Here we go, hard to believe it is World Champs time again! A dry, dusty South African track will determine who gets the stripes.
The biggest race on the calendar, the World Championships, is upon us, this year we travel to Pietermaritzburg (there is a mouthful for you!) in South Africa. A track that has been used for World Cups previously and just happens to be Greg Minnaar’s home track…
There’s no denying big jumps and pedaling are two of the defining features of this track. Here Danielle Beecroft sends it during the first day of practice.
There isA�a different schedule for the World Champs compared to a regular World Cup, the Juniors will race on Friday, a full two days before the Elite riders on Sunday. What’s more is there are some practice sessions which are only half an hour long, that means riders will have to be on it to make the most of their time, get a mechanical or have a crash and you will have to wait until the next practice session (if there is one).
Throwing down the horns! It was good to see the Aussie contingent relaxed as they sorted out the track during practice.We spotted a lot of interesting things trackside today…It was good to see Tracey Hannah back amongst it, a horror run of injuries lately has meant her preparation for this race has been less than ideal but remember this is where she won her comeback World Cup!Another one of our Aussie girls in the mix, Caroline Buchanan who just won gold over in New Zealand at the BMX World Champs. She, along with a few others was settling into South Africa with a safari, why not?!Talking about settling, that is something that the dust has to do on the course, it hangs in the air making it quite difficult for riders to breath, especially on this lung busting track!Railing! Check out the look in Peter Knott’s eyes, pin it to win it son!
So with that we start our coverage of the 2013 World Championships, join us as we cheer on the Aussies every step of the way, it is going to be a good week!
Ever read a downhill related poem? Nope we struggle to think of one too, so here is something a bit different for you! While it is definitely not going to win the Montreal International Poetry Award (that is the most valuable poetry prize in monetary value going around, 50,000 Canadian dollars valuableA�to be exact!) but if you are a racer we think you will relate to this and it will give you a grin! Enjoy.
The 2013 World Cup Season seems to have clicked up a notch every round. With an ever-growing intensity of crowds, weather, hype and action, Mont Saint Anne was no exception. Wild weather seemed to hang eerily over the Canadian resort throughout the four day event, only adding to the drama come race day. Here Stevie Smith has the finish in sight, powering in for the win.
For many Australian fans this was one early Monday morning to look forward to; a 5am start with the Top 10 Women’s DHI streamed on Red Bull TV. While Rachel Atherton has dominated the series so far, and qualified first, an error at the top of the course and a crash in the lower wooded section cost her vital time, and landed her in 12th place. Emmiline Ragot came away with the win by 4 seconds with a fast, clean run ahead of Manon Carpenter and Floriane Pugin.
Emmiline Ragot took the win with style, and with Junior Men’s teammate Loris Vergier taking 1st too, it was a great day for the Lapierre Gravity Republic team on the mountain.
As the Men’s race runs got underway, mechanicals and punctures littered the field, and even an unlucky broken wheel for ‘not Peaty’ Josh Bryceland. South African Andrew Neethling still held the hot seat with a time of 4:02:984, which held well into the Top 30, until Gee Atherton stormed through for the final dry run of the day with a 3:59:389. Then the sky opened up to make things interesting. It wasn’t long before the open areas were getting slick, slowing riders down in the top section and seemingly securing the win for Gee.
