Aaron Gwin (Specialized Racing) got his World Cup season underway in perfect fashion when he took a thrilling win in the Elite Men’s downhill race at this year’s UCI MTB World Cup at Cascades MTB Park yesterday.
Aaron Gwin. Photo: Darren Goddard / Gameplan Media
The former downhill World Champion was the last rider down the hill after a solid qualifying round on Friday. He charged to the top of the leader board early in his run and never looked back as he surged ahead of title hopeful, Aussie Mick Hannah (Hutchinson UR) and hometown hero Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate).
“I’m just happy, really stoked. It is definitely a team win! Everyone at Specialized has been working so hard for us, trying to get us the best equipment, best support, best staff and best everything and they have been really killing it for us,” said Gwin.
“The race was great this year! The track was good, the fans – as always – down here are great! I love racing here!”
Hannah had suffered a mechanical during Friday’s qualifying and so started some way down the list in the finals. He demolished the previous best time of the day set by South Africa’s Andrew Neethling (Giant Factory Off-road Team) by more than eight seconds to power into the “Hot Seat”.
Summary of results:
Downhill Final
Elite Men:
Aaron Gwin (Specialized Racing DH) 3:59.344
Mick Hannah (Hutchinson UR) 4:01.381
Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 4:02.168
Loic Bruni (Lapierre Gravity Republic) 4:02.237
Troy Brosnan (Specialized Racing DH) 4:02.675
Samuel Blenkinsop (Lapierre Gravity Republic) 4:03.387
Sam Dale (Madison Saracen Factory Team) 4:05.347
Neko Mulally (Trek World Racing) 4:05.705
Samuel Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles.com/Nukeproof) 4:06.195
Gee Atherton (GT Factory Racing) 4:06.243
Junior Men:
Luca Shaw (SRAM/TLD Racing) 4:15.267
Loris Vergier (Lapierre Gravity Republic) 4:17.257
Amaury Pierron 4:23.668
Aiden Varley 4:27.376
Benjamin Boutie (LAC Blanc/SCOTT) 4:29.731 – Cycling SA
