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2009 World Cup Round One - DH Finals!
by brule
Posted: Apr 12, 2009
Source: Just Reid Racing and MTB Cut Productions
It is the evening of the 1st round of the World Cup series here in South Africa and the dust is finally setting on the 4km track in Greg’s hometown of Pietermaritzburg.
This was an odd track for the 1st round but it was to provide some really exciting moments with various results for the competitors. Everyone was unveiling their new kit and bikes so there was a lot of hustle and bustle around the pit lane for the 1st few days. With some brand new teams emerging and a lot of riders moving teams, it was going to be difficult to predict how the top 5 elite men would pan out on Sunday afternoon.
Pics and video inside!
It is the evening of the 1st round of the World Cup series here in South Africa and the dust is finally setting on the 4km track in Greg’s hometown of Pietermaritzburg.
This was an odd track for the 1st round but it was to provide some really exciting moments with various results for the competitors. Everyone was unveiling their new kit and bikes so there was a lot of hustle and bustle around the pit lane for the 1st few days. With some brand new teams emerging and a lot of riders moving teams, it was going to be difficult to predict how the top 5 elite men would pan out on Sunday afternoon.
Pics and video inside!
In the hometown of Morewood bicycles, Rennie and Delfs were surely going to feel slightly more at home than the rest of the Australians, and their results showed that this local knowledge had clearly paid off. It was a surprise to see Frenchman Cedric Gracia after his announcement that he will not attend a full World Cup series. Cedric reckons he will attend all of the races in Europe but will not be making it over to Canada for the rounds in Bromont and Mt St Anne, nor will he be at the forefront of the party in Whistler this summer.
Other news came in the form of Americas Duncan Riffle who this year set up his own team, taking on fellow American Bradley Benedict. These two were in South Africa for the national round a week before but this extra time paid off with Duncan qualifying well up the pack.
The womens race was pretty much dominated by Tracey Mosely on her new trek session 88, winning the race by a pretty noticeable margin. Her team mate and local boy Andrew Neethling qualified in 10th place but his race run seemed to disappoint him greatly, with his brother Jonty already across the finish after qualifying in the middle of the pack.
After looking so fast in practice, Slovakian Philip Polc also seemed unhappy with his race run. Riding the new Evil revolt all 3 red bull team mates looked absolutely on fire all week, with Matti puncturing on his race run and Canadian Steve smith putting in the best result for the new team.
The track required a lot of strong pedaling at high speeds so there were a few riders who found themselves struggling a bit to match the power of the likes of Steve Greg and Gee. Josh Bryceland and Brendan Fairclough, 2 riders that can on more technical tracks put in top 10 times, found themselves a bit off the pace on this 4 minute long track.
1st: Greg Minnar 3.43.44
2nd: Mic Hannah +0.02.25
3rd: Steve Peat +0.05.81
4th: Sam Hill +0.06.74
5th: Gee Atherton +0.08.57
Gee “Safety Pencil” Atherton qualified in 5th place and was consistent in the final but just couldn’t seem to match the pace of 1st place qualifier Mic Hannah, and final winner Greg. Kiwi Cameron Cole surprised himself and sat in the hot seat for a long time, and it took Sam Hill to knock him off after a great run from the Australian. Steve then managed to knock Sam off the hot seat before his team mate and local favourite among the fans, Greg Minnaar put 3 second in Peats time.
Thanks to Just Reid Racing for the race report, stay tuned for the video from MTBcut.tv!
Other news came in the form of Americas Duncan Riffle who this year set up his own team, taking on fellow American Bradley Benedict. These two were in South Africa for the national round a week before but this extra time paid off with Duncan qualifying well up the pack.
The womens race was pretty much dominated by Tracey Mosely on her new trek session 88, winning the race by a pretty noticeable margin. Her team mate and local boy Andrew Neethling qualified in 10th place but his race run seemed to disappoint him greatly, with his brother Jonty already across the finish after qualifying in the middle of the pack.
Doing up an interview
After looking so fast in practice, Slovakian Philip Polc also seemed unhappy with his race run. Riding the new Evil revolt all 3 red bull team mates looked absolutely on fire all week, with Matti puncturing on his race run and Canadian Steve smith putting in the best result for the new team.
