The season is officially underway! Knowing that the South Africa downhill course was one of the most physically demanding races they'll do all year, riders worked hard during the off season in preparation for the opening round of the 2012 UCI World Cup Series. Despite looming rain clouds and a heavy downpour yesterday evening, the course remained dry for the duration of the race. Following a week of build up and a winter's worth of intensive training and preparation, here's a look at how the times shook down.
If you missed the live broadcast,
the replay is available here.
Men's Highlights and Results:
When the top 30 qualifiers took to the course, Brendan Fairclough was sitting in the hot seat. The lead would quickly change, however, as Fabien Cousine, Neko Mulally, and Julien Camellini soon took their turns in spotlight. When Bryn Atkinson came down he was fastest at the top split, but lost a bit of time during the pedally section of the course. Sam Hill mixed things up a bit on his flat pedals when he came down the hill in 2nd and would end up 11th on the day. Danny Hart will have his work cut out for him this season after an unfortunate slide out near the top of the course that set him clear back into 41st. This race marked Steve Peat's 100th World Cup race, and at just 38 years young he came down the hill in 5th place but was pushed back into 15th when all was said and done.
With just 10 riders to go, Camellini was still in the lead, but hometown hero Andrew Neethling was fueled by loud cheers and busted into the hot seat by nearly a full second. Jared Graves was the next to take the lead and one of the strongest riders in the grueling mid-section of the track. It's interesting to note that Graves opted for the aluminum version of his Yeti downhill bike for the finals.
Just before the top 5 qualifiers started, Sick Mick Hannah lit the course on fire coming down into the lead by 5 seconds! Gee Atherton was comparatively slow at the top split, but made some impressive gains near the bottom of the course and came down just behind Hannah. Steve Smith also shined at the bottom but was unable to crack the pace set by Hannah. Then came Aaron Gwin, who was able to slide into the lead by just a few tenths of a second. With just one rider left to go, all eyes were on South Africa's most successful downhiller, Greg Minnaar. After a sixth place top split, Minnaar hit the turbo button, giving it everything he had. The crowd went absolutely bonkers when he crossed the finish line with the fastest time of the day, and Minnaar was immediately swarmed by friends and family.

Rank |
Name |
UCI Code |
Team |
Result |
1 |
MINNAAR Greg |
RSA19811113 |
SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE |
3:57.980 |
2 |
GWIN Aaron |
USA19871224 |
TREK WORLD RACING |
+0.632 |
3 |
HANNAH Michael |
AUS19831121 |
HUTCHINSON UNITED RIDE |
+0.994 |
4 |
ATHERTON Gee |
GBR19850226 |
GT FACTORY RACING |
+1.303 |
5 |
SMITH Steve |
CAN19891125 |
DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING |
+4.384 |
6 |
GRAVES Jared |
AUS19821216 |
YETI FOX SHOX FACTORY RACE TEAM |
+4.436 |
7 |
NEETHLING Andrew |
RSA19840805 |
GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM |
+4.800 |
8 |
BROSNAN Troy |
AUS19930713 |
MONSTER ENERGY-SPECIALIZED |
+5.017 |
9 |
CAMELLINI Julien |
FRA19840107 |
|
+5.604 |
10 |
GRACIA Cédric |
FRA19780323 |
CG RACING BRIGADE |
+5.674 |
11 |
HILL Samuel |
AUS19850721 |
