With the 2012 World Cup season kicking off in South Africa this weekend letsA�have a look at theA�contenders’ for the race and the series! Click read more below.
Name: Danny Hart
Age: 20
Team: Giant Factory Off-Road Racing
Danny took out the 2011 World Championships in Champery, Switzerland with an amazing run that will forever be a classic. He has stood on the World Cup podium in second place twice last year, at his home race of Fort William and at the final round in Val di Sole. He has never won a World Cup though, will the rainbow stripes be enough for the win at South Africa? He finished 22ndA�on theA�Pietermaritzburg track last year, you would think other tracks coming up this year would suit his style more…
Name: Aaron Gwin
Age: 24
Team: Trek World Racing
Aaron Gwin, he has to be the racerA�feared theA�most by the other riders. After an amazing 2011 World Cup season he will again be the man to beat. He will have improved his training program, one looked over byA�AmericanA�legend John Tomac,A�that had him physically and mentally above the competition. He comes into this season with a new sponsor, Redbull. He has already sent out a clear message to his competitors, by winning on the PietermaritzburgA�track, in a lead up raceA�last weekend, by over two seconds on a reasonably strong field. His biggest missed opportunity last year was the World Championships where he crashed, expect him to rectify that mistake this year.
Name: Greg Minnaar
Age: 30
Team: Santa Cruz Syndicate
Since his younger years, where he claimed overall World Cup Series victories and World Championships, Greg has been one of the most consistent riders on the circuit. He now has three overall World Cup Series wins and one World Championship victory.A�Being his home town race, Pietermaritzburg will be one of his goals for the year, expect the crazy local fans to be right behind him as well. His team, the Santa Cruz Syndicate, has made a huge change this year going from Rock Shox/SRAM to Fox/Shimano. Having ridden for various teams using various frames and components, Greg can adapt to different equipment no problems.
Name: George ‘Gee’ Atherton
Age: 27
Team:A�Atherton Racing GT Factory
Nothing went right for Gee in 2011 with mechanicals throughout the World CupA�SeasonA�and a crash at the World Championships. For 2012 big news is the move by Atherton racing to a new bike company (GT) and apparel manufacturer (One Industries). Joining the Athertons is Marc Beaumont, with brother Dan no longer racing World Cup downhills having a different partner to ride with might inspire Gee back to the top. Never one to shy away from the fitness training Gee should do well in South Africa.
Name: Stevie Smith
Age: 22
Team: Devinci Global Racing
Stevie Smith finished fifth in the 2011 overall standings, despite not being able to race the final round due to an injury to his ankleA�he sustained in practice.A�Definitely a dark horse butA�his results and speed show he will be a contender. South Africa may not be his favourite track but we expect big things from this rider in 2012. Joining Stevie at Devinci are Nick Beer and Gianluca Vernassa, the name Gianluca Vernassa might not sound familiar but this young Italian rider has been causing quite a stir with his race results.
Name: Brook MacDonald
Age: 20
Team: MS Mondraker
For 2012 MS racing has moved from Evil bikes to Mondraker, a lot has been said about the Mondrakers super slack head angle. Brook has been riding onA�his Mondraker forA�the New Zealand domestic seasonA�where he seeded first at the Oceania Championships and finished fourth despite snapping his pedal! Brook is one of the flat pedalled riders at the pointy end of the field with plenty of style to match! He has his sights set on a top five overall in the World Cup Series and a top five at the 2012 World Championships.
Name: Steve Peat
Age: 37
Team: Santa Cruz Syndicate
What can be said about Steve Peat that hasn’t already been said? He has pretty much achieved everything there is to achieve in the downhill game. After his World Championships win in 2009 his 2010 was disappointing by his own admission. 2011 saw mixed results for ‘Sheffield Steel’ finishing seventh overallA�but no doubt when he is ready to retire he will be doing it on his terms and will still be a contender on any given Sunday. It will be strange not seeing a set of Boxxer World Cups bolted onto the front of his Santa Cruz with his team recently making the switch to Fox Racing Shox.
Name: Troy Brosnan
Age: 18
Team: Monster Specialized
With two years of dominating the Junior World Cup field Troy Brosnan steps up to the Senior ranks, he has already made it onto the podium, at last years finalA�World Cup raceA�in Val di Sole. With a strong off season where he nearly achieved a clean sweep of the Australian National Series (and the National Championships) he will be high on confidence. Despite his size he has shown he can pedal with the best of them. Will the team be racing the carbon bikes like those used for the World Championships? Troy has already admitted his goals include winning a World Cup, finishing top five in the overall and to keep his hands on a set of rainbow stripes at the World Championships in Austria.A�
That is a look at the top riders from 2011, there are so many good riders that the 2012 results may look completely different from 2011, we are excited to kick the season off. We will have a look at the rest of the Australian riders in this weekends World Cup 1 coverage.