The track required a lot of strong pedaling at high speeds so there were a few riders who found themselves struggling a bit to match the power of the likes of Steve Greg and Gee. Josh Bryceland and Brendan Fairclough, 2 riders that can on more technical tracks put in top 10 times, found themselves a bit off the pace on this 4 minute long track.
1st: Greg Minnar 3.43.44
2nd: Mic Hannah +0.02.25
3rd: Steve Peat +0.05.81
4th: Sam Hill +0.06.74
5th: Gee Atherton +0.08.57
Gee “Safety Pencil” Atherton qualified in 5th place and was consistent in the final but just couldn’t seem to match the pace of 1st place qualifier Mic Hannah, and final winner Greg. Kiwi Cameron Cole surprised himself and sat in the hot seat for a long time, and it took Sam Hill to knock him off after a great run from the Australian. Steve then managed to knock Sam off the hot seat before his team mate and local favourite among the fans, Greg Minnaar put 3 second in Peats time.
Thanks to Just Reid Racing for the race report, stay tuned for the video from MTBcut.tv!
114 Comments
- + 11
IWB1
(Apr 12, 2009 at 13:01)
very nice
Best rider this weekend was Jared Graves. 1st in 4x and 8th in the DH!!! !!
But congrats to Minaar he killed it too
But congrats to Minaar he killed it too
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nice round up..watched it on freecaster but does anybody know what happend to kovarik(sp) if im not mistaken he crashed ? any news/info?
did u notice them two guys at the line like bobbing up and down everytime they were on camera?..hahaha they made me chuckle!!
thats what i was thinking ..i rekon there will be press releases(or whatever u wanna call it) in the morning about the race with in depth info and pics
yep, have to congratulate Cameron Cole for staying in the hot seat for i think it was 21 riders, and that prototype flatline was lush
Apparently Kovaric bit it hard between the 3rd and 4th marshals, somewhere in the vicinity of the road gap.
ive never herd of him before until today, is he like newish or is this like his first good result in the WC?
Chris Kovarik is a World Cup legend- one of many Austrailians- but the only one with a Canadian wife who took 5th in the her DH today too.....Mr and Mrs DH.
Yeah it is pretty much Coles first big WC appearance. I think he has been lurking around the w.c.'s for a couple years and was always strong on N. American scene.
props to cole if that was one of his 1st than it was a rather amazing achievment to get top10 on a track that looked demanding as much as i dont like hill he put in an epic time on flats and a style of track he says he doesnt like
Cameron Cole is the 2006 Jr. World Champion, he's been on the circuit since 06 but this was his first top 10.
2006 Jr.World Champ because Blenky crashed 
I think Cole was only 1st by a second despite Blenky's crash?
I think Cole was only 1st by a second despite Blenky's crash?
if you noticed it was mostly the big strong guys who did well, hence mic hannah doing so well because he is a MEGA TANK
on a second look... your totally right haha the other vid didn't show it well. man pedally course just suck.
Why would you think that, I didn't think anybody was expecting Hill to do that good. I know I wasn't...
Hey Ciszewski. You know the staff man. In polish we say in slang "Dobrze gada, dac mu wodki" 
))
Your name tells that you have polish roots. Al the best for you man!!
))Your name tells that you have polish roots. Al the best for you man!!
aha I had to look that up in google translater, lol. But yes, my dad is polish, but I was born in Canada so I never got around to learning polish...
i am a sam hill fan, and i honestly didn't expect him to get a top 10. bad pedaler, but super good on tech. balenced out i ges.
Greg was actually almost six seconds faster than Peaty, around three seconds faster than mick hannah.
Yeah I thought three seconds was wrong.
It was amazing when he scrubbed the drop before the speed check then was like 5 seconds up by the split...
It was amazing when he scrubbed the drop before the speed check then was like 5 seconds up by the split...
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he's decided to focus more on filming, endurance dh, and just having fun riding. he also tore his ACL on friday.
I just looked and he got a 4:29.3, didn't say what place. I think he flatted or crashed. Last weekend he got a 4:06!
My idol Tracy won!!! 
))
Regarding men I am all for Peaty. The most fingers crossed for him in next World Championship!!!!
