Smith wins Hafjell downhill World Cup
By Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor
Overall World Cup battle continues between Smith and Atherton
Steve Smith (Devinci) remains undefeated in Hafjell, Norway after he won the elite men's downhill World Cup on Sunday. The Canadian beat Danny Hart (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) and Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) for the third World Cup victory of his career. Sam Blenkinsop (Lapierre) and world champion Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicated) rounded out the podium.
Neethling set a fast time early among the favorites that would land him an extended visit to the hot seat and and eventual third place on the podium.
Racers competed in pouring rain on a trecherous, slippery, rocky course, with many of the favorites crashing or dabbing at various parts of the course. Remi Thirion (Commencal/Riding Addiction) and Markus Pekoll (MS Mondraker) both crashed.
Sam Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles.com/Nukeproof) did not race fast enough to get on the podium. It wasn't until Hart that there was a new fast time. Hart, who is an excellent rider in wet conditions as he proved a few years ago by winning Worlds in Champery, Switzerland, and he bumped up the bar by 1.142 seconds.
Blenkinsop came in third fastest at the time of his run, then George Brannigan (Trek World Racing) crashed. Troy Brosnan (Specialized Racing DH) had a relatively slow run, good enough for 10th.
Then it was Smith's turn. He went 1.641 seconds faster than Hart and took over the hot seat, even after drifting all over the slippery bottom section of the course.
"It was a trippy day. We practiced all week in the sun and dust and today was miserable. It rained all day," said Smith. "Coming into some of those corners where I was not braking in practice, I nearly shit my pants, it was so muddy and rocky. I was slipping all over the place."
"I had a great win in Norway here last year and to back it up today is great."
Smith then had to wait for the last four men to come down the mountain.
World champion Minnnaar had a solid run, but was not fast enough to unseat Smith. Loic Bruni (Lapierre) crashed in the rocky corner that caught out many of the women earlier in the day. Mick Hannah (Hutchinson UR) was racing fast, but missed a corner and rode off course, a mistake that cost him a lot of time.
Fastest qualifier Gee Atherton (GT Factory Racing) was the last man down, and he looked good until he got slightly off his preferred line toward the top and then tagged a tree. Forced to re-orient himself, he lost significant time and a shot at the victory. He finished 12th.
Atherton continues to lead the World Cup, with a slim 17-point lead over Smith with one round to go next weekend in Leogang.
Race note:
Aaron Gwin was absent with a shoulder injury sustained at the world championships. Brook MacDonald was also not racing due to injury.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 0:03:40.200 |
2 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:01.641 |
3 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:02.783 |
4 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 0:00:03.865 |
5 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:03.989 |
6 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:05.745 |
7 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:06.199 |
8 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:06.537 |
9 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) Pivot Factory Team | 0:00:06.715 |
10 | Troy Brosnan (Aus) Specialized Racing DH | 0:00:07.370 |
11 | Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:07.859 |
12 | Gee Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:08.404 |
13 | Nick Beer (Swi) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:09.541 |
14 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:09.576 |
15 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:09.752 |
16 | Niklas Wallner (Swe) Team W-Racing | 0:00:09.891 |
17 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) RRP Ghost | 0:00:09.981 |
18 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:10.235 |
19 | Mitch Ropelato (USA) Specialized Racing DH | 0:00:11.612 |
20 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Gstaad-Scott | 0:00:11.645 |
