Minnaar wins downhill World Cup opener at home
Gwin, Hannah round out top three
The opening round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup concluded on Sunday with the downhill, a crowd favourite in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Local fans went wild when the hometown son, Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), came from behind to win the men's title.
The men's race was expected to be close, after Minnaar, the 2009 winner in Pietermaritzburg beat American Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing), the 2011 Pietermaritzburg champion, by an infinitesimal eight one-thousandths of a second in qualifying.
After Gwin set the fastest time, overtaking Mick Hannah (Hutchinson United Ride), and with Minnaar over two seconds behind at the first time check, it looked like the race was over. However, the "Greg Minnaar Nation" was cheering their hero on, and the Pietermaritzburg rider made up the time deficit in the lower half of the course, cutting it to one second at the second intermediate split and then winning by over six-tenths of a second.
"I knew at the top I was behind," said Minnaar. "I made two stupid mistakes at the beginning, so I knew had to make up as much as I could down at the bottom. As much pain as it was to pedal, I just had to put my head down and go."
"Oh man, it was electric, hearing the crowd at the bottom, it was so wild. I could have done with some more support further up on the pedaling bit when I wanted to sit down, but there was no one there, they were all down at the bottom. But when I jumped into the finishing area, the crowd was just amazing."
Gwin shrugged at the close loss, vowing to continue the battle at the next round. "It's been a great week here in South Africa, and I'm happy with my run today. I'm also happy for Greg, he's had some tough challenges this past week [Minnaar's father has been ill - Ed.] and I truly respect his win today. That was amazing, and I'm looking forward to a great season with him, like last year."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:03:57.980 |
2 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:00.632 |
3 | Michael Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson United Ride | 0:00:00.994 |
4 | Gee Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:01.303 |
5 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:04.384 |
6 | Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:04.436 |
7 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:04.800 |
8 | Troy Brosnan (Aus) Monster Energy-Specialized | 0:00:05.017 |
9 | Julien Camellini (Fra) | 0:00:05.604 |
10 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) CG Racing Brigade | 0:00:05.674 |
11 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy-Specialized | 0:00:05.836 |
12 | Nick Beer (Swi) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:05.894 |
13 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Topcycle By Trek | 0:00:06.064 |
14 | Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing | 0:00:06.327 |
15 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:07.670 |
16 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Hutchinson United Ride | 0:00:07.674 |
17 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 0:00:08.579 |
18 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:00:08.874 |
19 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Mondraker Team | 0:00:09.036 |
20 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Scott11 | 0:00:09.212 |
21 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 0:00:09.396 |
22 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 0:00:10.307 |
23 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:10.412 |
24 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) Team Norco International | 0:00:10.657 |
25 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) MS Mondraker Team | 0:00:10.938 |
26 | Loic Bruni° (Fra) Lapierre International | 0:00:11.038 |
27 | Oliver Burton (GBr) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 0:00:11.178 |
28 | Robin Wallner (Swe) | 0:00:11.418 |
29 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 0:00:11.881 |
30 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona | 0:00:11.886 |
31 | Richard Rude Jr° (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:12.047 |
32 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 0:00:12.386 |
33 | Johann Potgieter (RSA) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 0:00:12.472 |
34 | Marcus Klausmann (Ger) | 0:00:12.533 |
35 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Pila-Black Arrows-MTB Herin School Asd | 0:00:12.759 |
36 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Dirt Norco Race Team | 0:00:13.211 |
37 | Isak Leivsson (Nor) | 0:00:13.491 |
38 | Luke Strobel (USA) | 0:00:13.584 |
39 | Greg Williamson (GBr) | 0:00:14.492 |
40 | George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing | 0:00:14.515 |
41 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 0:00:14.616 |
42 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:14.844 |
43 | Curtis Keene (USA) Specialized Racing - USA Gravity | 0:00:15.038 |
44 | Mitch Ropelato (USA) Specialized Racing - USA Gravity | 0:00:15.072 |
45 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:15.105 |
46 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 0:00:15.358 |
47 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) | 0:00:15.742 |
48 | Timothy Bentley (RSA) Hutchinson United Ride | 0:00:15.914 |
49 | Jonty Neethling (RSA) | 0:00:16.222 |
50 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 0:00:16.312 |
51 | Eliot Jackson (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 0:00:16.656 |
52 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) CK Racing Santacruz | 0:00:16.657 |
53 | Alex Bond (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 0:00:16.732 |
54 | Stefan Garlicki (RSA) | 0:00:16.838 |
55 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Lapierre International | 0:00:16.912 |