This time however I regret that sick Mick did not win. He is such nice person and great rider. I really liked him on Cannondale Judge winning in Vigo in 2006. Now after one year of rest mentally and phisically his is pinning again)
That is racing - Greg is the king today)))
))Regarding men I am all for Peaty. The most fingers crossed for him in next World Championship!!!!
This time however I regret that sick Mick did not win. He is such nice person and great rider. I really liked him on Cannondale Judge winning in Vigo in 2006. Now after one year of rest mentally and phisically his is pinning again
)That is racing - Greg is the king today
)))
Luke STROBEL USA 4:08.90 place = 63
You really gotta hand it to Peaty IMO. He's 4 years older than the next oldest pro at that race and got 3rd. I'll really be rooting for him at worlds this year. He's got to get it!
You really gotta hand it to Peaty IMO. He's 4 years older than the next oldest pro at that race and got 3rd. I'll really be rooting for him at worlds this year. He's got to get it!
gred rides like hell! omg this guy is really fast!
What guys think about Hill and his new bike? I like it...
What guys think about Hill and his new bike? I like it...
You know shit man.
Sam is pinning like hell. He does not like peddaling courses as he he is not good pedaller.
4-th place showing that he will be very dangerous when he gets used to new bike!!
Sam is pinning like hell. He does not like peddaling courses as he he is not good pedaller.
4-th place showing that he will be very dangerous when he gets used to new bike!!
Wait until they get into Europe. Iron Horse did not make Sam who he is, otherwise there would be about 37,000 people that became better riders just by buying a Sunday.
That was a strong effort by Sam. He'll be just fine on his Demo 8.
I'd say more, but I just read CoreX's comment below. That pretty much says it...
That was a strong effort by Sam. He'll be just fine on his Demo 8.
I'd say more, but I just read CoreX's comment below. That pretty much says it...
Last time I checked, a different bike doesn't make you a better or worse rider, especially at that level. Pedaling courses have never been his strong point, so fourth is a really good result for him today.
The track in Pietermaritzburg is not very steep and the rides had to pedal a lot. Sam is good at steep and technical tracks like Schladming, but on flat tracks other riders are faster.
Yes but....
I vote for Eurosport 2. They showed all on TV almost live (30 minutes later). Get cable man))
I vote for Eurosport 2. They showed all on TV almost live (30 minutes later). Get cable man
))
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I predict Sam Hill will be the WC winner this year. If he placed 4th on a bike that is known for being a 'pedaler' and he himself isn't on for strong pedaling...once on the non pedaling courses...he will crush!
My Demo pedaled great! about fifteen times better than my Blindside, but i guess anything would pedal better than that too! LOL!
My 07 demo was one of the better pedaling big travel bikes I've ridden. But I'm pretty sure you could set up any of these bikes to pedal well with the shock technology these days.
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Freecaster is your best bet. Someone who does work for the Super Sport channel said he doubted they could afford the rights.
cool will do. I just find it sad that we have 5 or so sport channels and they'd rather broadcast a varcity rugby game than a world cup event... Even if one of our guys is the current world champ...
I could not agree more. Same deal with how XC gets what little media is around. Was talking to some XC riders from AU and they could not understand how the ZA media thinks that XC is a bigger story than DH. 90% of the official press releases I got were all XC: "Sauser sneezes", "Stander changes socks" etc. DH might become a bit more mainstream now so who knows.
Lucky you missed the idiotic max cluer and his ego on the microphone at the finish...he thought he was at a rugby game and the other moron announcing with him could not even pronounce "animal". Kept calling Duncan Riffle "Duncan Rifle". When Ruaridh Cunningham came down the track they went all quiet. Might have blown their minds to try read out his name.
Lucky you missed the idiotic max cluer and his ego on the microphone at the finish...he thought he was at a rugby game and the other moron announcing with him could not even pronounce "animal". Kept calling Duncan Riffle "Duncan Rifle". When Ruaridh Cunningham came down the track they went all quiet. Might have blown their minds to try read out his name.
ha yea the MCs at these events always try to be "extreme" with their mics. But let's hope that the WC can give DH a push in this country...
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Yes, he did. He cut one corner. Did not use the berm but cut it but that is dh racing. You choose the line. That looked pretty risky for me though. IMO that gave something like 1 sec only.
What a weekend!!! Greg SMOKED the okes. Hannah was savagely awsome too. Graves just dominated the 4X...
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