 53rd if he hadn't been DQ'd).
- Fabien Barel (Mondraker Factory Team) announced that he will retire at the end of this season, following the World Cup Final (Val di Sole, Italy, in two weeks) and the world championships in Champery, Switzerland. Barel, who won back-to-back elite world titles in 11 years of World Cup competition plus a junior world title, has been battling injuries over the past few seasons, including riding at times with a leg brace, so, while it will be sad to see the cheerful Frenchman leave, it is not totally unexpected.
1 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:02:09.611 |
2 | Gee Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 0:00:00.459 |
3 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:02.429 |
4 | Fabien Barel (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 0:00:03.473 |
5 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Lapierre International | 0:00:03.979 |
6 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) | 0:00:04.148 |
7 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:04.390 |
8 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 0:00:05.003 |
9 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:05.196 |
10 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 0:00:05.610 |
11 | Brook MacDonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:05.694 |
12 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 0:00:05.862 |
13 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:06.020 |
14 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) Morewood Unitedride | 0:00:06.182 |
15 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 0:00:06.223 |
16 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 0:00:06.381 |
17 | Michael Hannah (Aus) | 0:00:06.385 |
18 | Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:06.394 |
19 | Alex Bond (GBr) | 0:00:06.481 |
20 | Sam Dale (GBr) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 0:00:06.489 |
21 | Lewis Buchanan* (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 0:00:06.508 |
22 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges | 0:00:07.091 |
23 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:07.095 |
24 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 0:00:07.243 |
25 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) | 0:00:07.309 |
26 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:07.337 |
27 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 0:00:07.550 |
28 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) | 0:00:07.623 |
29 | Eliot Jackson (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:07.824 |
30 | Troy Brosnan* (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 0:00:07.979 |
31 | Loic Bruni* (Fra) Lapierre International | 0:00:08.005 |
32 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) CG Racing Brigade | 0:00:08.258 |
33 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:08.322 |
34 | Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 0:00:08.350 |
35 | Nico Vink (Bel) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges | 0:00:08.413 |
36 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | 0:00:08.494 |
37 | Joshua Button (Aus) SC - Intense | 0:00:08.642 |
38 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:08.680 |
39 | Joris Bigoni (Fra) | 0:00:09.228 |
40 | Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 0:00:09.380 |
41 | George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:09.394 |
42 | Matthew Scoles (NZl) Team Cingolani Trek | 0:00:09.549 |
43 | Luke Strobel (USA) MS Evil Racing | 0:00:09.624 |
44 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona | 0:00:09.625 |
45 | Greg Williamson (GBr) | 0:00:09.681 |
46 | Timothy Bentley (RSA) Morewood Unitedride | 0:00:09.822 |
47 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Morewood Unitedride | 0:00:09.910 |
48 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 0:00:10.105 |
49 | Marco Milivinti (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop | 0:00:10.107 |
50 | Neko Mulally* (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:10.419 |
51 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 0:00:10.429 |
52 | Mark Scott* (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 0:00:10.942 |
53 | Fergus Lamb (GBr) | 0:00:11.057 |
54 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:11.310 |
55 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 0:00:11.548 |
56 | Felix Beckeman (Swe) | 0:00:12.145 |
57 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) | 0:00:12.399 |
58 | Joe Barnes (GBr) | 0:00:12.413 |
59 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 0:00:12.707 |
60 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:12.755 |
61 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 0:00:13.135 |
