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MTB World Cup DH #2 - CDM
La Bresse, France, May 9-10, 2009
Main Page Results Previous Race World Cup Standings
Race 3 - May 10: Elite men downhill Peat matches Vouilloz record with win
By Rob Jones
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Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) is one victory away from taking the all-time lead in downhill World Cup victories after an incredible ride to record his 16th career victory in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at the second round in La Bresse, France. Peat now matches French rider Nicolas Vouilloz in wins. He also took over the lead in the World Cup standings with his win.
"I'm very happy to win after such a long time, and happy to break Vouilloz's record," said Peat afterwards, referring to the fact that this is his first World Cup victory since Willingen, Germany in 2006. "It's good to keep the jersey in the team."
Kyle Strait (Specialized Team America) was the men's top US finisher in 11th place, just ahead of Australia's Mitchell Delfs (Kenda Morewood). Steve Smith (MS Evil Racing) was Canada's top finisher in 15th place.
The short course required the skills of an all around rider to perform well, with fast pedaling and jumping sections at the top, followed by steep, technical and rocky sections in the lower half. Many a rider started out fast, only to lose precious seconds in the final third of the 1.2 kilometre course.
The men's race had a potential upset in the making, when heavy rain swept in shortly after Strait grabbed the hot seat. Strait was 29th to start, and the track had been dry and hard until that point. Favoured Chris Kovarik (Chain Reaction/Intense) crashed shortly afterwards, showing how slippery it was getting.
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Strait's time of 2:12.33 held up for over 30 riders before Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) finally managed to displace him by a mere five one hundredths of a second. Leov also settled in for an extended sit in the Hot seat, remaining in the top spot until the final 10 riders began their runs. Strait would finish 11th, just behind Leov.
Leov's teammate Andrew Neethling was the first to better Leov, dropping the leading time to below 2:12 (2:11.98). However, he was replaced immediately by Mikael Pascal (MSC Bikes). World Cup leader Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) was next to take the lead, but again it was a short lived reward, as Great Britain's Brendan Fairclough (Monster Energy-Specialized) became the first rider to go under 2:10, with a 2:09.99 run.
Fairclough hung onto the lead through Sam Blenkinsop (Yeti Fox Shox) before his teammate, and perennial favourite, Sam Hill knocked an impressive second and a half off the leading time. There were only three riders to go, and the rain continued to fall.
Michael "Mick" Hannah (GT Bicycles) was next, and he slotted in between Hill and Fairclough, and then it was world champion Gee Atherton (Animal-Commencal), who came in behind Fairclough and ahead of Minnaar, guaranteeing himself a podium spot.
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Finally, it was "Peaty", the legendary rider from Sheffield, Yorkshire. Only 17th fastest through the speedtrap, Peat kept getting faster as the course got harder. By the first intermediate timer, he was up to second, by the second intermediate station he was more than a second in front, and at the finish line he was a full 1.27 seconds ahead of Hill to record his 16th World Cup win.
Heading into the third downhill round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup next week in Vallnord, Andorra, Peat holds a 25-point lead over Hannah at 415 points, with Minnaar 62 points back in third. Duncan Riffle (Duncan Riffle racing) is the top ranked American in 14th, two spots ahead of Smith, with Gwin 19th overall.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Gary Perkin
- Huge crowds
- Steve Peat on his way to a win. It was a record 16th win.
- Fans cheer on a French rider.
- Elite men's podium.
Results
Elite men 1 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 2.07.14 2 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 0.01.27 3 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 0.01.86 4 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 0.02.85 5 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0.04.01 6 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0.04.22 7 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 0.04.56 8 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 0.04.84 9 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0.05.01 10 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 0.05.14 11 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Team America 0.05.19 12 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 0.05.23 13 Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0.05.62 14 Aaron Holmes Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0.05.82 15 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 0.06.06 16 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 0.06.34 17 Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 0.06.40 18 Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 0.06.42 19 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 0.06.58 20 Adam Vagner (Cze) 0.06.59 21 Tom Deacon (GBr) 2Stagefactory 0.06.62 22 Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 0.06.70 23 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 0.06.81 24 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0.07.08 25 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi 0.07.10 26 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 0.07.14 27 Robin Wallner (Swe) 0.07.24 28 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 0.07.31 29 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi 0.07.44 30 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 0.07.47 31 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0.07.61 32 Cody Warren (USA) Specialized Team America 0.07.65 33 Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0.07.87 34 Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0.07.95 35 Danny Hart° (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 0.08.06 36 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 0.08.07 37 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 0.08.08 38 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 0.08.09 39 Nathan Rankin (NZl) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 0.08.18 40 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Sunn 0.08.33 41 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 0.08.34 42 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 0.08.41 43 Ben Cathro (GBr) 0.08.46 44 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze) 0.08.53 45 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 0.08.55 46 Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team 0.08.67 47 Brook Macdonald° (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 0.08.84 48 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0.08.86 49 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 0.08.96 50 Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0.09.05 51 Herman Olund (Swe) 0.09.20 52 Matthew Scoles (NZl) 0.09.21 53 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 0.09.35 54 Sam Dale (GBr) 0.09.37 55 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 0.09.63 56 Benny Strasser (Ger) 0.09.84 57 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 0.10.02 58 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 0.10.36 59 Kevin Aiello° (USA) GT Bicycles 0.10.41 60 Maximilian Bender (Ger) 0.10.55 61 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 0.10.76 62 Rémy Charrier (Fra) Team Sunn 0.10.90 63 Harry Heath° (GBr) 0.11.25 64 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 0.11.29 65 Romain Paulhan (Fra) 0.11.49 66 Carlo Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop 