Minnaar edges Atherton in La Bresse

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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.

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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.