62 | Ralph Jones (GBr) | 0:00:13.167 |
63 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 0:00:13.244 |
64 | Rudy Cabirou* (Fra) | 0:00:13.366 |
65 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:13.388 |
66 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) | 0:00:13.896 |
67 | Isak Leivsson* (Nor) | 0:00:14.166 |
68 | Benny Strasser (Ger) | 0:00:14.495 |
69 | Julien Camellini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 0:00:15.399 |
70 | Jasper Jauch (Ger) | 0:00:15.551 |
71 | Peter Williams (GBr) | 0:00:15.666 |
72 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 0:00:17.199 |
73 | Ludovic Oget* (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 0:00:17.223 |
74 | Romain Contreres* (Fra) US Cagnes VTT | 0:00:18.340 |
75 | Robert Smith (GBr) | 0:00:18.923 |
76 | Shaun O'Connor (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:19.527 |
77 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 0:00:19.888 |
78 | Benjamin Staehle* (Fra) | 0:00:20.243 |
79 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal | 0:00:46.581 |
80 | Claudio Cozzi (Ita) | 0:00:50.038 |
DSQ | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | |
DNS | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International |
1 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing | 1308 | pts |
2 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 998 | |
3 | Gee Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 847 | |
4 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 732 | |
5 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 689 | |
6 | Brook MacDonald (NZl) MS Evil Racing | 640 | |
7 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Lapierre International | 552 | |
8 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 552 | |
9 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 548 | |
10 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 539 | |
11 | Fabien Barel (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 526 | |
12 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) | 492 | |
13 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 478 | |
14 | Troy Brosnan* (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 475 | |
15 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 391 | |
16 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) CG Racing Brigade | 366 | |
17 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 359 | |
18 | Luke Strobel (USA) MS Evil Racing | 345 | |
19 | Matthew Scoles (NZl) Team Cingolani Trek | 341 | |
20 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) Morewood Unitedride | 321 | |
21 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 315 | |
22 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Evil Racing | 307 | |
23 | Michael Hannah (Aus) | 304 | |
24 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges | 304 | |
25 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 301 | |
26 | Julien Camellini (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 299 | |
27 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 298 | |
28 | Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing | 275 | |
29 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 264 | |
30 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 259 | |
31 | Neko Mulally* (USA) Trek World Racing | 255 | |
32 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 248 | |
33 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 247 | |
34 | Florent Payet (Fra) SC - Intense | 246 | |
35 | Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 | 239 | |
36 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 236 | |
37 | Sam Dale (GBr) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 233 | |
38 | Lewis Buchanan* (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 231 | |
39 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 228 | |
40 | Romain Paulhan (Fra) | 226 | |
41 | Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 223 | |
42 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Morewood Unitedride | 222 | |
43 | Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 | 220 | |
44 | Shaun O'Connor (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 220 | |
45 | Loic Bruni* (Fra) Lapierre International | 215 | |
46 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark Powered By W - Racing | 213 | |
47 | Joshua Button (Aus) SC - Intense | 208 | |
48 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) CG Racing Brigade | 204 | |
49 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona | 192 | |
50 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof | 187 | |
51 | Nico Vink (Bel) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges | 181 | |
52 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal | 177 | |
