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Downhill World Cup #1 - CDM
Fort William, Great Britain, June 5, 2004
Results Cross country Four-cross
Minnaar & Chausson take first World Cup
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Greg Minnaar (Team G-Cross Honda) and Anne-Caroline Chausson (Commencal-Oxbow) have won the first round of the 2004 World Cup downhill series in front of a huge crowd in Fort William. Minnaar was almost three seconds faster than second-placed Cedric Gracia (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) while Sam Hill was third. Despite qualifying fastest and enjoying the very vocal support of the crowd, local hero Steve Peat could only manage fourth.
Anne-Caroline Chausson (Commencal-Oxbow) was just under two seconds faster than runner-up Sabrina Jonnier while Helen Gaskell got the host nation on to the podium with third.
How it unfolded
As soon as the first qualifying competitor was on course for the semi-finals of the downhill race, the heavens opened and slicked up the Scottish mountainside that held the tough, 2.6km rocky downhill course. It didn't last too long, but the day was marked by showers and low cloud, but fortunately only enough to keep the dirt tacky, rather than porridge-like.
The women's race was once again won by Ann Caroline Chausson, but only by a couple of seconds from Sabrina Jonnier. Britain's Helen Gaskell came third another couple of seconds down.
The men's race should have been a victory for Britain's Steve Peat - the British Champ had qualified four seconds ahead of the field and had around 7000 screaming fans urging him on. But he couldn't break his string of unlucky runs at Fort William and has yet to win a World Cup on home turf.
Instead, it was down to Greg Minnaar - aboard a Honda proto rumoured to have cost over $100,000 - to prove why he's the reigning World Champ, with a result over three seconds ahead of Cedric Gracia in second - a good result considering how hard he'd crashed in Saturday's four cross.
Aussie Sam Hill came in third, just behind Gracia, leaving Steve Peat in fourth. A great result, but one that will continue to haunt him.
After a weekend of racing that all agreed had been a roaring success, organiser Mike Jardine was jubilant, saying "I feel confident that we have shown the world that The Nevis Range and Fort William can host the first ever UCI Mountain Bike World Championships to be held in the UK. We now have to wait until September to hear if we have been successful for 2007."
Photography
Images by Chipps Chippendale
- Greg Minnaar looking relaxed after qualifying
- Ann-Caroline Chausson wowed the huge crowd, went big and still won the race with a comfortable margin
- Ann-Caroline Chausson is encouraged to yet another victory by the huge crowd. A great finishing arena, and a large screen, allowed the crowd to see the action up on the mountain and prepare a warm welcome for the riders.
- Greg Minnaar showed why he wears the UCI World Champ's jersey
- Greg Minnaar showing the gathered crowd his gearbox Honda bike, before taking it for a win.
- Steve Peat on the way to fourth place. A roaring home crowd, and a first place qualifying spot couldn't save Peaty from defeat by his nemesis - racing on home turf.
Results
Men 1 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Team G-Cross Honda 4.10.24 2 Cedric Gracia (Fra) Siemens Mobile Cannondale 4.13.60 3 Samuel Hill (Aus) 4.14.13 4 Steve Peat (GBr) Team Orange 4.14.17 5 Mickael Pascal (Fra) Maxxis-MSC 4.14.84 6 Nathan Rennie (Aus) 4.16.62 7 Fabien Barel (Fra) Kona Clarks Les Gets 4.17.12 8 George Atherton (GBr) 4.19.16 9 Justin Havukainen (Aus) 4.20.47 10 Marc Beaumont (GBr) Team Orange 4.20.76 11 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Maxxis-MSC 4.22.07 12 Dustin Adams (Can) 4.22.66 13 Pascual Canals Flix (Spa) 4.25.21 