Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) took his second consecutive UCI Downhill World Cup win of the season on Sunday in Fort William, Scotland, solidifying his lead atop the men's standings after three rounds. However, unlike last weekend at Val di Sole, Italy, his victory margin was measured in tenths of a second rather than multiple seconds.
The men struggled with the wet and slippery conditions, and also had to contend with mist on the open slopes of the upper section of the course, at times so thick that it became almost impossible to see more than 10 meters ahead. It wasn't until there were less than 30 riders remaining that the five minute barrier was broken by young British rider Greg Williamson, at 4:57.864 . Williamson held onto the lead through seven more riders before Gwin obliterated it, knocking 9.654 seconds off the leading time - a time still nearly six seconds slower than Marc Beaumont's (GT Factory) top qualifying time a day earlier in much drier conditions.
As the race counted down to the final ten riders, they began chipping away at Gwin's lead, but it wasn't enough. Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), the winner of round one, was five seconds back after dropping his chain, a resurgent Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized) at three and a half seconds, and Gee Atherton (GT Factory) a second closer. Only world champion Danny Hart (Giant) could get within a second, after leading at the first split, but he was 0.834 seconds back at the finish, giving Gwin his second consecutive victory of the season.
"I was coming down thinking it was going well, and it was a good run," said Hart. "But it's hard work, the new bottom section, when it's rain like it has. I just wish I could have gone eight-tenths faster."
"I didn't know if it would be enough," said Gwin, who had crashed in qualifying, resulting in an early start time. "That was a hard run, I didn't have much left at the bottom. It wasn't the best weekend for me, but I managed to pull it together. I can't believe it really."
Gwin now leads the World Cup standings with 650 points to Minnaar's 565, with Atherton at 495.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:04:48.210 |
| 2 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:00.834 |
| 3 | Gee Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:02.516 |
| 4 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy-Specialized | 0:00:03.532 |
| 5 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:05.056 |
| 6 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:05.123 |
| 7 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:06.938 |
| 8 | Sam Dale (GBr) | 0:00:07.142 |
| 9 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:07.382 |
| 10 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Lapierre International | 0:00:07.564 |
| 11 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 0:00:07.711 |
| 12 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 0:00:08.035 |
| 13 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:08.127 |
| 14 | Luke Strobel (USA) | 0:00:08.958 |
| 15 | Michael Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson United Ride | 0:00:09.274 |
| 16 | Loic Bruni° (Fra) Lapierre International | 0:00:09.615 |
| 17 | Greg Williamson (GBr) | 0:00:09.654 |
| 18 | Nick Beer (Swi) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:11.145 |
| 19 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:11.185 |
| 20 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) Team Norco International | 0:00:13.832 |
| 21 | George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:14.132 |
| 22 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Lapierre International | 0:00:14.197 |
| 23 | Lewis Buchanan (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:14.864 |
| 24 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona | 0:00:14.999 |
| 25 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 0:00:15.129 |
| 26 | Filip Polc (Svk) | 0:00:15.280 |
| 27 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:15.366 |
| 28 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 0:00:15.757 |
| 29 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Scott11 | 0:00:15.992 |
| 30 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 0:00:16.157 |
| 31 | Alexander Kangas (Swe) | 0:00:16.225 |
| 32 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:16.341 |
| 33 | Richard Rude Jr° (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:16.574 |
| 34 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) CK Racing Santacruz | 0:00:16.753 |
| 35 | Fraser Mcglone° (GBr) | 0:00:17.238 |
| 36 | Dan Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:17.305 |
| 37 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:18.138 |
| 38 | Connor Fearon° (Aus) Kona | 0:00:18.418 |
| 39 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 0:00:18.790 |
| 40 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Cg Racing Brigade | 0:00:19.258 |
| 41 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:19.514 |
| 42 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) MS Mondraker Team | 0:00:19.902 |
| 43 | Nico Vink (Bel) Rose Vaujany Gravity MTB Team | 0:00:20.093 |
| 44 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) | 0:00:20.194 |
| 45 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Topcycle By Trek | 0:00:20.361 |
| 46 | Lars Vatnebryn Sandviken (Nor) | 0:00:21.033 |
| 47 | Julien Camellini (Fra) | 0:00:21.322 |
| 48 | Joshua Button (Aus) SC-Intense | 0:00:21.821 |
| 49 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 0:00:22.498 |
| 50 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:22.642 |
| 51 | Ralph Jones (GBr) | 0:00:22.788 |
| 52 | Joe Barnes (GBr) | 0:00:22.817 |
| 53 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:22.976 |
| 54 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 0:00:22.978 |
| 55 | Oliver Burton (GBr) | 0:00:23.316 |