53 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team | 171 | |
54 | Mitch Ropelato (USA) | 153 | |
55 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 146 | |
56 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) | 144 | |
57 | George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing | 141 | |
58 | Mark Scott* (GBr) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain | 139 | |
59 | Alex Bond (GBr) | 138 | |
60 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 137 | |
61 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 126 | |
62 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) | 120 | |
63 | Dan Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 120 | |
64 | Greg Williamson (GBr) | 116 | |
65 | Fergus Lamb (GBr) | 115 | |
66 | Timothy Bentley (RSA) Morewood Unitedride | 109 | |
67 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 104 | |
68 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) | 102 | |
69 | Matej Charvat (Cze) | 97 | |
70 | Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 94 | |
71 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) | 83 | |
72 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) | 80 | |
73 | Kyle Sangers* (Can) | 80 | |
74 | Curtis Keene (USA) | 80 | |
75 | Emanuel Pombo (Por) | 72 | |
76 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Mondraker Factory Team | 70 | |
77 | Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 68 | |
78 | Dean Tennant (Can) | 68 | |
79 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) | 67 | |
80 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 65 | |
81 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 64 | |
82 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 64 | |
83 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) | 62 | |
84 | Austin Warren* (USA) | 58 | |
85 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 57 | |
86 | Connor Fearon* (Aus) Kona | 57 | |
87 | Eliot Jackson (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 55 | |
88 | Johann Potgieter (RSA) | 53 | |
89 | Benny Strasser (Ger) | 52 | |
90 | Joris Bigoni (Fra) | 50 | |
91 | Ralph Jones (GBr) | 49 | |
92 | Florian Arthus (Fra) | 48 | |
93 | Wyn Masters (NZl) MS Evil Racing | 47 | |
94 | Marco Milivinti (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop | 40 | |
95 | Lars Peyer (Swi) SC - Intense | 40 | |
96 | Thomas Jeandin (Swi) | 36 | |
97 | Will Rischbieth (Aus) | 35 | |
98 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Madison Saracen | 35 | |
99 | Joe Barnes (GBr) | 34 | |
100 | Marcel Beer (Swi) | 31 | |
101 | Cody Warren (USA) | 29 | |
102 | Chris Del Bosco (Can) | 29 | |
103 | Oliver Burton (GBr) | 28 | |
104 | Gavin Vaughan (USA) | 27 | |
105 | Jonty Neethling (RSA) | 27 | |
106 | Alexander Kangas (Swe) | 26 | |
107 | Yann Gauvin (Can) | 25 | |
108 | Felix Beckeman (Swe) | 25 | |
109 | Dominik Gspan (Swi) | 25 | |
110 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal | 25 | |
111 | Gareth Brewin (GBr) | 23 | |
112 | Hayden Brown (RSA) | 23 | |
113 | Simon Cardon (Fra) Xcytt Racing | 22 | |
114 | Remi Gauvin (Can) | 22 | |
115 | Robert Smith (GBr) | 18 | |
116 | Fraser McGlone* (GBr) | 17 | |
117 | Rudy Cabirou* (Fra) | 17 | |
118 | Daniel Pombo (Por) | 16 | |
119 | Hans Lambert (Can) | 15 | |
120 | Kelvin Purchase (RSA) | 15 | |
121 | Charly Di Pasquale (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 15 | |
122 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 14 | |
123 | Chris Hutchens (GBr) | 14 | |
124 | Isak Leivsson* (Nor) | 14 | |
125 | Tiaan Odendaal* (RSA) | 13 | |
126 | Matt Zdriluk (Can) | 12 | |
127 | Jasper Jauch (Ger) | 11 | |
128 | Seanan O'Riordan (Irl) | 11 | |
129 | Francesco Danilo Petrucci (Ita) Team Cingolani Trek | 11 | |
130 | Hajime Imoto (Jpn) | 11 | |
131 | Peter Williams (GBr) | 10 | |
132 | Roman Roschi (Swi) | 10 | |
133 | Logan Binggeli (USA) | 10 | |
134 | Ludovic Oget* (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 8 | |
135 | Arthur Parret* (Fra) Passion Velo Thiers Stemtee | 8 | |
136 | Yuki Kushima* (Jpn) | 8 | |
137 | Christopher Mcglinchey* (Irl) | 8 | |
138 | Romain Contreres* (Fra) US Cagnes VTT | 7 | |
139 | Jérôme Payet (Fra) | 7 | |
140 | Rob Fraser (Can) | 6 | |
141 | Daniel Sims (NZl) | 6 | |
142 | Mathias Haas (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 5 | |
143 | Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Ryde - Racing | 5 | |
144 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) CK Racing Santacruz | 4 | |
145 | Daniel Critchlow (GBr) | 4 | |
146 | Adam Vagner (Cze) | 3 | |
147 | Benjamin Staehle* (Fra) | 3 | |
148 | Niklas Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark Powered By W - Racing | 3 | |
149 | Travis Browning (RSA) | 3 | |
150 | Claudio Cozzi (Ita) | 1 |

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