The spring round of the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup concluded on Sunday in Maribor, Slovenia, with the fifth round of the Gravity events, consisting of the 4-Cross and Downhill. After rain all day on Saturday caused the postponement of the Downhill qualifying and led to a very slippery and muddy 4-Cross, Sunday dawned bright and sunny for a long day of downhill racing.
Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) increased her lead in the women's standings with a fourth consecutive victory, the first of four French riders on the podium, while three time world champion Fabien Barel (Subaru) announced his return from a knee injury by becoming the first non-Santa Cruz Syndicate rider of the year to win a World Cup. Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) took over the World Cup lead from his team mate Steve Peat after the Englishman flatted on his run. Canada's Steve Smith (MS Evil) had the top North American result, qualifying sixth for the men and finishing seventh, his best ever World Cup result.
Women
Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis Rocky Mountain)Floriane Pugin (Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker), the tenth rider down, set the first fast time of the day for the final, over 20 seconds ahead of the previous best time of Fionn Griffiths (Norco World Team). Pugin's time was so fast that only two riders would beat her - Jonnier and Emmeline Ragot (Suspension Center), the fastest in qualifying.
Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing), the winner of round one was well back, after crashing near the top of her run, and Myriam Nicole of France came within 12 seconds of Pugin, but it took Jonnier to finally displace her young French rival, and she did it with the first sub-3:40 ride, at 3:39.59 . There was only one rider left by this time - Ragot - and the former Junior world champion came through the first intermediate timer two-hundredths of a second ahead of Jonnier. However, Ragot lost four-tenths of a second in the lower portion of the run, to finish 0.31 seconds down on Jonnier. Celine Gros (Morzine-Avoriaz 74) took fourth, while Mio Suemasa of Japan took the final podium spot, breaking the French stranglehold. Canada's Claire Buchar (Chain Reaction) was the top North American, finishing tenth, 27.53 seconds behind Jonnier.
"I wasn't super happy about my race run," revealed Jonnier, "because I made many mistakes, and didn't really think that I had done enough to win. But I'm glad that I changed back to my favourite Maxxis High Rollers from the 2.5 Wetscreams after qualifying, because the track was drying out quickly and conditions changed in favour of dry tires."
Jonnier's win puts her at 1132 points, 197 ahead of Ragot and 322 in front of Moseley with three races remaining in the World Cup. Buchar remains 11th in the overall standings, at 290 points.
Men
Markus Pekoll (Solid AClass Factory Team), the seventh rider off in the men, was the first to enjoy the Hot Seat for any length of time, keeping the lead through a quarter of the field before Nathan Rankin (Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker) finally bumped him out of the lead. However, Rankin had only a short time at the top before a succession of riders started cutting the fastest time by tenths or hundredths of a second. One rider who, surprisingly, didn't take the lead was Chris Kovarik (Chain Reaction), who finished well off the pace.
Fabien Barel (Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team)It took Matti Lehikoinen (MS Evil) to finally make a significant cut in the leading time, with his 3:08.81 the first time to beat world champion Gee Atherton's (Animal Commencal) best qualifying time. Lehikoinen's time began to look particularly good as rider after rider in the top 25 came close to, but could not beat it.Fabien Pedemanaud (Scott 11) eventually managed to knock two-tenths of a second off, but his reign was shortlived, with Barel starting two spots behind him. Fabien Pedemanaud (Scott 11) eventually managed to knock two-tenths of a second off, but his reign was shortlived, with Barel starting two spots behind him.
With just 13 riders remaining, it was Barel's turn. The Frenchman, in only his second race back after dislocating his knee before the World Cup opener, left the start house wearing a knee brace for support. Hoping to save his season, Barel has finished seven weeks of intensive therapy and strengthening exercises, so that he can compete and not require surgery until the end of the season.
Barel was clearly on a superb run, three seconds ahead by the first time split, five seconds ahead at the second, and 5.28 seconds faster by the finishline. He was also the first rider to surpass 50 kilometres an hour at the speed trap near the bottom of the course.
There were still some big names to go, but it was starting to look like this might be Barel's day after Greg Minnaar could get no closer than two seconds to himl. The biggest threat was likely to be two-time Maribor champion Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Specialized), and he did indeed start strong, clipping over and a second and a half of of Barel's time for the first split. But then he started to slow in the lower half of the course, only three-hundredths ahead at the second, and finishing 71-hundredths down at the finish, bumping Minnaar to third.