56 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 0:00:17.154 |
57 | Emanuel Pombo (Por) | 0:00:18.060 |
58 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 0:00:18.106 |
59 | Lars Peyer (Swi) SC-Intense | 0:00:18.447 |
60 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) Pila-Black Arrows-MTB Herin School Asd | 0:00:18.649 |
61 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
62 | Connor Fearon° (Aus) Kona | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Logan Binggeli (USA) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Niklas Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Fergus Lamb (GBr) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) Unior Tools Team | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | Ludovic May (Swi) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Jack Reading (GBr) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Tommy Herrmann (Ger) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Guillaume Cauvin ° (Fra) Hutchinson United Ride | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
72 | Miran Vauh (Slo) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Lutz Weber (Swi) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Tiaan Odendaal° (RSA) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
75 | Jonathan Jones° (GBr) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
76 | Mark Scott (GBr) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
77 | Kevin Aiello (USA) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
78 | Dan Sheridan° (Irl) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | Kristoffer Haugland (Nor) | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
80 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Mondraker Team | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Zakarias Blom Johansen (Nor) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Hutchinson United Ride | 87 | pts |
2 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 66 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Trek World Racing | 66 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | MS Mondraker Team | 48 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Devinci Global Racing | 47 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | GT Factory Racing | 43 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Monster Energy-Specialized | 43 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 35 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Team Norco International | 33 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Scott11 | 31 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 26 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | CG Racing Brigade | 26 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 24 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | SC-Intense | 22 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 20 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Topcycle By Trek | 18 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 14 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 9 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 6 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
20 | Lapierre International | 5 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
21 | Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 3 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
22 | Ghost Factory Racing Team | 2 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
23 | Kona | 1 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 250 | pts |
2 | Aaron Gwin (USA) Trek World Racing | 200 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Michael Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson United Ride | 160 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | Gee Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 150 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing | 140 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 111 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Troy Brosnan (Aus) Monster Energy-Specialized | 107 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Andrew Neethling (RSA) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 105 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Cédric Gracia (Fra) CG Racing Brigade | 93 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) Topcycle By Trek | 85 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy-Specialized | 81 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | Nick Beer (Swi) Devinci Global Racing | 81 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Julien Camellini (Fra) | 80 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 80 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 73 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing | 69 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 68 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing | 67 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Fabien Cousinie (Fra) Hutchinson United Ride | 65 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
20 | Bryn Atkinson (Aus) Team Norco International | 64 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
21 | Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Mondraker Team | 62 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
22 | Damien Spagnolo (Fra) MS Mondraker Team | 62 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
23 | Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Scott11 | 61 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
24 | Johannes Fischbach (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 61 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
25 | Rémi Thirion (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 59 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
26 | Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 58 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
