2012 UCI World Cup Round 1 Pietermaritzburg
Friday, March 16, 2012 at 8:17PM After the excitement of 2011, the RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano is back for a new season, and this year it looks set to be bigger and better than ever.
While Downhill (DHI) and Cross-Country (XCO) each take seven outings across 10 rounds in nine countries, the big change this year is the disappearance of the 4X competition and the introduction of ‘XCE’, a cross-country eliminator contest for the elite men and women at the three events of Houffalize (BEL), Nove Mesto na Morave (CZE) and La Bresse (FRA).
As official media partners of the UCI, Red Bull Media House will this year be filming and streaming the elite men’s and women’s DHI finals and XCO races LIVE and FREE on redbull.com/bike from all the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup events around the globe.
Make sure you check in to redbull.com/bike regularly for the latest news, features and videos as well as the live action.
Enjoy the season!
With a new Series sponsor, and a new television partner in the form of Red Bull Media House, it is only fitting that the 2012 RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano opens with totally redesigned courses in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, this coming weekend. Both the Olympic cross-country and Downhill disciplines will be represented in Pietermaritzburg, and it will be the first chance this year to see all of the top international stars gathered in one place.
Now in it's third year on the World Cup circuit, Pietermaritzburg is even more critical than ever this year, because the event is a test run for the World Championships to be held here next year. It is also the start of the final crucial Olympic qualifying period for the London Olympic Games, with riders vying to gain important ranking points that will determine how many starting spots each nation will receive for the men's and women's cross-country races at the Games.
Pietermaritzburg has stepped up to the challenge, with courses that riders are saying are more physically demanding than ever. In the women's cross-country, look for 2011 World Cup champion Julie Bresset (BH-SR Suntour-Peisey Vallandry) and reigning world champion Catharine Pendrel (Luna) to resume the battle that resulted in one of the closest finishes in history for the World Cup title last season. Others to watch include Maja Wloszczowska (CC Polkowice) and Irina Kalentieva (Topeak Ergon). Another name to keep an eye on is Willow Koerber Rockwell (Trek World Racing), a top rider returning to competition ten weeks after giving birth to her daughter.
In the men's field, the big question is whether Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) can repeat his incredible performance of last year, when he won five World Cups, the World Cup title and became the world champion. After finishing second to Kulhavy multiple times last year, the defending Pietermaritzburg champion, Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) hopes to break that streak, as does Julien Absalon (Orbea).
After the cross-country, attention turns to the Downhill on Sunday. Tracy Moseley, the defending women's champion in Pietermaritzburg and 2011 World Cup champion, is the biggest name missing from the start list, but the 2011 World Cup runner up, Floriane Pugin (Scott 11), leads a strong field that includes Myriam Nicole (Commencal/Riding Addiction), Sabrina Jonnier (Labyrinth Shimano) and world champion Emmeline Ragot.
For the men, Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) is the defending Pietermaritzburg winner, and the World Cup champion, after dominating last season. However, he will go up against hometown favourite Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), who won here in 2010, and finished second last year. Also sure to be in the mix are Gee Atherton (GT Factory) and world champion Danny Hart (Giant Factory).
2012 UCI WC Round 1 Pietermaritzburg Men's Qualifying Results
2012 UCI WC Round 1 Pietermaritzburg Women's Qualifying Results
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Team CRC/Nukeproof - Pietermaritzburg (RSA) Helmet Cam from chainreactioncycles on Vimeo.
Joe Smith takes the first helmet cam of the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Filmed and edited by MTBCut
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2012 UCI WC Round 1 Pietermaritzburg Men's Results
2012 UCI WC Round 1 Pietermaritzburg Women's Results
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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."