| 56 | Mark Scott (GBr) | 0:00:25.894 |
| 57 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Hutchinson United Ride | 0:00:25.940 |
| 58 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) CK Racing Santacruz | 0:00:26.056 |
| 59 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 0:00:26.641 |
| 60 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) Pila-BlaCK Arrows-MTB Herin School Asd | 0:00:27.821 |
| 61 | Florent Payet (Fra) SC-Intense | 0:00:28.339 |
| 62 | Francisco Pardal (Por) | 0:00:28.968 |
| 63 | Thomas Jeandin (Swi) | 0:00:30.740 |
| 64 | Phil Atwill° (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 0:00:31.026 |
| 65 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 0:00:31.106 |
| 66 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:32.479 |
| 67 | Niklas Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 0:00:33.437 |
| 68 | Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Dagg - Racing | 0:00:37.229 |
| 69 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Mondraker Team | 0:00:39.184 |
| 70 | Edgar Carballo Gonzalez (Spa) | 0:00:39.312 |
| 71 | Matthew Beer (Can) | 0:00:41.505 |
| 72 | Alex Bond (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:42.252 |
| 73 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:52.026 |
| 74 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) | 0:00:53.101 |
| 75 | Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:55.882 |
| 76 | Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:57.744 |
| 77 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:03:19.320 |
| DNF | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) | |
| DNF | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Pila-BlaCK Arrows-MTB Herin School Asd | |
| DNF | George Gannicott° (GBr) | |
| DNF | Andreas Sieber (Ger) |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GT Factory Racing | 67 | pts |
| 2 | Lapierre International | 55 | |
| 3 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 54 | |
| 4 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 54 | |
| 5 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 53 | |
| 6 | Trek World Racing | 40 | |
| 7 | MS Mondraker Team | 40 | |
| 8 | Scott11 | 37 | |
| 9 | Hutchinson United Ride | 36 | |
| 10 | Devinci Global Racing | 35 | |
| 11 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 30 | |
| 12 | Monster Energy-Specialized | 30 | |
| 13 | Team Norco International | 23 | |
| 14 | Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 20 | |
| 15 | Passion Velo.Fr | 18 | |
| 16 | Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 14 | |
| 17 | Kona | 7 | |
| 18 | Unior Tools Team | 4 | |
| 19 | Dirt Norco Race Team | 4 | |
| 20 | Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 3 | |
| 21 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 2 | |
| 22 | Ghost Factory Racing Team | 1 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing | 650 | pts |
| 2 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 565 | |
| 3 | Gee Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 495 | |
| 4 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 355 | |
| 5 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy-Specialized | 334 | |
| 6 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 302 | |
| 7 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 293 | |
| 8 | Michael Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson United Ride | 288 | |
| 9 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 257 | |
| 10 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 237 | |
| 11 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Lapierre International | 217 | |
| 12 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 214 | |
| 13 | Nick Beer (Swi) Devinci Global Racing | 207 | |
| 14 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 204 | |
| 15 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 199 | |
| 16 | Loic Bruni° (Fra) Lapierre International | 199 | |
| 17 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 189 | |
| 18 | George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing | 189 | |
| 19 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 185 | |
| 20 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Ms Mondraker Team | 182 | |
| 21 | Richard Rude Jr° (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 172 | |
| 22 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Scott11 | 170 | |
| 23 | Julien Camellini (Fra) | 167 | |
| 24 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) Ms Mondraker Team | 166 | |
| 25 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Topcycle By Trek | 157 | |
| 26 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 156 | |
| 27 | Luke Strobel (USA) | 153 | |
| 28 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 153 | |
| 29 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) Ck Racing Santacruz | 144 | |
| 30 | Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 142 | |
| 31 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Lapierre International | 137 | |
| 32 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 137 | |
| 33 | Sam Dale (GBr) | 135 | |
| 34 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) Team Norco International | 133 | |
| 35 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 125 | |
| 36 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) | 115 | |
| 37 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 112 | |
| 38 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona | 110 | |
| 39 | Troy Brosnan (Aus) Monster Energy-Specialized | 107 | |
| 40 | Greg Williamson (GBr) | 106 | |
| 41 | Connor Fearon° (Aus) Kona | 102 | |
| 42 | Joshua Button (Aus) Sc-Intense | 100 | |
| 43 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Hutchinson United Ride | 95 | |
| 44 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) Cg Racing Brigade | 93 | |
| 45 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 91 | |