MONSTER ENERGY-SPECIALIZED |
+5.836 |
12 |
BEER Nick |
SUI19870917 |
DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING |
+5.894 |
13 |
GIORDANENGO Aurélien |
FRA19880422 |
TOPCYCLE BY TREK |
+6.064 |
14 |
MULALLY Neko |
USA19930219 |
TREK WORLD RACING |
+6.327 |
15 |
PEAT Steve |
GBR19740617 |
SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE |
+7.670 |
16 |
COUSINIE Fabien |
FRA19860814 |
HUTCHINSON UNITED RIDE |
+7.674 |
17 |
LEOV Justin |
NZL19841020 |
TREK WORLD RACING |
+8.579 |
18 |
BEAUMONT Marc |
GBR19840925 |
GT FACTORY RACING |
+8.874 |
19 |
MACDONALD Brook |
NZL19911125 |
MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
+9.036 |
20 |
FAIRCLOUGH Brendan |
GBR19880110 |
SCOTT11 |
+9.212 |
21 |
BRYCELAND Josh |
GBR19900323 |
SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE |
+9.396 |
22 |
THIRION Rémi |
FRA19900423 |
LABYRINTH SHIMANO RACING TEAM |
+10.307 |
23 |
RUFFIN Thibaut |
FRA19841030 |
COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION |
+10.412 |
24 |
ATKINSON Bryn |
AUS19821209 |
TEAM NORCO INTERNATIONAL |
+10.657 |
25 |
SPAGNOLO Damien |
FRA19850428 |
MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
+10.938 |
26 |
BRUNI Loic° |
FRA19940513 |
LAPIERRE INTERNATIONAL |
+11.038 |
27 |
BURTON Oliver |
GBR19890712 |
|
+11.178 |
28 |
WALLNER Robin |
SWE19880704 |
TEAM ARE BIKEPARK BY W-RACING |
+11.418 |
29 |
FISCHBACH Johannes |
GER19880304 |
GHOST FACTORY RACING TEAM |
+11.881 |
30 |
DELFS Mitchell |
AUS19890725 |
KONA |
+11.886 |
31 |
RUDE JR Richard° |
USA19950101 |
YETI FOX SHOX FACTORY RACE TEAM |
+12.047 |
32 |
GEORGES Pierre Charles |
FRA19860206 |
TEAM LAC BLANC / SOLID / BATIBOIS ALSACE |
+12.386 |
33 |
POTGIETER Johann |
RSA19870106 |
|
+12.472 |
34 |
KLAUSMANN Marcus |
GER19770808 |
GHOST FACTORY RACING TEAM |
+12.533 |
35 |
SUDING Lorenzo |
ITA19860315 |
PILA-BLACK ARROWS-MTB HERIN SCHOOL ASD |
+12.759 |
36 |
RIFFLE Duncan |
USA19861029 |
DIRT NORCO RACE TEAM |
+13.211 |
37 |
LEIVSSON Isak |
NOR19931017 |
|
+13.491 |
38 |
STROBEL Luke |
USA19860624 |
|
+13.584 |
39 |
WILLIAMSON Greg |
GBR19920608 |
|
+14.492 |
40 |
BRANNIGAN George |
NZL19920409 |
DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING |
+14.515 |
41 |
HART Danny |
GBR19910920 |
GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM |
+14.616 |
42 |
SMITH Joseph |
GBR19900704 |
CHAIN REACTION CYCLES.COM / NUKEPROOF |
+14.844 |
43 |
KEENE Curtis |
USA19791121 |
SPECIALIZED RACING - USA GRAVITY |
+15.038 |
44 |
ROPELATO Mitch |
USA19920303 |
SPECIALIZED RACING - USA GRAVITY |
+15.072 |
45 |
SIMMONDS Matthew |
GBR19870520 |
CHAIN REACTION CYCLES.COM / NUKEPROOF |
+15.105 |
46 |
THOMAS Richard |
GBR19880512 |
|
+15.358 |
47 |
KERR Bernard |
GBR19910216 |
|
+15.742 |
48 |
BENTLEY Timothy |
RSA19920723 |
HUTCHINSON UNITED RIDE |
+15.914 |
49 |
NEETHLING Jonty |
RSA19860717 |
|
+16.222 |
50 |
MOLLOY Harry |
GBR19910530 |
MADISON SARACEN DOWNHILL TEAM |
+16.312 |
51 |
JACKSON Eliot |
USA19900619 |
YETI FOX SHOX FACTORY RACE TEAM |
+16.656 |
52 |
PASCAL Mickael |
FRA19791011 |
CK RACING SANTACRUZ |
+16.657 |
53 |
BOND Alex |
GBR19890505 |
CHAIN REACTION CYCLES.COM / NUKEPROOF |
+16.732 |
54 |
GARLICKI Stefan |
RSA19900912 |
|
+16.838 |
55 |
THOME Patrick |
FRA19911020 |
LAPIERRE INTERNATIONAL |
+16.912 |
56 |
BRAITHWAITE Thomas |
GBR19841228 |
|
+17.154 |
57 |
POMBO Emanuel |
POR19870616 |
|
+18.060 |
58 |
BLENKINSOP Samuel |
NZL19881028 |
LAPIERRE INTERNATIONAL |
+18.106 |
59 |
