It's 10 days late, but it's gooooood. Having unearthed the photos of Maribor's DH finals we've decided to post them late, rather than not post them at all. Hope that jives with y'all.
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Words and Photos by Fraser Britton
The conditions that greeted racers on Sunday for the first Downhill World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia, were abysmal, to say the least. The rain had held off for the most part, but the cold front rolled in and the track turned to an absolute quagmire with axle deep ruts most of the way down. It was a "surprise party, every section" as American racer (Pivot Cycles) Kyle Strait put it.
At the end of the day it was Greg Minnaar (RSA - Santa Cruz Syndicate) bringing home the win, surprising everyone including himself.
"I didn't expect it at all. I was hoping to leave here with some degree of points. After qualifying I knew I could step it up. It still hasn't sunk in. It's surreal. I didn't expect to leave Maribor and go into Fort William with the leader's jersey. It's all new to me. The bottom of the course was a new track, it was so different. The ruts were deep, you couldn't ride any lines you rode all week. I came into a corner that got me outside and I had to go around when i had been riding the inside line all week. It was like riding down a fresh course in Slovenia!"
The South African was followed by Gee Atherton (GBR - Commencal Animal). In Third place was Brendan Fairclough (GBR - Monster Energy / Specialized), matching his best best finish ever at the World Cup. Fairclough had a fairly interesting run, which included a couple of off course excursions, as well as throwing up in his helmet. Top qualifier Sam Hill came in 5th after making a small mistake with a tear off that cost him a trip into the bushes on his head.
“My run was going pretty good until about halfway, where I made a silly mistake removing a tear off too late entering a corner and went too hot into the turn causing me to slide out and land on my head into the bushes,” said Hill. “I was debating whether to take off a tear off or not before the second half of the track and it seemed like an easy spot to do it, but I should have done it earlier. I’m just pretty devastated about making such a small mistake leading to another crash. I had a great run going, it was just more annoying because it was a silly mistake. With my 5th place and 1st place qualifier, I still managed to come away with some decent points on the weekend.”
Steve Smith of Canada (MS Evil) got the result of his young career, just barely off of the podium in 6th place, after qualifying 5th.
"The track was pretty gnarly, I pinned the top really good and had some near deaths." The young Canadian has made gigantic strides in the past years as he has gained race experience at the top level, and nothing says more than his final comment. "I figured I had to tone it down to make the finish. I'd rather finish in the top 10 than blow up and end up outside in 50th. It was just generally really rough and slippery. The ruts were so damn deep you were dragging your feet everywhere."
Some four cross photos, just to cover all the bases.
For the women it was Rachel Atherton (GBR - Commencal Animal) making her World Cup return after spending a year injured. With a broken finger, and after a horrendous crash in qualifying, the Englishwoman managed to grit her teeth through the pain and smash out a 9 second win over Sabrina Jonnier of France (Rocky Mountain) with a 4:03.32. Fellow French woman Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) was third.
"I was pretty embarrassed after my crash yesterday, I had to do something to redeem myself. I can't believe it to be honest. I love this track so much and i think the rain helped me out by slowing it down so i could catch up to them!” When asked how she walked away unscathed from a horrendous looking crash, Atherton laughed. “The crash looked pretty bad from my side as well! I am a bit sore, but it's nothing really, A bit of pain is good for ya, it keeps you alert!
I could barely get to the top of the track due to a procession of minis! The lift was closed, Sabrina was freaking out, It was pretty relaxed in the van!"
thanks for posting its nice to see brendan up on the podium, hopefully he will get a win this year