21 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) Evil Vengeance Tour | 0:00:11.650 |
22 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Gstaad-Scott | 0:00:11.717 |
23 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:12.195 |
24 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team W-Racing | 0:00:12.291 |
25 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:12.641 |
26 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 0:00:13.083 |
27 | Luke Strobel (USA) Evil Vengeance Tour | 0:00:13.966 |
28 | Michael Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson UR | 0:00:14.149 |
29 | Jack Moir (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:14.928 |
30 | Florent Payet (Fra) Evil CK Racing Evian | 0:00:14.941 |
31 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 0:00:15.443 |
32 | Fraser Mcglone (GBr) | 0:00:15.905 |
33 | Loic Bruni (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 0:00:15.976 |
34 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 0:00:16.161 |
35 | Kyle Sangers (Can) | 0:00:16.294 |
36 | Kirk Mcdowall (Can) | 0:00:16.959 |
37 | Remi Gauvin (Can) | 0:00:17.330 |
38 | Quentin Chanudet (Fra) Team Sodicycle Project | 0:00:17.543 |
39 | Connor Fearon (Aus) Kona | 0:00:17.742 |
40 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott | 0:00:17.807 |
41 | George Brannigan (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:17.901 |
42 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) | 0:00:17.935 |
43 | Lars Peyer (Swi) SC Intense | 0:00:17.942 |
44 | Benny Strasser (Ger) | 0:00:18.159 |
45 | Mathew Stuttard (GBr) | 0:00:18.180 |
46 | Faustin Figaret (Fra) Topcycle By Trek | 0:00:18.353 |
47 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 0:00:18.551 |
48 | Francisco Pardal (Por) Evil Vengeance Tour | 0:00:18.863 |
49 | Filip Polc (Svk) Evil Vengeance Tour | 0:00:19.703 |
50 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 0:00:19.755 |
51 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 0:00:19.950 |
52 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:20.040 |
53 | Emanuel Pombo (Por) | 0:00:20.165 |
54 | Terje Nylende (Nor) | 0:00:20.378 |
55 | Richard Rude Jr° (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:21.573 |
56 | Romain Paulhan (Fra) | 0:00:21.784 |
57 | Edward Masters (NZl) | 0:00:22.674 |
58 | Bernardo Neves Cruz (Bra) | 0:00:23.014 |
59 | Sam Dale (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 0:00:23.268 |
60 | Matthew Beer (Can) | 0:00:23.406 |
61 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Evil CK Racing Evian | 0:00:23.758 |
62 | Miran Vauh (Slo) Blackthorn GT | 0:00:23.910 |
63 | Harry Heath (GBr) | 0:00:24.066 |
64 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) Ms Mondraker Team | 0:00:24.638 |
65 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) GT / 360 Degrees | 0:00:26.682 |
66 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) HutchinsonUR | 0:00:30.816 |
67 | Reon Boe (NZl) | 0:00:30.963 |
68 | Niclas Andersen (Nor) | 0:00:31.762 |
69 | Stefan Garlicki (RSA) | 0:00:34.803 |
70 | Zakarias Blom Johansen (Nor) | 0:00:35.118 |
71 | Sebastiaan Van Steenbergen (USA) | 0:00:38.235 |
72 | Alex Bond (GBr) | 0:00:39.478 |
73 | Christian Textor (Ger) Team Bulls - DH | 0:00:45.563 |
74 | David Mcmillan (Aus) | 0:00:47.554 |
75 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:52.945 |
DNF | Matthew Walker (NZl) | |
DNF | Wyn Masters (NZl) Team Bulls - DH | |
DNF | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | |
DNS | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) GT / 360 Degrees | |
DNS | Lars Vatnebryn Sandviken (Nor) |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 91 | pts |
2 | GT Factory Racing | 72 | |
3 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 71 | |
4 | Devinci Global Racing | 58 | |
5 | Lapierre Gravity Republic | 52 | |
6 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 40 | |
7 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 39 | |
8 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 38 | |
9 | Specialized Racing DH | 33 | |
10 | Gstaad-Scott | 32 | |
11 | MS Mondraker Team | 26 | |
12 | Pivot Factory Team | 22 | |
13 | Team W-Racing | 22 | |
14 | Hutchinson UR | 21 | |
15 | Trek World Racing | 20 | |
16 | Dirt Norco Race Team | 16 | |
17 | RRP Ghost | 14 | |
18 | Evil Vengeance Tour | 14 | |
19 | Blackthorn GT | 10 | |
20 | Fmd Racing / Intense Cycles | 9 | |