Peat, the World Cup leader, who qualified third fastest, was the next to look like he had a real shot at dislodging Barel, when he also went faster at the first split, but the English rider suffered a rear flat in the second half of the course, and did well to finish 38th, 12.61 seconds down.
There were two riders remaining - Justin Leov (Trek World Racing), who was fast enough to slot into fourth, and the final rider, Gee Atherton. Atherton ahead at the first time split and only five-hundredths slower at the second. This looked to be a very tight finish, until disaster struck in the final wooded section, when Atherton hit the outside edge of a rutted turn and crashed, losing precious seconds and dropping back to finish 12th.
Fabien Barel embraces mechanic Paul WaltonBarel was almost disbelieving of his victory. "I'm just back from this injury, I didn't expect a race like this. I was just trying to put together a consistent run, and I still feel like I am struggling. It is just like a dream."
Peat's flat cost him dearly, dropping him 79 points behind his team mate Minnaar's 914 points in the overall standings, while Hill moves up from fifth to third, 125 points behind Minnaar. Atherton, the former third placed rider in the series, is 13 points points behind Hill, while Mick Hannah (GT Bicycles), who missed his first podium of the season, dropped to fifth at 723 points. Steve Smith has moved up from tenth to ninth in the overall standings, with 411 points.
The World Cup now takes its first extended break of the season, for five weeks, before resuming with a pair of triples in Mont Ste Anne and Bromont, Canada.
Results
Women
1 Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 3:39.59
2 Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center 0.31
3 Floriane Pugin (Fra) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 3.74
4 Céline Gros (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 8.49
5 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) www.funfancy.jp 11.07
6 Myriam Nicole (Fra) 15.58
7 Emilie Siegenthaler (Sui) Scott 11 19.61
8 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco World Team 24.28
9 Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing 26.46
10 Miriam Ruchti (Sui) Team Vario Racing 27.53
10 Claire Buchar (Can) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 27.53
12 Anita Molcik (Aut) Yeti 27.93
13 Joanna Petterson (RSA) Commencal USA 29.22
14 Jessica Stone (GBr) 2Stage Factory 29.47
15 Petra Bernhard (Aut) 35.8
16 Melissa Buhl (USA) KHS 37.18
17 Caroline Sax (Fra) 51.28
18 Fanny Lombard (Fra) 53.55
19 Emma Atkinson (GBr) 1:18.76
20 Sophie Borderes (Fra) 1:39.07
DNF Birgit Brauman (Aut)
Sam Hill (Monster Specialized)
Men
1 Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 3:03.33
2 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 0.71
3 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 2.03
4 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 4.32
5 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 5.17
6 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 5.28
7 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 5.41
8 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 5.48
9 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Team Proteinfabrikken-Ktm 6.13
10 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 6.35
11 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 6.39
12 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 6.62
13 Rhys Willemse (Aus) 6.71
14 Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 6.79
15 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Esp) Massi 7.46
16 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 8.03
17 Nick Beer (Sui) Scott 11 8.16
18 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 8.35
19 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 8.46
20 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 8.87
21 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid AClass Factory Team 9.05
22 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 9.15
23 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 9.18
24 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 9.37
25 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 9.52
26 Joe Barnes (GBr) 10.04
27 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 10.21
28 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 10.29
29 Nathan Rankin (NZl) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 10.56
30 Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid AClass Factory Team 10.58
31 Toni Berg (Fin) 10.72
32 Maxime Remy (Fra) Suspension Center 11.02
33 Robin Wallner (Swe) 11.69
34 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 11.84
35 Danny Hart (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 12.12
35 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 12.12
37 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 12.17
38 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 12.61