14 Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost International 4.25.89 15 Crawford Carrick-Anderson (GBr) 4.25.94 16 Markolf Berchtold (Bra) Maxxis-MSC 4.26.36 17 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) 4.26.45 18 Daniel Atherton (GBr) 4.26.86 19 Claudio Caluori (Swi) BeOne-Madhouse 4.27.15 20 Justin Leov (NZl) 4.27.36 21 Rob Warner (GBr) 4.27.57 22 Kris Hargreaves (GBr) 4.27.64 23 Nicolas Ortiz (Fra) 4.28.40 24 Kirt Voreis (USA) 4.28.76 25 Mickael Deldycke (Fra) 4.28.99 26 Dave Wardell (GBr) 4.29.05 27 Yoann Barelli (Fra) 4.29.50 28 Michal Marosi (Cze) 4.29.70 29 Mathieu Laurin (Can) 4.29.92 30 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) 4.30.16 31 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) 4.30.79 32 Stuart Thomson (GBr) 4.31.34 33 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Commencal-Oxbow 4.31.39 34 Duncan Riffle (USA) 4.31.40 35 Damien Mermoud (Swi) 4.31.58 36 Ben Reid (Irl) 4.31.82 37 Chris Ball (GBr) 4.32.40 38 Thomas Ryser (Swi) 4.32.70 39 Ashley Cross (GBr) 4.33.06 40 Nico Vink (Bel) BeOne-Madhouse 4.33.33 41 Dan Harper (GBr) 4.33.59 42 Robin Baloochi (USA) 4.33.74 43 Espen Johnsen (Nor) 4.33.86 44 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 4.34.44 45 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 4.34.56 46 Frank Schneider (Ger) 4.34.65 47 Rudiger Jahnel (Aut) Arbö RSP 4.34.91 48 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) 4.35.02 49 Mathieu Troquier (Fra) Fusion 4.35.75 50 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team G-Cross Honda 4.35.96 51 Dave Smith (GBr) 4.36.19 52 Maciej Jodko (Pol) 4.36.64 52 Romain Saladini (Fra) Commencal-Oxbow 4.36.64 54 Jordie Lunn (Can) Specialized Mountain Bike 4.37.04 55 Jon Cheetham (GBr) 4.37.18 56 Rémy Charrier (Fra) 4.37.23 57 Robert Smith (GBr) 4.37.35 58 Will Longden (GBr) 4.37.66 59 Neil Donoghue (GBr) 4.37.88 60 Andrew Yoong (Irl) 4.38.08 61 Paul Angus (GBr) 4.39.29 62 Wilfred Van De Haterd (Ned) 4.39.31 63 Jamie Popham (Irl) 4.39.47 64 Oscar Saiz Castane (Spa) 4.39.58 65 Philip Shucksmith (GBr) 4.40.00 66 Mario Jarrin (Ecu) Zenith-MTB-International 4.40.20 67 Lee Pincher (GBr) 4.40.86 68 John Lawlor (Irl) 4.41.68 69 Richard Cheetham (GBr) 4.42.81 70 Mark Johnston (NZl) 4.43.26 71 Simon Parkinson (GBr) 4.43.73 72 Iain Cookson (GBr) 4.46.93 73 Karlis Kisuro (Lat) 4.47.77 74 Himar Sanchez (Spa) 4.49.94 75 Kyle Strait (USA) 4.55.08 76 Julien Camellini (Fra) 4.57.57 77 Herman Oelund (Swe) 4.58.83 78 Daniel Critchlow (GBr) 4.59.69 79 Glyn O'Brien (Irl) 5.06.07 80 Christopher Marshall (GBr) 5.33.60 81 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) 6.09.69 Women 1 Anne-Caroline Chausson (Fra) Commencal-Oxbow 4.53.20 2 Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) 4.55.32 3 Helen Gaskell (GBr) 4.57.86 4 Celine Gros (Fra) Team Morzine Avoriaz 4.59.11 5 Vanessa Quin (NZl) 4.59.55 6 Marielle Saner (Swi) Maxxis-MSC 5.01.65 7 Rachel Atherton (GBr) 5.04.32 8 Tracy Moseley (GBr) Kona Clarks Les Gets 5.11.64 9 Emmeline Ragot (Fra) 5.13.14 10 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) 5.16.14 11 Anita Molcik (Aut) Arbo RSP 5.17.33 12 Maria Conway (GBr) 5.19.96 13 Diana Marggraff (Ecu) Zenith-MTB-International 5.22.21 14 Nolvenn Le Caer (Fra) 5.22.45 15 Anneke Beerten (Ned) 5.23.13 16 Amelie Thevoz (Swi) 5.29.94 17 Anja Rees Jones (GBr) 5.49.08 18 Violeta Janeiro (Spa) 5.52.65 19 Lisa Sher (USA) 6.02.54 20 Karen Ballentine (GBr) 6.08.62 21 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) 6.09.34 22 Jules Coventry (GBr) 6.17.03 23 Helene Fruhwirth (Aut) 6.18.93 24 Caroline Mackinlay (GBr) 6.54.97 25 Rhian Atherton (GBr) 6.56.41 26 Jaymie Mart (GBr) 6.56.53 27 Petra Wiltshire (GBr) 6.57.81 28 Kirsty Price (GBr) 7.17.34 29 Michelle McCartney (Irl) 7.20.07 30 Miriam Blas (Spa) 15.27.05
World Cup standings after round 1
Coming!
