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UCI World Cup #1 – Pietermaritzburg – World Cup (RSA) – Downhill Men-Elite
RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano concluded on Sunday with the Downhill in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
The opening round of the RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano concluded on Sunday with the Downhill, a crowd favourite in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. And why not? The home town son, Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), came from behind to win the men’s title, while Tracey Hannah (Hutchinson United Ride) marked her return to international competition with a win in the women’s competition.
Heavy rain on the previous evening had led to concerns that the track would become muddy and treacherous, but the morning sun quickly started to dry things up, and many riders said that the rain actually made the track better than ever by race time.
The women’s field lost two top contenders even before racing started, with Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) crashing the day before and injuring her shoulder, and Sabrina Jonnier (Labyrinth Shimano) crashing on racing day morning and suffering a leg injury. However, there was never any doubt who the fastest rider was; Hannah qualified first by an impressive three and a half second margin, and took the win by nearly a second over the 2011 Junior World Cup champion, Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen). World champion Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker) was a distant third, nearly three seconds in arrears.
Hannah, who has been away from the World Cup circuit for four years and is a former Junior World Champion, explained: “It has always been my intention to come back, it just took a few years. This was more of a test race for me, to see where I was, and I didn’t know what to expect. I’m in pain, but it is good pain. I am so exhausted. I’m happy, and extremely satisfied. I just can’t believe it, it is so amazing.”
The men’s race was expected to be close, after Minnaar, the 2009 winner in Pietermaritzburg beat 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 and Minnaar was 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 to win by over six-tenths of a second.
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