39 David Vazquez Lopez (Esp) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 12.98
40 Aari Barrett (NZl) Scott 11 13.12
41 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 13.42
42 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 13.63
43 Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Esp) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 13.69
44 Bernard Kerr (GBr) 14.23
45 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 14.24
46 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 14.37
46 Benny Strasser (Ger) 14.37
48 Nico Vink (Bel) 14.39
49 Matthew Scoles (NZl) 14.97
50 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 15.37
51 Dominik Gspan (Sui) 15.65
52 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 15.82
53 Sam Dale (GBr) 16.03
54 Herman Olund (Swe) 16.45
55 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 16.52
56 Cesar Rojo (Esp) 16.55
57 Joshua Button (Aus) 16.69
58 Ben Reid (Irl) Just Reid Race Team 16.72
59 Harry Heath (GBr) 17.94
60 Marcel Beer (Sui) 18.4
61 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze) 18.54
62 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 18.91
63 Martin Mikulenka (Cze) 19.04
64 Rémy Charrier (Fra) Team Sunn 19.05
65 Carlo Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop 19.23
66 Romain Paulhan (Fra) 19.8
67 Roman Roschi (Sui) 19.86
68 Daniel Wolfe (Irl) 20.09
69 Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH 20.26
70 Ben Cathro (GBr) 20.68
71 Shaun O'connor (Aus) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 21.11
72 Mario Sieder (Aut) Solid AClass Factory Team 21.38
73 Nejc Rutar (Slo) Mbk Orbea 22.29
74 Espen Johnsen (Nor) 22.4
75 Rick Balbierer (Ger) 22.44
76 Ralph Jones (GBr) 22.69
77 Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 24.28
78 Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Team Sunn 24.35
79 David Eme (Fra) 25.24
80 Ziga Pandur (Slo) 25.35
81 Erik Irmisch (Ger) 30.81
82 Will Longden (GBr) +1:40.02
83 Mathias Haas (Aut) +2:23.07
DNS Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles
Standings
Women
1 Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 1132 pts
2 Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center 935
3 Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing 810
4 Myriam Nicole (Fra) 607
5 Floriane Pugin (Fra) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 579
6 Céline Gros (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 571
7 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) www.funfancy.jp 515
8 Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco World Team 425
9 Emilie Siegenthaler (Sui) Scott 11 342
10 Melissa Buhl (USA) KHS 323
11 Claire Buchar (Can) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 290
12 Joanna Petterson (RSA) 180
13 Petra Bernhard (Aut) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 137
14 Miriam Ruchti (Sui) Team Vario Racing 130
15 Anita Molcik (Aut) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 125
16 Micayla Gatto (Can) 110
17 Katy Curd (GBr) 92
18 Jessica Stone (GBr) 2Stage Factory 87
19 Helen Gaskell (GBr) 80
20 Anais Pajot (Fra) Team Sunn 60
21 Sarah Newman (GBr) 60
22 Diana Marggraff (Ecu) 60
23 Anka Martin (RSA) 40
24 Helene Valerie Fruhwirth (Aut) 35
25 Miranda Miller (Can) 30
26 Elisa Canepa (Ita) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 30
27 Risa Suseanty (Ina) 25
28 Caroline Sax (Fra) 25
29 Harriet Rucknagel (Ger) 20
30 Victoria Phillips (RSA) 20
31 Fanny Lombard (Fra) 20
32 Antje Kramer (Ger) 15
33 Sophie Borderes (Fra) 15
34 Emma Atkinson (GBr) 10
Men
1 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 914 pts
2 Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 835
3 Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 789
4 Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 776
5 Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 723
6 Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 551
7 Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 482
8 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 476
9 Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 411
10 Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 398
11 Nick Beer (Sui) Scott 11 372
12 Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 361
13 Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 352
14 Bernat Guardia Pascual (Esp) Massi 345
15 Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 329
16 Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 326
17 David Vazquez Lopez (Esp) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 315
18 Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 312
19 Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 308
20 Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 297
21 Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 289
22 Fabien Barel (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 278
23 Robin Wallner (Swe) 276
24 Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 270
