World Cup XC # 4/DH/4X # 2 - B

Willingen, Germany, June 4-5, 2005

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Race 6 - June 5: Men's DH

Minnaar superb in the mud

By Rob Jones in Willingen

In the men's race, Dan Atherton very nearly turned a poor start position after a crash in the semifinal into a victory. The Brit went 21st from last to post a blazing fast 2:23.04 . As rider after rider came down his time stood up - but the top-10 riders were still to come.

Then it started to rain, and riders began sliding in the corners of the lower grassy section of the course. Nathan Rennie put in a phenomenal ride at the height of the rain, but could only manage to get within 15th hundredths of a second. Without the rain, it certainly would have been a faster run. Chris Kovarik, back after a year away from the sport because of a broken leg, also turned in a very fast time, but was over a second and a half back. Cedric Gracia (Siemens Cannondale) and Atherton's older brother George could only manage to crack the top-10, as could Sam Hill and Matti Lehikoinen.

Finally, there were only two riders left - Minnaar, and the fastest qualifier, Mick Hannah. Minnaar was blazing fast through all sections of the course, particularly the upper portion, where he was four seconds ahead of Atherton. He lost half a second on the lower part, but still decisively took over the lead. Hannah also looked to be on a fast run, but misjudged a couple of stutter bumps in the upper portion, crashing and body surfing down the rocks, and then having to search out his bike in the forest.

Minnaar professed to be surprised at his victory: "I am not a real big guy, so I don't have the power for a course with this much pedaling. But I knew I had to get over the first double, and then I had a chance. I have been working on it all week, and I cleaned it good in the final. Then it was pretty smooth the rest of the way until the bottom, and I took it a little easier there on the open grass."

Minnaar also had to overcome losing his race bike earlier in the week: "Someone broke into our truck Tuesday night, the night before training started, and cleaned out all our bikes. Luckily, there was enough spare parts to build up another bike - the mechanics, and the engineers from Honda had to work day and night to get us going. It was a problem earlier in the week, because nothing felt right - the brakes weren't set up the way I want and other stuff as well; it all put my rhythm out. But, it all came together today."

Race Note

Steve Peat, the winner of the first round was a no-show, after breaking his shoulder two weeks ago during training for the British 4-Cross national championship. The injury required surgery, and he is expected to be out of action for at least 5 to 6 weeks.

Results

1 Greg Minnaar (RSA)                2.19.59
2 Daniel Atherton (GBr)             0.03.45
3 Nathan Rennie (Aus)               0.03.60
4 Christopher Kovarik (Aus)         0.05.17
5 Samuel Hill (Aus)                 0.05.87
6 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa)         0.06.10
7 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin)            0.06.23
8 Cédric Gracia (Fra)               0.06.36
9 George Atherton (GBr)             0.06.89
10 Markolf Berchtold (Bra)          0.07.32
11 Damien Mermoud (Swi)             0.07.57
12 Mickael Pascal (Fra)             0.08.01
13 Andrew Neethling (RSA)           0.08.12
14 Will Longden (GBr)               0.08.26
15 Marcus Klausmann (Ger)           0.08.38
16 Marc Beaumont (GBr)              0.08.76
17 Mickael Deldycke (Fra)           0.09.17
18 Kyle Strait (USA)                0.09.26
19 Brendan Fairclough (GBr)         0.09.61
20 Julien Camellini (Fra)           0.09.62
20 Maxime Remy (Fra)                       
22 Justin Leov (NZl)                0.09.93
23 Claudio Caluori (Swi)            0.09.95
24 Romain Saladini (Fra)            0.10.04
25 Justin Havukainen (Aus)          0.10.25
26 Oscar Saiz Castane (Spa)         0.10.28
27 Gertje Tholen (Ned)              0.10.36
28 Charles Georges Pierre (Fra)     0.10.46
29 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)           0.10.72
30 Bryn Atkinson (Aus)              0.10.78
31 Pascual Canals Flix (Spa)        0.11.16
32 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze)          0.11.19
33 Amiel Cavalier (Aus)             0.11.30
34 Nico Vink (Bel)                  0.11.94
35 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa)     0.12.29
36 Samuel Zbinden (Swi)             0.12.44
37 Ben Cathro (GBr)                 0.12.65
38 Himar Sanchez (Spa)              0.12.98
39 Michal Marosi (Cze)              0.13.35
40 Vincent Saut (Fra)               0.13.38
40 Chris Ball (GBr)                        
42 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra)          0.13.75
43 Tom Holland (NZl)                0.13.94
44 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra)              0.13.96
44 Thomas Vanderham (Can)                  
46 Rémy Charrier (Fra)              0.14.21
47 Herman Oelund (Swe)              0.14.40
48 Dan Stanbridge (GBr)             0.14.75
49 Salvador Gonzalez (Spa)          0.15.19
50 Filip Matus (Cze)                0.15.34
51 Dan Harper (GBr)                 0.15.42
52 Thomas Ryser (Swi)               0.15.50
53 Luka Novak (Slo)                 0.15.87
54 Mathieu Troquier (Fra)           0.16.06
55 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa)         0.16.16
56 Filip Polc (Svk)                 0.16.18
57 Lee Bertram (GBr)                0.16.28
58 Jon Cheetham (GBr)               0.16.35
59 Stuart Thomson (GBr)             0.16.37
60 David Smith (GBr)                0.16.54
61 Robert Smith (GBr)               0.16.90
62 Rob Warner (GBr)                 0.16.91
63 Benjamin Shingler (Aus)          0.18.14
64 Henry O Donnell (USA)            0.18.16
65 Espen Johnsen (Nor)              0.18.21
66 Joe Barnes (GBr)                 0.18.41
67 Iain Cookson (GBr)               0.19.22
68 Richard Thomas (GBr)             0.20.51
69 Andre Wagenknecht (Ger)          0.21.53
70 Steve Barker (GBr)               0.23.64
71 Richard Cheetham (GBr)           0.27.14
72 Quentin Derbier (Fra)            0.27.54
73 Stefan Kudella (Ger)             0.40.96
74 Remy Casanova (Fra)              0.43.71
75 Dominik Gspan (Swi)              1.24.10
76 Adam Vagner (Cze)                1.24.55
77 Mick Hannah (Aus)                1.34.60
78 Maciej Jodko (Pol)               1.40.40
DSQ Neil Donoghue (GBr)                    
DSQ Dave Wardell (GBr)

