Gwin and Kintner repeat as US national downhill champs

The 2014 USA Cycling Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships wrapped up Sunday at the Angel Fire Bike Park with familiar faces standing on top of the pro men's and women's podiums. Aaron Gwin (Specialized Racing DH) and Jill Kintner (Team Norco International/Red Bull) both showed off their dominant downhill skills in repeating as national champions.

Men

The 71-rider pro men's field took its turn on the course following the pro women and it was the second rider down the hill, Graeme Pitts (Graeme Pitts Racing) who posted the early time to beat of 4:10.14. The next 53 riders were unable to oust Pitts from the hot seat until Neko Mullaly (Trek World Racing) took over the top spot by being the first rider to break the four-minute mark as he stopped the clock at 3:59.35. Mulally remained in the hot seat with just two riders left to complete the course. Mitch Ropelato (Factory Specialized) joined Mulally in the sub-four-minute club but finished a fraction of a second behind in 3:59.39. That left defending champ Gwin, the last rider to start, and he did not disappoint the fans on the slopes of the Angel Fire Bike Park. Gwin crossed the line in 3:52.17 to don the Stars-and-Stripes jersey once again.

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"This track was hard this weekend," Gwin said. "As far as physically and a challenge to be smooth, the hardest track we've raced all year. I like it. It's fast, it's dry and it's good times racing in the U.S. I made a couple mistakes but they weren't too costly. All in all, I'm stoked."

Women

After the morning's amateur contests, the pro women took to the downhill course that started at 10,500 feet above sea level, and descended 1,700 feet over 2.8 miles. Abigail Hippely was the first to crack the five-minute mark at 4:55.70. The second-to-last rider down the mountain, Amanda Batty, joined the sub-five-minute club when she crossed the line in 4:57.40. The only female rider left was 12-time national champion Kintner who left no doubt as she blazed down the trail with a winning time of 4:30.10 to gain her 13th Stars-and-Stripes jersey. Hippely took the silver medal and Batty the bronze.

"It's crazy to see the evolution of the track from day one until now with how loose and dry and blown out it got with so many people riding it," said Kintner. "That run was pretty smooth for me, no real big mistakes. I just tried to keep my momentum going and look ahead and keep my hands loose so I didn't get too tight. You can always go faster but I'm happy with that to get the title."

Junior men 17-18

The junior men's 17-18 downhill kicked off the afternoon session on the final day of competition. Demetri Triantafillou took over the hot seat with six riders to go as he posted a time of 4:19.90. Podium favorite Luca Shaw (SRAM Factory), the third-to-last rider to start, fell out of contention after suffering a rear flat tire. The next rider down, Charlie Harrison took over the lead with a time of 4:14.83, but his time was quickly bettered by Shane Leslie, who claimed the victory with a time of 4:10.95.

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