April 12, 2009 (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) – Pietermaritzburg, South Africa was home to the first DH world cup of the season and it didn’t disappoint. Despite a course that many riders were unhappy with, the racing was tight and fast on Sunday for the DH finals. Tracy Moseley (Gbr) Trek World Racing took home the win for the women and local boy Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate took home the win for the men.

The track dried out and turned into a freeway over night. Speeds approached 73km/h in some sections as riders held on for dear life and ripped their way through the thousands of fans to the finish. Moseley stopped the clock with a time of 4:20.15, chocking up the first win for the new Trek global racing team on her 39th birthday. She blew away France’s Emmeline Ragot (Suspension Center) who was almost 6 seconds back, and Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles who was another two seconds in arrears.

“I thought it would be wicked to race on your birthday, and in the back of my mind I thought it would be wicked to try and win. I was really pleased it has all come together. A pretty good birthday to remember. The top section went really well and I started relaxing and thinking I had to pedal a bit extra compared to my qualifying run. I just sat up and gave it somewhere,” said Moseley when the dust settled.

Canadian Claire Buchar (Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense) scored her first podium with a 5th place for her new team, Chain Reaction Cycles. “I guess my run went pretty good. I just tried to hit all my fast lines and the big jumps, and pedal my arse off. Having the support of my new team definitely helped so much. I was way more relaxed, everything is so much easier. I can save energy and focus more,” said an elated Buchar.

Minnaar beat out top qualifier Mick Hannah (AUS – GT) by just over two seconds while teammate Steve Peat (Gbr) was 3rd, just over six seconds back. Canada’s Steve Smith (Evil) of Vancouver Island had a decent day for his new Evil team with a 20th place finish.

“My run went smooth. It’s pretty flat. I tried to pedal where I could, it was pretty straight with a lot of pedalling. It felt like a good run. My training helped, i definitely wouldn’t have made it down if it was last year, It was an xc course!”ichael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles in second and Minnaar’s team mate veteran DHer Steve Peat (Gbr) in 3rd. Canada’s Steve Smith (Evil) placed a respectable 20th making the top 20.

Results

Elite Women

1. Tracy Moseley (Gbr) Trek World Racing 4:20.15
2. Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center 4:26.53
3. Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 4:28.61
4. Fionn Griffiths (Gbr) Norco World Team 4:32.93
5. Claire Buchar (Can) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 4:34.20
6. Floriane Pugin (Fra) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 4:35.85
7. Melissa Buhl (USA) 4:40.90
8. Myriam Nicole (Fra) 4:41.91
9. Joanna Petterson (RSA) 4:42.48
10. Emilie Siegenthaler (Sui) Scott II 4:47.28
11. Helen Gaskell (Gbr) 4:56.61
12. Sarah Newman (Gbr) 5:02.77
13. Anka Martin (RSA) 5:05.33
14. Helene Valerie Fruhwirth (Aut) 5:08.28
15. Elisa Canepa (Ita) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 5:11.77
16. Risa Suseanty (Ina) 5:22.58
17. Victoria Phillips (RSA) 5:52.13

Elite Men

1. Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 3:43.4
2. Michael Hannah (Aus) GT Bicycles 2.2
3. Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 5.8
4. Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster Energy/Specialized/Mad Catz 6.7
5. Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 8.6
6. Cameron Cole (NZl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 9.8
7. Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 10.6
8. Jared Graves (Aus) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 10.9
9. Marc Beaumont (GBr) GT Bicycles 11.4
10. Julien Camellini (Fra) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 11.5
11. Nathan Rennie (Aus) Kenda Morewood 11.6
12. Duncan Riffle (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 11.8
13. Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 12.1
14. Andrew Neethling (RSA) Trek World Racing 12.2
15. Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi 12.3
16. Aurélien Giordanengo (Fra) 12.7
17. Aaron Holmes Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 12.8
18. Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) Massi 13.1
19. David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 13.2
20. Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 13.8
21. Florent Payet (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 14.1
22. Fabien Cousinie (Fra) 14.2
23. Mickael Pascal (Fra) MSC Bikes 14.3
24. Cédric Gracia (Fra) 15.3
25. Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 15.5
26. Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 15.7
27. Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Subaru Mountain Bike Pro Team 15.7
28. Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 16.2
29. Wyn Masters (NZl) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 16.8
30. Jonty Neethling (RSA) 16.8
31. Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 17.6
32. Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Monster Energy/Specialized/Mad Catz 17.8
33. Joris Bigoni (Fra) 17.8
34. Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) 18.2
35. Bradley Benedict (USA) Duncan Riffle Racing 18.3
36. Thomas Braithwaite (GBr) 18.7
37. Filip Polc (Svk) MS Evil Racing 18.7
38. Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) Solid Aclass Factory Team 19.0
39. Josh Bryceland (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 19.0
40. Sam Dale (GBr) 19.1
41. Aari Barrett (NZl) Scott 11 19.5
42. Robin Wallner (Swe) 19.8
43. Johann Potgieter (RSA) 20.0
44. Rémi Thirion (Fra) Team Sunn 20.1
45. Mitchell Delfs (Aus) Kenda Morewood 20.3
46. Will Rischbieth (Aus) 20.8
47. Jared Rando (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 21.0
48. Dennis Dertell (Swe) 21.1
49. Nicolas Ortiz (Fra) 21.2
50. Joseph Smith (GBr) Kona 21.6
51. Matthew Simmonds (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 21.7
52. Neil Donoghue (GBr) 21.8
53. Rowan Sorrell (GBr) 22.0
54. Dan Stanbridge (GBr) 22.5
55. Marco Bugnone (Ita) Argentina Bike Gravity Team 22.5
56. Claudio Cozzi (Ita) Dytech DH 22.8
57. Tom Deacon (GBr) 2Stagefactory 22.9
58. Danny Hart (GBr) Lapierre Powered By Saab Salomon 23.1
59. Dominik Gspan (Swi) 23.2
60. Adam Brayton (GBr) Just Reid Race Team 23.4
61. Ryan Condrashoff (USA) X-Fusion-Intense 24.2
62. Joshua Button (Aus) 25.3
63. Luke Strobel (USA) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 25.4
64. Marco Milivinti (Ita) Dytech DH 25.6
65. Lorenzo Suding (Ita) Dytech DH 26.6
66. Pierre Van Der Merwe (RSA) 26.6
67. Timothy Bentley (RSA) 26.8
68. Scott Mears (GBr) 26.9
69. Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) 27.0
70. Laurie Dinham (Aus) 27.2
71. Gary Barnard (RSA) 28.7
72. Darryn Stow (RSA) 29.0
73. Hayden Brown (RSA) 30.3
74. James Hughes (GBr) 30.6
75. Antonio Ferreiro Pajuelo (Spa) XMS-Devinci World Cup Team 31.4
76. Emyr Davies (GBr) 31.8
77. Simon Dinkelman (RSA) 33.2
78. Daniel Critchlow (GBr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 39.1
79. Kevin Aiello (USA) GT Bicycles 46.4
80. Kieran Bennett (NZl) X-Fusion-Intense 48.0
81. Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) MS Evil Racing 48.2
82. Chris Kovarik (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 2:46.7