World Cup standings after round 2

1 Greg Minnaar (RSA)                  430 pts
2 Samuel Hill (Aus)                   295
3 Nathan Rennie (Aus)                 278
4 Steve Peat (GBr)                    250
5 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin)              235
6 Daniel Atherton (GBr)               231
7 Mick Hannah (Aus)                   215
8 George Atherton (GBr)               197
9 Mickael Pascal (Fra)                172
10 Christopher Kovarik (Aus)          140
11 Cédric Gracia (Fra)                134
12 Marcus Klausmann (Ger)             132
13 Oscar Saiz Castane (Spa)           109
14 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa)          106
15 Julien Camellini (Fra)             104
16 Marc Beaumont (GBr)                102
17 Markolf Berchtold (Bra)            100
18 Bryn Atkinson (Aus)                100
19 Fabien Barel (Fra)                  97
20 Damien Mermoud (Swi)                96
21 Nico Vink (Bel)                     83
22 Will Longden (GBr)                  79
23 Justin Havukainen (Aus)             71
24 Justin Leov (NZl)                   68
25 David Vazquez (Spa)                 67
26 Andrew Neethling (RSA)              63
27 Frank Schneider (Ger)               62
28 Pascual Canals Flix (Spa)           57
29 Mickael Deldycke (Fra)              49
30 Kyle Strait (USA)                   48
31 Maxime Remy (Fra)                   47
32 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa)        46
33 Brendan Fairclough (GBr)            43
34 Dave Wardell (GBr)                  40
35 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra)                 39
36 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze)             37
37 Claudio Caluori (Swi)               36
38 Damien Spagnolo (Fra)               34
39 Himar Sanchez Salminen (Spa)        30
40 Romain Saladini (Fra)               30
41 Filip Polc (Svk)                    26
42 Gertje Tholen (Ned)                 26
43 Rob Warner (GBr)                    25
44 Charles Georges Pierre (Fra)        23
45 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)              22
46 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa)            19
46 Yoann Barelli (Fra)                 19
48 Neil Donoghue (GBr)                 18
49 Amiel Cavalier (Aus)                18
50 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra)             17
51 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr)            16
52 Samuel Zbinden (Swi)                15
53 Adam Vagner (Cze)                   15
54 Vincent Saut (Fra)                  14
55 Ben Cathro (GBr)                    14
56 Alan Beggin (Ita)                   13
57 Chris Ball (GBr)                    12
58 Michal Marosi (Cze)                 12
59 Mauricio Estrada Pulgarin (Col)     12
60 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra)                11
61 Carlo Gambirasio (Ita)              10
62 Florent Payet (Fra)                  9
63 Tom Holland (NZl)                    8
64 Thomas Vanderham (Can)               7
65 Dan Harper (GBr)                     6
66 Remy Charrier (Fra)                  5
67 Scott Beaumont (GBr)                 5
68 Herman Oelund (Swe)                  4
69 Ashley Mullane (GBr)                 4
70 Dan Stanbridge (GBr)                 3
71 Salvador Gonzalez (Spa)              2
72 Filip Matus (Cze)                    1