21 | Unior Tools Team | 6 | |
22 | US Cagnes VTT | 5 | |
23 | SC Intense | 4 | |
24 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 2 | |
25 | Evil Ck Racing Evian | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Gee Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 966 | pts |
2 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 949 | |
3 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 673 | |
4 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 590 | |
5 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 584 | |
6 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 542 | |
7 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 498 | |
8 | Troy Brosnan (Aus) Specialized Racing DH | 496 | |
9 | Loic Bruni (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic | 486 | |
10 | Michael Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson UR | 458 | |
11 | Aaron Gwin (USA) United States Of America | 417 | |
12 | Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 396 | |
13 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 386 | |
14 | Florent Payet (Fra) Evil CK Racing Evian | 342 | |
15 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Gstaad-Scott | 342 | |
16 | Brook Macdonald* (NZl) New-Zealand | 338 | |
17 | Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing | 322 | |
18 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 309 | |
19 | Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) Evil Vengeance Tour | 304 | |
20 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 298 | |
21 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 293 | |
22 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) Ms Mondraker Team | 282 | |
23 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 276 | |
24 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) GT / 360 Degrees | 274 | |
25 | Sam Dale (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 260 | |
26 | Faustin Figaret (Fra) Topcycle By Trek | 252 | |
27 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Gstaad-Scott | 248 | |
28 | George Brannigan (NZl) Trek World Racing | 237 | |
29 | Connor Fearon (Aus) Kona | 234 | |
30 | Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) | 227 | |
31 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 225 | |
32 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) Pivot Factory Team | 222 | |
33 | Nick Beer (Swi) Devinci Global Racing | 221 | |
34 | Luke Strobel (USA) Evil Vengeance Tour | 218 | |
35 | Greg Williamson (GBr) Trek World Racing | 207 | |
36 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team W-Racing | 199 | |
37 | Francisco Pardal (Por) Evil Vengeance Tour | 191 | |
38 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) RRP Ghost | 185 | |
39 | Jack Moir (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 179 | |
40 | Harry Heath (GBr) | 179 | |
41 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 167 | |
42 | Joe Connell (GBr) SC Intense | 166 | |
43 | Guillaume Cauvin (Fra) HutchinsonUR | 164 | |
44 | Edward Masters (NZl) | 157 | |
45 | Remi Gauvin (Can) | 154 | |
46 | Austin Warren (USA) Pivot Factory Team | 152 | |
47 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 151 | |
48 | Mitch Ropelato (USA) Specialized Racing DH | 149 | |
49 | Ben Reid (Irl) Dirt Norco Race Team | 141 | |
50 | Mathew Stuttard (GBr) | 139 | |
51 | Wyn Masters (NZl) Team Bulls - DH | 138 | |
52 | Fraser Mcglone (GBr) | 135 | |
53 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Topcycle By Trek | 120 | |
54 | Cameron Cole (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 119 | |
55 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 119 | |
56 | Richard° Rude Jr (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 118 | |
57 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Evil Vengeance Tour | 114 | |
58 | Matthew Walker (NZl) | 109 | |
59 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) Team Norco International | 108 | |
60 | Niklas Wallner (Swe) Team W-Racing | 107 | |
61 | Adam Brayton (GBr) | 107 | |
62 | Kyle Sangers (Can) | 101 | |
63 | Isak Leivsson (Nor) | 97 | |
64 | Filip Polc (Svk) Evil Vengeance Tour | 96 | |
65 | Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Evil CK Racing Evian | 95 | |
66 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 88 | |
67 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott | 88 | |