25 Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) Scott 11 250
26 Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 242
27 Danny Hart (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 230
28 Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 219
29 Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 214
30 Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 213
31 Joris Bigoni (Fra) 205
32 Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 203
33 Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 199
34 Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 196
35 Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 188
36 Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 179
37 Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 176
38 Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 172
39 Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 171
40 Ivan Oulego Moreno (Esp) Massi 166
41 Joshua Button (Aus) 163
42 Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 161
43 Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid AClass Factory Team 155
44 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 153
45 Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 152
46 Sam Dale (GBr) 149
47 Nathan Rennie (Aus) Kenda Morewood 143
48 Nathan Rankin (NZl) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 141
49 Kyle Strait (USA) Specialized Team America 138
50 Ben Reid (Irl) JRR 136
51 Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 134
52 Cody Warren (USA) Specialized Team America 131
53 Rhys Willemse (Aus) 127
54 Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 126
55 Bryn Atkinson (Aus) 124
56 Markus Pekoll (Aut) Solid AClass Factory Team 120
57 Aari Barrett (NZl) Scott 11 116
58 Benny Strasser (Ger) 115
59 Joe Barnes (GBr) 112
60 Tom Deacon (GBr) 2Stage Factory 110
61 Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Esp) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 109
62 Will Rischbieth (Aus) 109
63 Cesar Rojo (Esp) 105
64 Antoine Badouard (Fra) 101
65 Pasqual Canals Flix (Esp) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 101
66 Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost A.T.G. Pro Team 99
67 Bernard Kerr (GBr) 94
68 Brook Macdonald (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 90
69 Cyrille Kurtz (Fra) Team Sunn 81
70 Matthew Scoles (NZl) 81
71 Boris Tetzlaff (Aut) Solid AClass Factory Team 79
72 Herman Olund (Swe) 75
73 Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 74
74 Ben Cathro (GBr) 72
75 Dominik Gspan (Sui) 72
76 Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 70
77 Romain Paulhan (Fra) 67
78 Harry Heath (GBr) 67
79 Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 66
80 Maxime Remy (Fra) Suspension Center 65
81 Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH 65
82 Nico Vink (Bel) 64
83 Cédric Gracia (Fra) 62
84 Adam Vagner (Cze) 61
85 Vlastimil Hyncica (Cze) 57
86 Nicolas Ortiz (Fra) 57
87 Ryan Condrashoff (USA) X-Fusion-Intense 54
88 Neil Donoghue (GBr) 52
89 Jonty Neethling (RSA) 51
90 Toni Berg (Fin) 50
91 Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 48
92 Georg Sieder (Aut) Solid AClass Factory Team 40
93 Johann Potgieter (RSA) 38
94 Esteban Deronzier (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 38
95 Adam Brayton (GBr) Just Reid Race Team 38
96 Marcel Beer (Sui) 37
97 Matej Charvat (Cze) 36
98 Rémy Charrier (Fra) Team Sunn 36
99 Dennis Dertell (Swe) 33
100 Mathieu Troquier (Fra) Solid AClass Factory Team 31
101 Carlo Gambirasio (Ita) Surfing Shop 31
102 Rowan Sorrell (GBr) 28
103 Arnau Sugranes Mateu (Esp) 27
104 Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 26
105 Claudio Cozzi (Ita) Dytech DH 25
106 Emanuel Pombo (Por) 24
107 Kevin Aiello (USA) GT Bicycles 24
108 Curtis Keene (USA) 23
109 Mathieu Gallean (Fra) Team Sunn 23
110 Maximilian Bender (Ger) 21
111 Robert Smith (GBr) 21
112 Scott Laughland (Irl) 19
113 Scott Mears (GBr) 19
114 Shaun O'Connor (Aus) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 19
115 Arran Gannicott (GBr) 19
116 Martin Mikulenka (Cze) 18
117 Ralph Jones (GBr) 18
118 Pierre Van Der Merwe (RSA) 15
119 Roman Roschi (Sui) 14
120 Timothy Bentley (RSA) 14
121 Daniel Wolfe (Irl) 13
122 Kim Petersson (Swe) 13
123 David Eme (Fra) 13
124 Iago Garay Tamayo (Esp) 12
125 Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) 12
126 Laurie Dinham (Aus) Suspension Center 11
127 Jorge Aguin Castro (Esp) 11
128 Elias Somvi (Ita) 11
129 Gary Barnard (RSA) 10
130 Markus Olkkonen (Fin) 10
131 Andréa Gamenara (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 10
132 Mario Sieder (Aut) Solid AClass Factory Team 9
133 Darryn Stow (RSA) 9
134 Nejc Rutar (Slo) Mbk Orbea 8
135 Hayden Brown (RSA) 8
136 Espen Johnsen (Nor) 7
137 James Hughes (GBr) 7
138 Rick Balbierer (Ger) 6
139 Emyr Davies (GBr) 5
140 Martin Frei (Sui) 4
141 Simon Dinkelman (RSA) 4
142 Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 3
143 Ziga Pandur (Slo) 1