27 | Loic Bruni° (Fra) Lapierre International | 55 | Row 26 - Cell 3 |
28 | Oliver Burton (GBr) | 54 | Row 27 - Cell 3 |
29 | Robin Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 53 | Row 28 - Cell 3 |
30 | Danny Hart (GBr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 53 | Row 29 - Cell 3 |
31 | Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kona | 51 | Row 30 - Cell 3 |
32 | Richard Rude Jr° (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 50 | Row 31 - Cell 3 |
33 | Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 49 | Row 32 - Cell 3 |
34 | Johann Potgieter (RSA) | 48 | Row 33 - Cell 3 |
35 | Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost Factory Racing Team | 47 | Row 34 - Cell 3 |
36 | Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Pila-Black Arrows-MTB Herin School ASD | 46 | Row 35 - Cell 3 |
37 | Duncan Riffle (USA) Dirt Norco Race Team | 45 | Row 36 - Cell 3 |
38 | Isak Leivsson (Nor) | 44 | Row 37 - Cell 3 |
39 | Luke Strobel (USA) | 43 | Row 38 - Cell 3 |
40 | Greg Williamson (GBr) | 42 | Row 39 - Cell 3 |
41 | George Brannigan (NZl) Devinci Global Racing | 41 | Row 40 - Cell 3 |
42 | Joseph Smith (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.com / Nukeproof | 39 | Row 41 - Cell 3 |
43 | Curtis Keene (USA) Specialized Racing - USA Gravity | 38 | Row 42 - Cell 3 |
44 | Mitch Ropelato (USA) Specialized Racing - USA Gravity | 37 | Row 43 - Cell 3 |
45 | Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.com / Nukeproof | 36 | Row 44 - Cell 3 |
46 | Richard Thomas (GBr) | 35 | Row 45 - Cell 3 |
47 | Bernard Kerr (GBr) | 34 | Row 46 - Cell 3 |
48 | Timothy Bentley (RSA) Hutchinson United Ride | 33 | Row 47 - Cell 3 |
49 | Jonty Neethling (RSA) | 32 | Row 48 - Cell 3 |
50 | Harry Molloy (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 31 | Row 49 - Cell 3 |
51 | Eliot Jackson (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 30 | Row 50 - Cell 3 |
52 | Mickael Pascal (Fra) CK Racing Santacruz | 29 | Row 51 - Cell 3 |
53 | Alex Bond (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles.com / Nukeproof | 28 | Row 52 - Cell 3 |
54 | Stefan Garlicki (RSA) | 27 | Row 53 - Cell 3 |
55 | Patrick Thome (Fra) Lapierre International | 26 | Row 54 - Cell 3 |
56 | Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) | 25 | Row 55 - Cell 3 |
57 | Emanuel Pombo (Por) | 24 | Row 56 - Cell 3 |
58 | Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Lapierre International | 23 | Row 57 - Cell 3 |
59 | Lars Peyer (Swi) SC-Intense | 22 | Row 58 - Cell 3 |
60 | Oscar Harnstrom (Swe) Pila-Black Arrows-MTB Herin School ASD | 21 | Row 59 - Cell 3 |
61 | Ziga Pandur (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 20 | Row 60 - Cell 3 |
62 | Connor Fearon° (Aus) Kona | 19 | Row 61 - Cell 3 |
63 | Logan Binggeli (USA) | 18 | Row 62 - Cell 3 |
64 | Niklas Wallner (Swe) Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 17 | Row 63 - Cell 3 |
65 | Fergus Lamb (GBr) | 16 | Row 64 - Cell 3 |
66 | Harry Heath (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 15 | Row 65 - Cell 3 |
67 | Nejc Rutar (Slo) Unior Tools Team | 14 | Row 66 - Cell 3 |
68 | Ludovic May (Swi) | 13 | Row 67 - Cell 3 |
69 | Jack Reading (GBr) | 12 | Row 68 - Cell 3 |
70 | Tommy Herrmann (Ger) | 11 | Row 69 - Cell 3 |
71 | Guillaume Cauvin° (Fra) Hutchinson United Ride | 10 | Row 70 - Cell 3 |
72 | Miran Vauh (Slo) | 9 | Row 71 - Cell 3 |
73 | Lutz Weber (Swi) | 8 | Row 72 - Cell 3 |
74 | Tiaan Odendaal° (RSA) | 7 | Row 73 - Cell 3 |
75 | Jonathan Jones° (GBr) | 6 | Row 74 - Cell 3 |
76 | Mark Scott (GBr) | 5 | Row 75 - Cell 3 |
77 | Kevin Aiello (USA) | 4 | Row 76 - Cell 3 |
78 | Dan Sheridan° (Irl) | 3 | Row 77 - Cell 3 |
79 | Kristoffer Haugland (Nor) | 2 | Row 78 - Cell 3 |
80 | Markus Pekoll (Aut) MS Mondraker Team | 1 | Row 79 - Cell 3 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Hutchinson United Ride | 87 | pts |
2 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 66 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
3 | Trek World Racing | 66 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
4 | MS Mondraker Team | 48 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
5 | Devinci Global Racing | 47 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
6 | GT Factory Racing | 43 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
7 | Monster Energy-Specialized | 43 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
8 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 35 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
9 | Team Norco International | 33 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
10 | Scott11 | 31 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
11 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 26 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
12 | CG Racing Brigade | 26 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
13 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 24 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
14 | SC-Intense | 22 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
15 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 20 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
16 | Topcycle By Trek | 18 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
17 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 14 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
18 | Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 9 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
19 | Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 6 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
20 | Lapierre International | 5 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
21 | Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 3 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
22 | Ghost Factory Racing Team | 2 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
23 | Kona | 1 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
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