After proving his worth in previous years as a Junior, Troy Brosnan has his foot firmly in the door, placing pressure on the world’s fastest and doing Australia proud. After qualifying 7th, Troy laid down a solid performance in his race run, but the change in conditions slowed the whole group down.After a solid weekend of practice, and confidence coming into the event, Dean Lucas took a close second in Junior Mens, three hundredths of a second behind Loris Vergier. It’s easy to believe the future of Australian World Cup downhill is in safe hands watching these young guns ride!There’s no doubt that there were hearts in mouths when Sam Hill stepped up to the start. After his mythical performance at Champery in 2007, and his building performance throughout his first season back from injury, it was very plausible that he could steal the win from under Gee’s nose. Once again the wet weather stood its ground, but Sam put up a good fight to claim 3rd. And the words on Australia’s lips are “one of these days…”As Stevie Smith hit the track the home crowd roared; they roared as if they’d been silent all day. As he made his way down the mountain, with obvious speed and endless style, commentator Rob Warner took us back to Champery 2011, and got the Downhill world’s hearts pumping as Stevie came in with a time of 3:58:485 and the win.The grin of a well deserved winner, Steve Smith hasn’t got long to celebrate before heading to Whistler for Crankworx. It’s on with the job and onto the next race, but this win won’t be forgotten quickly.
The whole field is hungry for the top of the podium, and as the season progresses each rider gets even more determined. What will happen in Norway?
Last minute practice for riders before finals! Check out the drop to the finish line, that’s steep!
Wow who picked that?! World Cup number three delivered a huge range of highs and lows, a classic race and one that really stood out. Lets rewind a little to Sunday morning, the weather A�was inclement and people were still unsure what would happen with it later in the day, as it turned out conditions were near perfect.
Sunnies on! Bryn Atkinson was just a spectator – which as a racer is never the best but with an injury at Val di Sole he was sub par in the health department and at this level being less than 100% means you might not be in the big show come Sunday.
It was the juniors who kicked proceedings off, a shame that there were no Australian Junior females present and only a few males but such are the demands of racing a whole season it is just not viable.
Tahnee Seagrave taking the Junior Female win and sporting the World Cup leaders jersey as she does so.Junior Men’s winner – Michael Jones kept it upright which was half the battle for the junior riders, some stacking literally insight of the line…Loris Vergier may have been the unlucky junior to crash literally within an arms length of the finish beam… Well yes it was him, devastating for him considering he was second by less than half a second!Our juniors still did us proud, Luke Ellison pulled a strong 7th place and after catching two other riders Dean Lucas finished 9th. Dean retains the overall leaders jersey heading into round 4.
The Elite Men put on one heck of a show, there were a few moments that were not nice to see, the most notably Cam Cole crashing hard and having to be airlifted out. Cam is a nice guy, with time for everyone and has had a bad run of luck with injuries over the past few seasons, we wish him all the best! Mic Hannah scored a flat up on course and as he said the realisation that your tyre is deflating when you are giving it everything is never nice! Big news of course is that Cedric Gracia chose his home World Cup to retire, a true legend but one we will still be seeing more of in the future outside of the World Cup circuit.
A bit of style off the end of what must be one of the best quality construction pieces in a World Cup for some time!Yeah David! 58th for David McMillan against the best racers in the world is pretty awesome for a privateer giving it a real go!Unstoppable! Rachel Atherton was really pushed by Manon Carpenter but still took the win, three from three – can anyone stop her?!Aaron Gwin finished 10th on his bigger bike but after the domination he has shown in the past two season that is a low result by his standards – crazy a top ten at a World Cup is a low result but it shows the pressure these guys are under.Another threat at any race, in any condition, on any track – Greg Minnaar, one spot off the podium in 6th place.34th for Connor Fearon, a strong result but the weekend didn’t quite go to plan for him, wait for his Inside Info where he will give you more insight to his race.The crowd were crazy! So were the media – in their own special way, it is a huge mission to bring you guys the coverage we do believe us!So close! Last rider down and the rider many picked to take the win! Sam Hill missed out just, 3rd place but steadily climbing up the rankings every race and with Troy Brosnan rounding out the podium in 5th place it was a good race as far as us Aussies were concerned.Qualifying proved it wasn’t our eyes playing tricks on us, Remi Thirion was the fastest! What a result for the young Frenchman, congratulations.Cedric Gracia showing the love! Nice one all.
