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MTB World Cup XC #6 & DH #5 - CDM

Maribor, Slovenia, September 14-16, 2007

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Race 6 - September 16: Elite Men Downhill

Hill finishes off World Cup in style

By Rob Jones in Maribor

Australia's Sam Hill (Iron Horse/Monster Energy)
Photo ©: MTB.si
(Click for larger image)

Sam Hill of Australia took his third win of the five race series in Maribor today, adding to the world title he won in Scotland last weekend and cementing the fact that he is the strongest downhiller in the world. Today's victory gives Hill a massive winning margin of 384 points over Great Britain's Gee Atherton in the World Cup standings.

Rain, which had been forecast for the morning, never materialized, and the large and enthusiastic crowd of spectators were treated to perfect blue skies and temperatures in the mid-20s Celcius. This left the 2.57 kilometre course bone dry, and the soft loamy ground began to get more and more churned up as the day went on, making some corners ragged, and exposing roots all the way down the course.

Dan Stanbridge (Great Britain) set the first strong time of 3:02.42 which stood up for nearly half the field before it finally fell to Aurelien Giordanengo (France). After that, it dropped rapidly, with a new time going up every few riders.

Great Britain's Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal)
Photo ©: MTB.si
(Click for larger image)

Defending champion Steve Peat (Santa Cruz) had his hopes dashed when he flatted high on the course. Julien Camellini (France) took the top time below 2:57 at ten riders to go, and it wasn't until Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal), at four to go, came over the last jump that the time dropped by a second.

Atherton's time was barely a second faster than Hill's qualifier, so there was every expectation that Hill could go faster, and he did - almost two seconds quicker to win by 1.33 seconds.

"I think this track suited me more than last week," commented Hill afterwards. "I really like it like this, with turn after turn, lots of technical bits and not as much pedalling. Everything went pretty smooth, but it was a fair bit looser than in qualifying, and some turns were completely blown out."

Hill's three wins in five events meant that he had won the World Cup prior to the final, and it was really a race for second. Peat's flat and Matti Lehikoinen's (G-Cross Honda) seventh place allowed the Finn to jump ahead into second overall.

Race Notes

- Fabien Barel (Kona Les Gets) crashed heavily in the semifinal, hard enough to have been knocked unconscious. He was taken to hospital and there is no report on his condition at this time.

- Crowds for the entire weekend were a reported 23,000 - 10,000 on Saturday and 13,000 today.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by MTB.si

Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com

Results

1 Samuel Hill (Aus) Iron Horse / Monster Energy                    2.53.78
2 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal                              0.01.33
3 Julien Camellini (Fra)                                           0.02.56
4 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra)                                          0.02.68
5 Marc Beaumont (GBr) Team MBUK Santacruz                                 
6 Florent Payet (Fra) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team                    0.03.28
7 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Team G-Cross Honda                        0.03.56
8 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Team G-Cross Honda                      0.03.80
9 Josh Bryceland (GBr)                                             0.04.65
10 Michael Hannah (Aus) Cannondale The Cut                         0.04.95
11 Oscar Saiz Castane (Spa)                                        0.06.27
12 Filip Polc (Svk) Gravity Group                                  0.06.60
13 Andrew Neethling (RSA)                                          0.07.53
14 Matthew Simmonds (GBr)                                          0.07.98
15 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi                                  0.08.05
16 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal                             0.08.12
17 Aurelien Giordanengo (Fra)                                      0.08.17
18 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Gravity Group                           0.08.31
19 Dan Stanbridge (GBr)                                            0.08.64
20 James Maltman (Aus) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team                   0.08.92
21 Ben Reid (Irl)                                                  0.09.04
22 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr)                                        0.09.12
23 Luke Strobel (USA)                                              0.09.19
24 Herman Olund (Swe)                                              0.09.21
25 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Santa Cruz Syndicate                        0.09.40
26 Kieran Bennett (NZl)                                            0.09.49
27 Dominik Gspan (Swi)                                             0.09.59
28 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra)                                            0.10.30
29 Mitchell Delfs (Aus)                                            0.10.97
30 Ramon Antonio Leiva Figueroa (Chi) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team    0.11.14
31 Jonas Westmann (Swe)                                            0.11.47
32 Robin Wallner (Swe)                                             0.11.63
33 Joris Bigoni (Fra)                                              0.11.99
34 Georg Sieder (Aut)                                              0.12.21
35 Neil Donoghue (GBr) Team Mbuk Santacruz                         0.12.44
36 Cole Bangert (USA)                                              0.12.48
37 Karim Amour (Fra)                                               0.12.66
38 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team                      0.12.70
39 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) Massi                                 0.12.90
40 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Ms-Intense Factory-Racing Team              0.13.05
41 Mike Skinner (NZl)                                              0.13.11
41 Marco Milivinti (Ita)                                                  
43 Steve Smith (Can)                                               0.13.63
44 Patrik Kotrla (Cze)                                             0.13.66
45 Adam Brayton (GBr) Mtb-Direct.Co.Uk                             0.13.81
46 Chris Ball (GBr)                                                0.13.94
47 Tyler Morland (Can)                                             0.13.96
48 Chris Hutchens (GBr)                                            0.14.07
49 Samuel Zbinden (Swi)                                            0.14.49
50 Joseph Smith (GBr)                                              0.14.75
51 Daniel Wolfe (Irl)                                              0.14.77
52 Amiel Cavalier (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team                   0.14.90
53 Quentin Derbier (Fra)                                           0.14.91
54 Florent Wolter (Fra)                                            0.14.99
55 Lorenzo Suding (Ita)                                            0.15.15
56 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr)                                        0.15.28
57 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Chatel Mountain Cycle                   0.15.40
58 Mathias Haas (Aut)                                              0.15.96
59 Valentin Juillard (Fra)                                         0.16.18
60 Jan Javornik (Svk)                                              0.16.49
61 Rowen Sorrell (GBr)                                             0.16.51
62 Falco Ruppert (Ger)                                             0.17.75
63 Gerard Wolfe (Irl)                                              0.18.19
64 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Msc Bikes                             0.18.39
65 Chris Boice (USA)                                               0.18.51
66 Mathieu Troquier (Fra)                                          0.19.32
67 Jan Cestnik (Slo)                                               0.19.75
68 Bostjan Volf (Slo) Arbö Rsp Downhill Racing Team                0.20.76
69 Ralph Jones (GBr)                                               0.22.01
70 Livio Zampieri (Ita)                                            0.22.93
71 Mads Weidemann (Den)                                            0.23.73
72 Claudio Cozzi (Ita)                                             0.24.72
73 Andreas Sieber (Ger)                                            0.24.79
74 Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost International Racing Team          0.27.05
75 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Msc Bikes                          0.30.89
76 Jeff Beatty (Can)                                               0.32.94
77 Claudio Caluori (Swi) Ms-Intense Factory-Racing Team            0.39.95
78 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate                           0.48.84
79 Alan Beggin (Ita)                                               1.12.58
80 Marco Bugnone (Ita)                                             1.31.30
DNF Frederico Xavier Temporal Bassa (Spa)                                 
DNF Sasa Merljak (Slo)                                                    
DNS Fabien Barel (Fra) Kona Les Gets                                      
 
