Gwin smokes the competition in Val di Sole

In the men's race at the second round of the UCI Downhill World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy, Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) threw down a tremendous challenge to the rest of the field by finishing over seven seconds ahead of second placed Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) in qualifying. Minnaar, the winner of round one and World Cup leader, had won the warm-up event with most of the favorites in Leogang, Austria last weekend while Gwin was coming off victory at the US Pro GRT in Plattekill, New York last weekend.

Times were dropping steadily through the 82-rider strong field until junior-aged Loic Bruni (Lapierre International) threw down the first sub-3:25 time with 30 riders to go. Bruni held the lead for ten riders before Steve Smith (Devinci Global Racing) took half a second off despite racing with a dislocated finger, and Smith lasted for 13 riders until Sam Blenkinsop (Lapierre International) bumped him out by a second. The lead continued to drop by fractions of a second until Minnaar, the second fastest qualifier, held the hot seat.

However, despite going nearly six seconds faster than he had in qualifying, Minnaar was still almost two seconds slower than Gwin's qualifying time and, barring a crash, Gwin was the odds-on favourite as he began his run. The American champion did not disappoint; fastest at both intermediate splits by huge margins, he knocked more than six seconds off his qualifying time to win by 7.85 seconds, a staggering margin when Minnaar had beaten him by a mere 6.32 tenths of a second in the first round. Gee Atherton (GT Factory) finished third, followed by teammate Marc Beaumont, with Cameron Cole (Lapierre International) in fifth.

"I've been looking for a run like that for some time now," said Gwin. "I couldn't be happier. I was pretty sure my quali time would hold, and even though the course here is super rough and dusty, I managed an almost clean run. Greg rode amazingly well on this track and is going to be tough competition for the remainder of the season."

Gwin and Minnaar are tied at 450 points in the World Cup standings, each with a win and a second, however, Gwin took over the series' lead by virtue of the more recent victory. Atherton is third with 315 points, followed by Beaumont at 228 and Smith with 215.

On a more serious note: everyone was thinking positive thoughts for the very popular Frenchman Cedric Gracia, in hospital with a broken leg and fractured hip after crashing into a tree earlier in the week.

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