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MTB World Cup XC, DH & 4X #1 - CDM
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, April 10-12, 2009
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Race 10 - April 12: Elite men downhill
Minnaar maximises home soil advantage
By Rob Jones in Pietermaritzburg
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The opening round of the 2009 Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup concluded on Sunday with a storybook ending that couldn't have been scripted any better, as local hero Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) won the downhill in front of family and friends in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
"It is a huge, huge win for me," said Minnaar. "With my family here, and all the people supporting and cheering for me it was very special to win here. In some ways it was nice that Mick [Hannah] qualified first, because that took a little pressure off. My run was very good, quite clean, with only little mistakes. I'm very happy that I was able to get this win and keep the leader's jersey."
The three-kilometre course favoured fitness as much as technical prowess, with long sections of pedalling interspersed with sharp drop-offs and jumps. Spectators came out in droves to cheer on Minnaar, pushing total attendance beyond 16,000, which far exceeded organizer's expectations.
The men's race was expected to be a real battle, and that is what happened. In qualifying, the top 10 riders went under four minutes, but in the final there were 28 who cracked that barrier.
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Great Britain's Ruaridh Cunningham (Chain Reaction-Intense) was the first to do so at 3:59.12, and his time stood up until American Aaron Holmes Gwin (Yeti Fox Shox Factory) knocked three seconds off. After this riders starting chipping away steadily at the lead until Cameron Cole (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain), the 53rd rider to start, took the best time down to 3:53.20 . Cole's time stood until former world and World Cup champion Sam Hill (Specialized Factory) brought it down to 3:50.18 with seven riders remaining.
Hill's time stood up through three riders, before the legendary Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) was the first to go under 3:50, recording 3:49.25. Australian Chris Kovarik (Chain Reaction-Intense), winner on this course the previous week was next, but crashed in a rocky section near the top, knocking him out of contention.
Then it was the turn of Minnaar, whose run was so smooth it looked almost effortless, as he sailed over the jumps and pedaled furiously through the flatter sections. The noise from the partisan crowd was almost deafening, and when Minnaar crossed the finish line, knocking almost six seconds off his teammate Peat's time, the cheers could be heard back up to the start line.
However there was still one rider to go - Australian Mick Hannah (GT Bicycles), who had qualified first. The spectators were quiet as Hannah came past, respectful of his skill, but quietly hoping for a South African victory. Their hopes were answered when Hannah posted a time of 3:45.69 - fast enough for second, but not fast enough to displace Minnaar.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com
- Luke Strobel (Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles) was 25 seconds down.
- Ruaridh Cunningham (Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense) finished in 26th spot.
- Aaron Holmes Gwin (Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team) was the second rider to break the four minute mark.
- Steve Smith (MS Evil Racing) was the top Canadian rider.
- David Vazquez Lopez (Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon) finished 19th.
- Cédric Gracia could only manage 24th.
- Dan Atherton (Animal Commencal) took 13th spot.
- Duncan Riffle (Duncan Riffle Racing) was the top American rider.
- Nathan Rennie (Australia) just missed the top 10 with his 11th place finish.
- Andrew Neethling (Trek World Racing) was the second quickest South African rider in 14th.
- Julien Camellini (Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense) rounded out the top 10.
- Sam Hill (Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz) started the year strong with a fourth place.
- Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal) took fifth spot, eight positions ahead of brother Dan.
- Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) joined his teammate on the podium with a third place.
- Chris Kovarik (Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense) crashed, putting him out of contention.
- Cruz control: Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) claimed a home soil victory.
- Michael Hannah (GT Bicycles) took second place.
- Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) proudly waved the South African flag in front of his compatriots.
- Podium (L-R): Sam Hill, Mick Hannah, Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat and Gee Atherton.