Elite Men:
1. Remi Thirion 4.13.66
2. Gee Atherton 4.15.016 + 1.350
3. Sam Hill 4.15.422 + 1.756
4. Steve Smith 4.15.939 + 2.273
5. Troy Brosnan 4.16.142 + 2.476
The next round in a few weeks time is the infamous Mont Saint Anne – join us there!
Qualifying here in Andorra has produced a mix bag of results to say the least!
Big news out of the qualifying session is Sam Hill sits atop of the time sheet, a mere 0.046 seconds ahead of Greg Minnaar but in front none the less, as Sam said he must really like this track! A few quick Frenchmen Loic Bruni and Remi Thirion close out the top 5. Remi had all sorts of data acquisition equipment strapped onto his bike throughout the day – maybe that is what gave him an edge on most of the other riders?
Back on a track that suits his style and back on top, a huge confidence boost for Sam Hill who is chasing his first World Cup victory in a few seasons – a drought by his standards.
A few noticeable results were Brook MacDonald with a DNF, rumour is he is nursing a shoulder injury and has been taking it easy all week. David McMillan qualified for the big show on Sunday in 74th place.
Elite Men:
1. HILL Sam 4:20.660
2. MINNAAR Greg 4:20.706 + 0.046
3. ATHERTON Gee 4:22.004 + 1.344
4. BRUNI Loic 4:23.544 + 2.884
5. THIRION RA�mi 4:23.758 + 3.098
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11. HANNAH Michael 4:27.063 + 6.403
17. BROSNAN Troy 4:30.794 + 10.134
22. DELFS Mitchell 4:31.704 + 11.044
56. MOIR Jack 4:41.891 + 21.231
63. FEARON Connor 4:45.119 + 24.459
74. McMILLAN David 4:47.509 + 26.849
106. ATKINSON Bryn 4:55.304 + 34.644
115. VEJVODA Joe 4:59.218 + 38.558
Remi Thirion taking care of business for 5th place.A not so good day for Bryn Atkinson who missed the cut and isn’t a protected rider.
Junior Men and a depleted Australian contingent as the majority of the juniors are watching from home. Luke Ellison was the highest Aussie in 7th place and Dean Lucas way down the order in 47th but he qualifies anyway so the result that counts is still to come!
Manon Carpenter was the quickest female on the hill, edging out the dominating Rachel Atherton, will Manon take her first World Cup victory on Sunday?What a shot! Mic Hannah laying waste to a corner in true Sic Mic style.Connor Fearon is hungry for some more good results, looking good in practice don’t put a top 20 past him, easy.
The riders who qualified for the main show now have a few more practice sessions to get their lines dialed, will the weather play a part in the race? We will just have to wait and see, check back soon!
Connor Fearon throws down the horns for what looks to be the track of the year!
After what seems like ages we are back racing World Cups! For race number three we hit up the small principality of Andorra, home to many wealthy people, Cedric Gracia and this weekend’s race. For many this track was an unknown with the track walk revealing that it was steep, really steep. The description we use is ‘like Champery but dry’ so far anyway… There was some water early in the week but whenever it rains the track seems to soak it up quickly, so it will take quite a lot of precipitation to make it muddy. Sam Hill has said “It is the best downhill track he has seen” which says quite a lot!
The track has a real mix of options, some open parts, forest sections, steep sections and a step up for the finish! Bryn Atkinson will be looking to improve that number plate this weekend.Aaron Gwin has been riding different versions of bikes between races to help him get up to speed and comfortable. For this race he has settled on a frame with a longer wheelbase. Check out the bridge in the background, a serious piece of work!A lot of riders who have made the switch to clips have gone back to flats for this race, so many riders love this type of course it is hard to say who will do well, Danny Hart is a name being thrown around as we all know what he did on the steep at the World Champs a few years back. We would complain if Mic Hannah pictured here took the victory for Australia.
After track walk and practice day 1 there is till a few days of practice left, for many riders being a new course and a reasonably long one at that it will require memorising of all their lines. The difference a podium and a top 20 could be remembering exactly where everything is. Check back for more action soon.
