Steve Smith Takes 5th At Round 1 In Pietermaritzburg

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa—Devinci Global Racing’s Steve Smith rocketed to 5th place in the UCI World Cup opener, returning to the podium after clinching a string of hot results last season. Teammate Nick Beer finished 12th in his first ride under the DGR banner. 

“This is solid start to the year," said DGR Team Manager, Gabe Fox. "The team dynamic is proving tight, and I expect the momentum to build as the season progresses." 

The Pietermaritzburg course is known for grueling pedaling sections and this proved to be a challenge across the field. After Saturday qualifying, Smith sat in 3rd place—0.87 seconds behind eventual race winner and hometown hero, Greg Minnaar. Beer qualified 13th and George Brannigan in 32nd. 

Saturday night brought heavy rainfall, resulting in havoc on the track. But by mid-day Sunday the sun was out in force, returning the lightning-fast course to ideal conditions. The final saw Andrew Neething of South Africa set the first podium-worthy time, but as top qualifiers arrived times began to drop. After the dust settled Smith finished 5th, Beer 13th, and Brannigan 40th. 

"It wasn’t exactly the result I was looking for, but in a race where the times were so close I'm happy to finish on the podium and start the season with a banger,” Smith said. 

“My goal was to finish in the top 10. I had a great run, but left a bit on the course. The new team and bike is a great fit for me and I look forward to the season" added Beer. 

Devinci Global Racing is supported by: Cycles Devinci, SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ, Easton Wheels, Schwalbe, E-Thirteen, ODI, and Fox Head Clothing. 

Cycles Devinci is a Canadian bicycle manufacturer based in Chicoutimi, Canada. It has led the industry by way of manufacturing expertise and product development since its inception in 1987. Cycles Devinci continues to forge ahead with suspension guru Dave Weagle’s patented Split Pivot suspension platform. Combined with the company’s Axis Technologies, Devinci is set on a path for domination. For more details on Devinci and DGR, visit devinci.com

2012 UCI WC Round 1 In Pietermaritzburg Is In The Books

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.

"I knew at the top I was behind," admitted Minnaar.  "I made two stupid mistakes at the beginning, so I knew had to make up as much as I could down at the bottom. As much pain as it was to pedal, I just had to put my head down and go."

"Oh man, it was electric, hearing the crowd at the bottom, it was so wild.  I could have done with some more support further up on the pedaling bit when I wanted to sit down, bu there was no one there, they were all down at the bottom.  But when I jumped into the finishing area the crowd was just amazing."

Tracey Hannah Takes The Win At Pietermaritzburg

"After qualifying the fastest, Tracey Hannah (Hutchinson United Ride) won the Downhill World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa on March 18, 2012 just ahead of Junior World champion Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) and 2.81 seconds ahead of World champion Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker). Former 4X World champion Jill Kintner (Norco Inernational) was fourth, while Swiss Miriam Ruchti (SC Intense) rounded out the top five.

After a long hiatus from downhill racing, Tracey Hannah opened her season with a win in Pietermaritzburg. “Motivation and determination is what kept pushing me forward. On a track like this you can train as much as you want, but in order to win you have to figure out how you will come down and what lines you will take. Compared to the tracks in Australia, this here is very fast, in Australia you have to pedal a lot.”

Setting a good split time in qualification, it was clear that Mannon Carpenter was also the rider to watch in the finals and with no Rachel Atherton, Sabrina Jonnier, Tracy Moseley or Floriane Pugin at the start, the opportunity arrived for a career best result. Racing her first downhill World Cup as a senior, Carpenter occupied the second podium spot of the day behind Hannah. World champion Emmeline Ragot was good in the upper part, but she lost momentum in the lower quarter of the course and had to settle for third.

Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) and Sabrina Jonnier (Labyrinth Shimano) crashed during training and dropped out. Rachel Atherton didn't take part in the race due to an injury and its aftermath, while last year's winner Tracy Moseley (TMO) will only compete in two Downhill World Cup races this season."

Elite Women

1 HANNAH Tracey AUS HUTCHINSON UNITED RIDE 4:33.806
2 CARPENTER Manon° GBR MADISON SARACEN DOWNHILL TEAM +0.949
3 RAGOT Emmeline FRA MS MONDRAKER TEAM +2.810
4 KINTNER Jill USA TEAM NORCO INTERNATIONAL +8.492
5 RUCHTI Miriam SUI SC-INTENSE +10.896
6 SIEGENTHALER Emilie SUI SCOTT11 +11.402
7 MOLCIK Anita AUT +12.123
8 de SOUZA OLIVEIRA Luana Maria° BRA +14.385
9 BERNHARD Petra AUT ALPINE COMMENCAL AUSTRIA +15.112
10 NICOLE Myriam° FRA COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION +17.275

2012 UCI World Cup Round 1 Pietermaritzburg Downhill Results

2012 UCI WC Round 1 Pietermaritzburg Men's Results

2012 UCI WC Round 1 Pietermaritzburg Women's Results

Aaron Gwin Takes 2nd At WC Round 1 In Pietermaritzburg

In a thrilling finish that had the thousands of fans here in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on the edge of their seats until the very last second, Aaron Gwin was narrowly defeated by local hero Greg Minnaar after setting a blistering time. Trek World Racing's youngest downhill rider Neko Mulally scored a career best 14th, while Justin Leov finished a solid 17th. All 3 riders are now top 20 'protected' heading into Round 2.

After the course had been soaked by a tropical downpour the night before, the sun came out and the track dried out nicely for the finals. With all 3 riders in the top 30 live TV broadcast, it was Neko who came down first for the team and immediately went into the hotseat where he spent the better part of the next 30mins. His training with Aaron in California earlier this year was starting to show. Justin Leov crossed the line in 4th place and was happy with his solid run.

Mick Hannah (AUS), who qualified fastest on this course last year, was the first to go under 4mins and took the hotseat with a 3min 58.974secs. This time stood until Aaron took to the course. Despite being down in the first 2 sectors, Aaron pushed his Session 9.9 in the lower half of the course and saw the green light for the first time as he crossed the line, 0.35secs up on good mate Mick Hannah. All heads turned to the giant screen to see if the World Cup veteran of 52 podiums, Greg Minnaar (RSA) was going to respond to the challenge. He was 2 seconds off at the first split, then 1 second off at the 2nd, but Greg powered to the line in a time that was 0.63secs up o n Aaron; the win was all his.

Aaron said: "It's been a great week here in SA and I'm happy with my run today. I'm also happy for Greg, he's had some tough challenges this past week and I truly respect his win today, that was amazing, and I'm looking forward to a great season with him, like last year. I'm also super stoked for Neko that was a great run by him today!"

Neko said: "I'm so proud of how I rode my bike today. Everything went to plan and I'm happy to have achieved my goal for this race. This is the start of my first season as an elite rider and I'm excited about what the rest of the season will hold for me and my teammates".

Justin said: "I'm happy with my result this weekend which is a big improvement on my race here last year. I'm in a good position and know I will move up from here on the next courses in Europe. All in all, a solid weekend for me."

There are now 11 long weeks until Round 2, in Val di Sole (ITA), but between now and then t he Trek World Racing downhiller riders will be racing at Sea Otter in the USA.