| 46 | Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 88 | |
| 47 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Cg Racing Brigade | 88 | |
| 48 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Dirt Norco Race Team | 85 | |
| 49 | Oliver Burton (GBr) | 80 | |
| 50 | Lewis Buchanan (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 78 | |
| 51 | Alexander Kangas (Swe) | 78 | |
| 52 | Florent Payet (Fra) Sc-Intense | 75 | |
| 53 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 74 | |
| 54 | Fraser Mcglone° (GBr) | 73 | |
| 55 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) Pila-Black Arrows-Mtb Herin School Asd | 71 | |
| 56 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 70 | |
| 57 | Eliot Jackson (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 69 | |
| 58 | Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing | 67 | |
| 59 | Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 67 | |
| 60 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 66 | |
| 61 | Matthew Beer (Can) | 64 | |
| 62 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) | 58 | |
| 63 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 57 | |
| 64 | Francisco Pardal (Por) | 56 | |
| 65 | Filip Polc (Svk) | 55 | |
| 66 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Pila-Black Arrows-Mtb Herin School Asd | 55 | |
| 67 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 54 | |
| 68 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) Ms Mondraker Team | 51 | |
| 69 | Marco Milivinti (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop | 48 | |
| 70 | Johann Potgieter (RSA) | 48 | |
| 71 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 48 | |
| 72 | Dan Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 45 | |
| 73 | Isak Leivsson (Nor) | 44 | |
| 74 | Yoann Barelli (Fra) | 42 | |
| 75 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) | 41 | |
| 76 | Kyle Sangers (Can) | 38 | |
| 77 | Curtis Keene (USA) Specialized Racing - Usa Gravity | 38 | |
| 78 | Nico Vink (Bel) Rose Vaujany Gravity Mtb Team | 38 | |
| 79 | Mitch Ropelato (USA) Specialized Racing - Usa Gravity | 37 | |
| 80 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) | 37 | |
| 81 | Alex Bond (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 37 | |
| 82 | Lars Vatnebryn Sandviken (Nor) | 35 | |
| 83 | Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Dagg - Racing | 35 | |
| 84 | Timothy Bentley (RSA) Hutchinson United Ride | 33 | |
| 85 | Miran Vauh (Slo) | 33 | |
| 86 | Faustin Figaret (Fra) Sc-Intense | 32 | |
| 87 | Jonty Neethling (RSA) | 32 | |
| 88 | Benny Strasser (Ger) | 31 | |
| 89 | Niklas Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 31 | |
| 90 | Gianluca Vernassa° (Ita) Devinci Global Racing | 30 | |
| 91 | Ralph Jones (GBr) | 30 | |
| 92 | Mark Scott (GBr) | 30 | |
| 93 | Joe Barnes (GBr) | 29 | |
| 94 | Emanuel Pombo (Por) | 28 | |
| 95 | Stefan Garlicki (RSA) | 27 | |
| 96 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 27 | |
| 97 | Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 26 | |
| 98 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Ck Racing Santacruz | 23 | |
| 99 | Lars Peyer (Swi) Sc-Intense | 22 | |
| 100 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 22 | |
| 101 | Logan Binggeli (USA) | 18 | |
| 102 | Thomas Jeandin (Swi) | 18 | |
| 103 | Carlo Caire° (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team | 17 | |
| 104 | Phil Atwill° (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 17 | |
| 105 | Charly Di Pasquale (Fra) Xcytt Racing | 16 | |
| 106 | Fergus Lamb (GBr) | 16 | |
| 107 | Arthur Parret (Fra) Passion Velo.Fr | 14 | |
| 108 | Manuel Gruber (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 13 | |
| 109 | Ludovic May (Swi) | 13 | |
| 110 | Emyr Davies (GBr) | 12 | |
| 111 | Edgar Carballo Gonzalez (Spa) | 11 | |
| 112 | Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Dirt Norco Race Team | 11 | |
| 113 | Tommy Herrmann (Ger) | 11 | |
| 114 | Matthias Stonig (Aut) | 10 | |
| 115 | Guillaume Cauvin° (Fra) Hutchinson United Ride | 10 | |
| 116 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 8 | |
| 117 | Lutz Weber (Swi) | 8 | |
| 118 | Mathias Haas (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 7 | |
| 119 | Tiaan Odendaal° (RSA) | 7 | |
| 120 | Benjamin Torrano (Fra) | 7 | |
| 121 | Jonathan Jones° (GBr) | 6 | |
| 122 | Kevin Aiello (USA) | 4 | |
| 123 | Dan Sheridan° (Irl) | 3 | |
| 124 | Kristoffer Haugland (Nor) | 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GT Factory Racing | 212 | pts |
| 2 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 172 | |
| 3 | Trek World Racing | 160 | |
| 4 | MS Mondraker Team | 153 | |
| 5 | Hutchinson United Ride | 137 | |
| 6 | Lapierre International | 131 | |
| 7 | Devinci Global Racing | 131 | |
| 8 | Scott11 | 121 | |
| 9 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 103 | |
| 10 | Monster Energy-Specialized | 97 | |
| 11 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 85 | |
| 12 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 66 | |
| 13 | Team Norco International | 64 | |
| 14 | Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 63 | |
| 15 | Passion Velo.Fr | 40 | |
| 16 | SC-Intense | 37 | |
| 17 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 36 | |
| 18 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 35 | |
| 19 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 34 | |
| 20 | Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 27 | |
| 21 | CG Racing Brigade | 26 | |
| 22 | Topcycle By Trek | 18 | |
| 23 | Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 12 | |
| 24 | CK Racing Santacruz | 11 | |
| 25 | Torpado Surfing Shop | 10 | |
| 26 | Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 9 | |
| 27 | Kona | 8 | |
| 28 | Unior Tools Team | 7 | |
| 29 | Dirt Norco Race Team | 4 | |
| 30 | Ghost Factory Racing Team | 3 |
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