PEYER Lars |
SUI19880816 |
SC-INTENSE |
+18.447 |
60 |
HARNSTROM Oscar |
SWE19900420 |
PILA-BLACK ARROWS-MTB HERIN SCHOOL ASD |
+18.649 |
61 |
PANDUR Ziga |
SLO19910117 |
UNIOR TOOLS TEAM |
+18.775 |
62 |
FEARON Connor° |
AUS19940119 |
KONA |
+19.178 |
63 |
BINGGELI Logan |
USA19890827 |
|
+20.070 |
64 |
WALLNER Niklas |
SWE19900519 |
TEAM ARE BIKEPARK BY W-RACING |
+20.132 |
65 |
LAMB Fergus |
GBR19850916 |
|
+20.875 |
66 |
HEATH Harry |
GBR19910805 |
UNIOR TOOLS TEAM |
+20.989 |
67 |
RUTAR Nejc |
SLO19890427 |
UNIOR TOOLS TEAM |
+21.552 |
68 |
MAY Ludovic |
SUI19890403 |
|
+21.594 |
69 |
READING Jack |
GBR19881210 |
|
+21.938 |
70 |
HERRMANN Tommy |
GER19891226 |
|
+22.220 |
71 |
CAUVIN Guillaume° |
FRA19940521 |
HUTCHINSON UNITED RIDE |
+22.224 |
72 |
VAUH Miran |
SLO19821104 |
|
+22.868 |
73 |
WEBER Lutz |
SUI19921204 |
|
+23.110 |
74 |
ODENDAAL Tiaan° |
RSA19941106 |
|
+24.677 |
75 |
JONES Jonathan° |
GBR19940813 |
|
+24.801 |
76 |
SCOTT Mark |
GBR19930511 |
|
+25.629 |
77 |
AIELLO Kevin |
USA19910412 |
|
+27.285 |
78 |
SHERIDAN Dan° |
IRL19940517 |
|
+27.934 |
79 |
HAUGLAND Kristoffer |
NOR19911009 |
|
+27.985 |
80 |
PEKOLL Markus |
AUT19871013 |
MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
+28.830 |
|
JOHANSEN Zakarias Blom |
NOR19921125 |
|
DNF1 |
Women's Highlights and Results:
With Rachel Atherton, Floriane Pugin, and Sabrina Jonnier all out due to injuries, the women's race was anyone's game. Recent 4X crossover Anita Molcik set the pace early on, but Manon Carpenter soon threw down the gauntlet. Carpenter had some really good split times during qualifiers and was able to put together an impressive 2nd place run today. First place qualifier and former Junior World Champ Tracey Hannah stole the show when she came down into the lead.
When everyone heals up, it'll be an interesting battle this year in the women's field!

Rank |
Name |
UCI Code |
Team |
Result |
1 |
HANNAH Tracey |
AUS19880613 |
HUTCHINSON UNITED RIDE |
4:33.806 |
2 |
CARPENTER Manon |
GBR19930311 |
MADISON SARACEN DOWNHILL TEAM |
+0.949 |
3 |
RAGOT Emmeline |
FRA19860527 |
MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
+2.810 |
4 |
KINTNER Jill |
USA19811024 |
TEAM NORCO INTERNATIONAL |
+8.492 |
5 |
RUCHTI Miriam |
SUI19870101 |
SC-INTENSE |
+10.896 |
6 |
SIEGENTHALER Emilie |
SUI19860919 |
SCOTT11 |
+11.402 |
7 |
MOLCIK Anita |
AUT19801112 |
|
+12.123 |
8 |
de SOUZA OLIVEIRA Luana Maria |
BRA19910528 |
|
+14.385 |
9 |
BERNHARD Petra |
AUT19801118 |
ALPINE COMMENCAL AUSTRIA |
+15.112 |
10 |
NICOLE Myriam |
FRA19900208 |
COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION |
+17.275 |
11 |
SUEMASA Mio |
JPN19830401 |
|
+18.065 |
12 |
GRIFFITHS Fionn |
GBR19820827 |
|
+18.557 |
13 |
RUCKNAGEL Harriet |
GER19881011 |
|
+27.356 |
14 |
BRUEHLMANN Martina |
SUI19840924 |
|
+28.002 |
15 |
SAX Caroline |
FRA19881007 |
TEAM LAC BLANC / SOLID / BATIBOIS ALSACE |
+33.423 |
16 |
WILLIAMS Gabriela |
CZE19810728 |
CG RACING BRIGADE |
+34.377 |
17 |
CERNILOGAR Zarja |
SLO19891218 |
|
+46.668 |
18 |
ULRICH Tamara Maria |
AUT19921003 |
|
+1:24.564 |
|
PUGIN Floriane |
FRA19890417 |
SCOTT11 |
DNS |
|
JONNIER Sabrina |
FRA19810819 |
LABYRINTH SHIMANO RACING TEAM |
DNS |
peewho
3/19/2012 7:13 AM
awesome racing.. was super stoked the Hannah's are back and killing it.! was hoping Mik would win. he was fastest at split 1 & 2.
P"
Dh Phil Mmkay
3/18/2012 2:06 PM
Uncle Cliffy
3/18/2012 10:56 AM
JimEG
3/18/2012 9:04 AM