0.11.66 67 Matej Charvat (Cze) 0.11.77 68 Bryn Atkinson (Aus) 0.11.80 69 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 0.11.83 70 David Eme (Fra) 0.11.97 71 Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 0.12.69 72 Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 0.12.85 73 Antoine Badouard (Fra) 0.13.53 74 Joshua Button (Aus) 0.15.53 75 Scott Mears (GBr) 0.15.69 76 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 0.19.18 77 Martin Frei (Swi) 0.20.24 78 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 0.21.26 79 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Kenda Morewood 0.37.46 80 Ryan Condrashoff (USA) X-Fusion-Intense 0.39.19 DNF Robert Smith (GBr) ° Indicates Under 23 Teams 1 Trek World Racing 79 pts 2 Santa Cruz Syndicate 73 3 Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 65 4 GT Bicycles 46 5 Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 40 6 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 39 7 Scott 11 34 8 MS Evil Racing 29 9 Animal Commencal 28 10 Suspension Center 28 11 Morzine-Avoriaz 74 26 12 MSC Bikes 24 13 Norco World Team 24 14 2Stagefactory 24 15 Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 22 16 Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 20 17 Specialized Team America 20 18 Kenda Morewood 19 19 Team Vario Racing 19 20 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 18 21 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 9 22 Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 8 23 Massi 8 24 Duncan Riffle Racing 5 World Cup standings after two rounds Individual standings 1 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 415 pts 2 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 380 3 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 353 4 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 327 5 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 282 6 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 194 7 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 190 8 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 182 9 Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 171 10 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 164 11 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 162 12 Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 159 13 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 153 14 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 145 15 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 141 16 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 139 17 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi 136 18 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 134 19 Aaron Holmes Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 131 20 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 130 21 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 128 22 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi 118 23 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 118 24 Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 113 25 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 105 26 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 104 27 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 101 28 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 100 29 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 99 30 Robin Wallner (Swe) 93 31 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 93 32 Tom Deacon (GBr) 2Stagefactory 84 33 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Kenda Morewood 83 34 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 73 35 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 73 36 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 71 37 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Team America 70 38 Danny Hart° (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 69 39 Sam Dale (GBr) 68 40 Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 66 41 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 66 42 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 62 43 Cédric Gracia (Fra) 62 44 Adam Vagner (Cze) 61 45 Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 59 46 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 59 47 Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 56 48 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 55 49 Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 52 50 Jonty Neethling (RSA) 51 51 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Sunn 50 52 Cody Warren (USA) Specialized Team America 49 53 Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 48 54 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 48 55 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 48 56 Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 47 57 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 46 58 Ben Cathro (GBr) 45 59 Nathan Rankin (NZl) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 42 60 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 42 61 Aari Barrett° (NZl) Scott 11 40 62 Johann Potgieter (RSA) 38 63 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze) 37 64 Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team 35 65 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 35 66 Brook Macdonald° (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 34 67 Dennis Dertell (Swe) 33 68 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 33 69 Nicolas Ortiz (Fra) 32 70 Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid Aclass Factory Team 31 71 Herman Olund (Swe) 30 72 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 30 73 Matthew Scoles (NZl) 29 74 Neil Donoghue (GBr) 29 75 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 28 76 Rowan Sorrell (GBr) 28 77 Dominik Gspan (Swi) 27 78 Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 26 79 Joshua Button (Aus) 26 80 Benny Strasser (Ger) 25 81 Claudio Cozzi (Ita) Dytech DH 25 82 Kevin Aiello° (USA) GT Bicycles 24 83 Maximilian Bender (Ger) 21 84 Adam Brayton (GBr) Just Reid Race Team 21 85 Ryan Condrashoff (USA) X-Fusion-Intense 21 86 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 20 87 Rémy Charrier (Fra) Team Sunn 19 88 Scott Mears (GBr) 19 89 Harry Heath° (GBr) 18 90 Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH 17 91 Romain Paulhan (Fra) 16 92 Carlo Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop 15 93 Pierre Van Der Merwe° (RSA) 15 94 Matej Charvat (Cze) 14 95 Timothy Bentley° (RSA) 14 96 Bryn Atkinson (Aus) 13 97 Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) 12 98 David Eme (Fra) 11 99 Laurie Dinham° (Aus) Suspension Center 11 100 Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 10 101 Gary Barnard (RSA) 10 102 Darryn Stow (RSA) 9 103 Antoine Badouard (Fra) 8 104 Hayden Brown (RSA) 8 105 James Hughes (GBr) 7 106 Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 6 107 Emyr Davies (GBr) 5 108 Martin Frei (Swi) 4 109 Simon Dinkelman° (RSA) 4 110 Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 3 Team standings 1 Trek World Racing 160 pts 2 Santa Cruz Syndicate 145 3 GT Bicycles 103 4 Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 98 5 Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 95 6 Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 79 7 Animal Commencal 74 8 Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 72 9 Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 64 10 Suspension Center 63 11 Scott 11 55 12 Norco World Team 54 13 MS Evil Racing 40 14 Kenda Morewood 39 15 Massi 37 16 MSC Bikes 32 17 Morzine-Avoriaz 74 26 18 2Stagefactory 24 19 Duncan Riffle Racing 24 20 Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 22 21 Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 20 22 Specialized Team America 20 23 Team Vario Racing 19 24 Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 14 25 Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 9 26 XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 6