68 | Kirk Mcdowall (Can) | 87 | |
69 | Christopher Mcglinchey (Irl) | 85 | |
70 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) GT / 360 Degrees | 79 | |
71 | Terje Nylende (Nor) | 72 | |
72 | Lewis Buchanan (GBr) SC Intense | 69 | |
73 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) Evil CK Racing Evian | 68 | |
74 | Scott Mears (GBr) | 68 | |
75 | Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 65 | |
76 | Quentin Chanudet (Fra) Team Sodicycle Project | 64 | |
77 | Lars Peyer (Swi) SC Intense | 64 | |
78 | David Trummer (Aut) RRP Ghost | 59 | |
79 | Benny Strasser (Ger) | 57 | |
80 | Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 54 | |
81 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 51 | |
82 | Melvin Pons (Fra) Us Cagnes VTT | 50 | |
83 | Forrest Riesco* (Can) Canada | 48 | |
84 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) HutchinsonUR | 48 | |
85 | David Mcmillan (Aus) | 47 | |
86 | Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) | 46 | |
87 | Jared Graves (Aus) Australia | 44 | |
88 | Zakarias Blom Johansen (Nor) | 43 | |
89 | Alexander Kangas (Swe) | 42 | |
90 | Ben Cathro (GBr) | 38 | |
91 | Julien Piccolo (Fra) | 37 | |
92 | Oliwer Kangas (Swe) | 33 | |
93 | Marco Milivinti (Ita) Italy | 31 | |
94 | Reece Potter (NZl) | 31 | |
95 | Romain Paulhan (Fra) | 31 | |
96 | Iago Garay Tamayo (Spa) | 29 | |
97 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) CG Racing Brigade | 29 | |
98 | Emanuel Pombo (Por) | 28 | |
99 | Rudy Cabirou (Fra) | 28 | |
100 | Samuel Thibault (Can) | 27 | |
101 | Benoit Coulanges (Fra) Roc VTT Oz En Oisans | 26 | |
102 | Florian Arthus (Fra) | 24 | |
103 | Lars Vatnebryn Sandviken (Nor) | 23 | |
104 | Bernardo Neves Cruz (Bra) | 23 | |
105 | Sidney Slotegraaf (Can) | 22 | |
106 | Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 22 | |
107 | Matthew Beer (Can) | 21 | |
108 | Alexis Pujol (Fra) | 21 | |
109 | Martin Knapec (Svk) | 21 | |
110 | Guy Gibbs (Nor) | 20 | |
111 | Johann Potgieter (RSA) RRP Ghost | 19 | |
112 | Miran Vauh (Slo) Blackthorn GT | 19 | |
113 | Charly Di Pasquale (Fra) | 19 | |
114 | Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 18 | |
115 | Guillem Jorba Prats (Spa) | 17 | |
116 | Arthur Parret (Fra) | 17 | |
117 | Dan Sheridan (Irl) | 16 | |
118 | Matej Charvat (Cze) Czech Republic | 16 | |
119 | Bryn Dickerson (NZl) | 16 | |
120 | Reon Boe (NZl) | 14 | |
121 | James Swinden (GBr) | 14 | |
122 | Gareth Brewin (GBr) | 14 | |
123 | Niclas Andersen (Nor) | 13 | |
124 | Kevin Aiello* (USA) United States Of America | 13 | |
125 | Stefan Garlicki (RSA) | 12 | |
126 | Peter Williams (GBr) | 12 | |
127 | Logan Binggeli (USA) United States Of America | 12 | |
128 | Baptiste Pierron (Fra) | 11 | |
129 | Benjamin Staehle (Fra) | 11 | |
130 | Sebastiaan Van Steenbergen (USA) | 10 | |
131 | Carlo Caire (Ita) | 10 | |
132 | Oliver Morris (GBr) | 10 | |
133 | Alex Bond (GBr) | 9 | |
134 | Ludovic Oget (Fra) | 9 | |
135 | Rhys Atkinson (Aus) | 8 | |
136 | Christian Textor (Ger) Team Bulls - DH | 8 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | GT Factory Racing | 408 | pts |
2 | Lapierre Gravity Republic | 335 | |
3 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 270 | |
4 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 261 | |
5 | Gstaad-Scott | 255 | |
6 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 222 | |
7 | Devinci Global Racing | 218 | |
8 | Specialized Racing DH | 214 | |
9 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 195 | |
10 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 184 | |
11 | MS Mondraker Team | 162 | |
12 | Trek World Racing | 135 | |
13 | Hutchinson UR | 115 | |
14 | Evil Vengeance Tour | 81 | |
15 | Fmd Racing / Intense Cycles | 55 | |
16 | Team Norco International | 54 | |
17 | Pivot Factory Team | 51 | |
18 | Evil Ck Racing Evian | 46 | |
19 | GT / 360 Degrees | 40 | |
20 | RRP Ghost | 39 | |
21 | Blackthorn GT | 39 | |
22 | Dirt Norco Race Team | 36 | |
23 | Topcycle By Trek | 34 | |
24 | SC Intense | 29 | |
25 | Unior Tools Team | 27 | |
26 | Team W-Racing | 22 | |
27 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 21 | |
28 | Team Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 15 | |
29 | US Cagnes VTT | 13 | |
30 | Torpado Surfing Shop | 11 | |
31 | Kona | 10 | |
32 | Team Bulls - DH | 9 |
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