Final World Cup standings

1 Samuel Hill (Aus) Iron horse / monster energy                  1057 pts
2 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Team g-cross honda                       673
3 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa cruz syndicate                           646
4 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal commencal                             575
5 Marc Beaumont (GBr) Team mbuk santacruz                         526
6 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Team g-cross honda                           520
7 Michael Hannah (Aus) Cannondale the cut                         469
8 Fabien Barel (Fra) Kona les gets                                391
9 David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Msc bikes                             360
10 Julien Camellini (Fra) Mojo orange                             318
11 Mickael Pascal (Fra) Q by saab-salomon                         308
12 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Team g-cross honda                    298
13 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Santa cruz syndicate                       291
14 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra)                                        235
15 Josh Bryceland (GBr)                                           221
16 Florent Payet (Fra) Ssangyong-fusion pro team                  219
17 Ben Reid (Irl)                                                 208
18 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal commencal                            187
19 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Msc bikes                         184
20 Andrew Neethling (RSA)                                         168
21 Justin Leov (NZl)                                              167
22 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Mojo orange                               161
23 Matthew Simmonds (GBr)                                         156
24 Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost international racing team         148
25 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Gravity group                          142
26 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr)                                       137
27 Luke Strobel (USA)                                             136
28 Neil Donoghue (GBr) Team mbuk santacruz                        133
29 Marco Milivinti (Ita)                                          124
30 Filip Polc (Svk) Gravity group                                 122
31 Adam Brayton (GBr) Mtb-direct.co.uk                            118
32 Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) Massi                                116
33 Alan Beggin (Ita)                                              115
34 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr)                                       114
35 Oscar Saiz Castane (Spa)                                       105
36 Nico Vink (Bel) Dolphin bike team                              105
37 Adam Vagner (Cze)                                              100
38 Dave Wardell (GBr) Gt / burgtec                                 99
39 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi                                  88
40 Cedric Gracia (Fra)                                             82
41 Ben Cathro (GBr) Q by saab-salomon                              75
42 Remi Thirion (Fra)                                              75
43 Dominik Gspan (Swi)                                             72
44 Herman Olund (Swe)                                              68
45 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Ms-intense factory-racing team              66
46 Mike Skinner (NZl)                                              55
47 Tom Deacon (GBr)                                                55
48 Carlo Gambirasio (Ita)                                          55
49 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra)                                            53
50 Claudio Caluori (Swi) Ms-intense factory-racing team            53
51 Fabien Cousinie (Fra)                                           52
52 James Maltman (Aus) Ssangyong-fusion pro team                   51
53 Jurgen Beneke (Ger)                                             51
54 Joris Bigoni (Fra)                                              49
55 Aurelien Giordanengo (Fra) Chatel mountain cycle                49
56 Mathias Haas (Aut)                                              49
57 Samuel Zbinden (Swi)                                            48
58 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Q by saab-salomon                         48
59 Duncan Riffle (USA)                                             48
60 Sam Dale (GBr) Mtb-direct.co.uk                                 46
61 Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) Kona les gets                            45
62 Antoine Badouard (Fra)                                          44
63 Karim Amour (Fra)                                               40
64 Markolf Berchtold (Bra)                                         40
65 Jared Graves (Aus)                                              39
66 Chris Ball (GBr)                                                35
67 Joseph Smith (GBr)                                              33
68 Mathieu Troquier (Fra)                                          31
69 Bryn Atkinson (Aus)                                             31
70 Mitchell Delfs (Aus)                                            30
71 Ramon Antonio Leiva Figueroa (Chi) Ssangyong-fusion pro team    29
72 Espen Johnsen (Nor)                                             28
73 Kieran Bennett (NZl)                                            25
74 Amiel Cavalier (Aus) Giant mountain bike team                   25
75 Jeff Beatty (Can) Mojo orange                                   24
76 Scott Mears (GBr)                                               24
77 Georg Sieder (Aut)                                              22
78 Nick Beer (Swi)                                                 21
79 Tyler Morland (Can)                                             20
80 Nathan Rankin (NZl)                                             20
81 Jonas Westmann (Swe)                                            20
82 Nicolas Vouilloz (Fra) Team lapierre international              20
83 Robin Wallner (Swe)                                             19
84 Remy Charrier (Fra)                                             18
85 Lee Bertram (GBr)                                               18
86 Ralph Jones (GBr)                                               17
87 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Chatel mountain cycle                   16
88 Cole Bangert (USA)                                              15
89 Richard Cunynghame (GBr) Mtb-direct.co.uk                       15
90 Patrik Kotrla (Cze)                                             13
91 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant mountain bike team                      13
92 Benny Strasser (Ger)                                            13
93 Marcel Beer (Swi)                                               12
94 Joel Bain (Aus)                                                 12
95 Arnaud Delente (Fra)                                            12
96 Steve Smith (Can)                                               11
97 Damien Mermoud (Swi) Bikepark.ch tui                            11
98 Chris Hutchens (GBr)                                            10
99 Vincent Saut (Fra)                                              10
100 Nicolas Ortiz (Fra)                                             9
101 Joe Barnes (GBr)                                                9
102 Elias Somvi (Ita) Playbiker - iron horse                        8
103 Rowen Sorrell (GBr)                                             7
104 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra)                                    6
105 Hans Lambert (Can)                                              6
106 David Smith (GBr) Mtb-direct.co.uk                              6
107 Toni Berg (Fin)                                                 5
108 Will Longden (GBr) Team mbuk santacruz                          5
109 Marco Bugnone (Ita)                                             4
110 Helder Padilha (Por)                                            4
111 Luke Kitzanuk (Can)                                             3
112 Glenn Haden (NZl)                                               3
113 Julius Syvanen (Fin)                                            2
114 Charles-Alexandre Dube (Can)                                    1
115 Matej Charvat (Cze)                                             1

Teams

1 Team G-Cross Honda                                              302 pts
2 Santa Cruz Syndicate                                            188
3 Iron Horse / Monster Energy                                     183
4 Animal Commencal                                                157
5 Team Mbuk Santacruz                                             139
6 Cannondale The Cut                                              116
8 Q By Saab-Salomon                                                99
9 Kona Les Gets                                                    86
10 Mojo Orange                                                     69
11 Gravity Group                                                   54
12 Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team                                       52
13 Massi                                                           39
14 Mtb-Direct.Co.Uk                                                37
15 Ghost International Racing Team                                 35
16 Gt / Burgtec                                                    26
17 Ms-Intense Factory-Racing Team                                  22
18 Dolphin Bike Team                                               18
19 Giant Mountain Bike Team                                         4