Results
1 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 3.43.44 2 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 0.02.25 3 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0.05.81 4 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 0.06.74 5 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0.08.57 6 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0.09.76 7 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 0.10.57 8 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0.10.88 9 Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 0.11.39 10 Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0.11.51 11 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Kenda Morewood 0.11.58 12 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 0.11.85 13 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0.12.07 14 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 0.12.24 15 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi 0.12.31 16 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 0.12.72 17 Aaron Holmes Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0.12.84 18 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi 0.13.10 19 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 0.13.20 20 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 0.13.76 21 Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 0.14.10 22 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 0.14.17 23 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 0.14.34 24 Cédric Gracia (Fra) 0.15.35 25 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 0.15.49 26 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0.15.68 27 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 0.15.70 28 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0.16.16 29 Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 0.16.75 30 Jonty Neethling (RSA) 0.16.80 31 Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 0.17.64 32 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 0.17.76 33 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 0.17.83 34 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 0.18.18 35 Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 0.18.28 36 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 0.18.72 37 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 0.18.75 38 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0.19.02 39 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0.19.04 40 Sam Dale (GBr) 0.19.09 41 Aari Barrett* (NZl) Scott 11 0.19.49 42 Robin Wallner (Swe) 0.19.83 43 Johann Potgieter (RSA) 0.19.99 44 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 0.20.13 45 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 0.20.32 46 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 0.20.83 47 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 0.21.01 48 Dennis Dertell (Swe) 0.21.09 49 Nicolas Ortiz (Fra) 0.21.19 50 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 0.21.57 51 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0.21.74 52 Neil Donoghue (GBr) 0.21.80 53 Rowan Sorrell (GBr) 0.22.01 54 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 0.22.46 55 Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 0.22.53 56 Claudio Cozzi (Ita) Dytech DH 0.22.81 57 Tom Deacon (GBr) 2Stagefactory 0.22.85 58 Danny Hart* (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 0.23.10 59 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 0.23.17 60 Adam Brayton (GBr) Just Reid Race Team 0.23.36 61 Ryan Condrashoff (USA) X-Fusion-Intense 0.24.17 62 Joshua Button (Aus) 0.25.28 63 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0.25.41 64 Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH 0.25.62 65 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 0.26.57 66 Pierre ° Van Der Merwe (RSA) 0.26.62 67 Timothy Bentley* (RSA) 0.26.78 68 Scott Mears (GBr) 0.26.92 69 Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) 0.27.00 70 Laurie Dinham* (Aus) 0.27.23 71 Gary Barnard (RSA) 0.28.72 72 Darryn Stow (RSA) 0.29.01 73 Hayden Brown (RSA) 0.30.29 74 James Hughes (GBr) 0.30.57 75 Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 0.31.39 76 Emyr Davies (GBr) 0.31.80 77 Simon Dinkelman* (RSA) 0.33.23 78 Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0.39.08 79 Kevin Aiello* (USA) GT Bicycles 0.46.45 80 Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 0.48.03 81 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 0.48.19 82 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 2.46.70 * indicates junior riders Teams 1 Trek World Racing 81 pts 2 Santa Cruz Syndicate 72 3 Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 58 4 GT Bicycles 57 5 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 54 6 Animal Commencal 46 7 Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 42 8 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 40 9 Suspension Center 35 10 Norco World Team 30 11 Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 30 12 Massi 29 13 Scott 11 21 14 Kenda Morewood 20 15 Duncan Riffle Racing 19 16 Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 14 17 Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 12 18 MS Evil Racing 11 19 MSC Bikes 8 20 XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 6 21 Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 2 World Cup standings after one round Individual 1 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 240 pts 2 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 210 3 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 165 4 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 142 5 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 132 6 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 110 7 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 97 8 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 95 9 Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 94 10 Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 91 11 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 82 12 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Kenda Morewood 81 13 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 79 14 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 76 15 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 74 16 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 72 17 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi 66 18 Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 66 19 Aaron Holmes Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 64 20 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi 63 21 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 62 22 Cédric Gracia (Fra) 62 23 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 62 24 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 61 25 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 60 26 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 58 27 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 56 28 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 55 29 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 54 30 Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 52 31 Jonty Neethling (RSA) 51 32 Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 50 33 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 49 34 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 48 35 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 47 36 Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 46 37 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 45 38 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 43 39 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 42 40 Sam Dale (GBr) 41 41 Aari Barrett* (NZl) Scott 11 40 42 Robin Wallner (Swe) 39 43 Johann Potgieter (RSA) 38 44 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 37 45 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 36 46 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 35 47 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 34 48 Dennis Dertell (Swe) 33 49 Nicolas Ortiz (Fra) 32 50 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 31 51 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 30 52 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 30 53 Neil Donoghue (GBr) 29 54 Rowan Sorrell (GBr) 28 55 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 27 56 Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 26 57 Claudio Cozzi (Ita) Dytech DH 25 58 Tom Deacon (GBr) 2Stagefactory 24 59 Danny Hart* (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 23 60 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 22 61 Adam Brayton (GBr) Just Reid Race Team 21 62 Ryan Condrashoff (USA) X-Fusion-Intense 20 63 Joshua Button (Aus) 19 64 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 18 65 Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH 17 66 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 16 67 Pierre Van Der Merwe* (RSA) 15 68 Timothy Bentley* (RSA) 14 69 Scott Mears (GBr) 13 70 Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) 12 71 Laurie Dinham* (Aus) 11 72 Gary Barnard (RSA) 10 73 Darryn Stow (RSA) 9 74 Hayden Brown (RSA) 8 75 James Hughes (GBr) 7 76 Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 6 77 Emyr Davies (GBr) 5 78 Simon Dinkelman* (RSA) 4 79 Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 3 80 Kevin Aiello* (USA) GT Bicycles 2 81 Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 1 Team 1 Trek World Racing 81 pts 2 Santa Cruz Syndicate 72 3 Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 58 4 GT Bicycles 57 5 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 54 6 Animal Commencal 46 7 Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 42 8 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 40 9 Suspension Center 35 10 Norco World Team 30 11 Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 30 12 Massi 29 13 Scott 11 21 14 Kenda Morewood 20 15 Duncan Riffle Racing 19 16 Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 14 17 Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 12 18 MS Evil Racing 11 19 MSC Bikes 8 20 XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 6 21 Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 2
