April 11, 2014 (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) – The UCI World Cup Series is kicking off the 2014 season in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa this weekend with round one in the DH and XCO disciplines. We have the qualification results from today’s DH qualifiers to decide who will advance to Saturday’s final.
Canada’s Micayla Gatto (Can) Pivot Factory DH Team was 10th and Casey Brown (Can) Bergamont Hayes World Team stopped the clock in 11th in women’s qualifying. They are the only two Canucks competing in the DH this weekend. Both move on to tomorrow’s finals. Top qualifier in the women’s competition was Manon Carpenter (Gbr) Madison Saracen Factory Team.
Defending Elite Men’s series champion, Canadian wunderkind Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing, will not be racing this weekend, as he was sidelined by an injury this winter and is still recovering.
In the men’s event, Aaron Gwin (USA) Specialized Racing DH logged the fastest time, while junior men’s shredder Luca Shaw (USA) SRAM/TLD Racing qualified number one in his field.
The XCO races take place on Sunday on a course that features some challenging obstacles.
DH Qualifications
Women
1. Manon Carpenter (Gbr) Madison Saracen Factory Team 4:39.182
2. Rachel Atherton (Gbr) GT Factory Racing 9.143
3. Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic 9.488
4. Jill Kintner (USA) 11.223
5. Tracey Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson UR 17.192
6. Morgane Charre (Fra) Evil Vengeance Tour 22.587
7. Tahnee Seagrave (Gbr) FMD Racing 24.462
8. Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal/Riding Addiction 25.049
9. Fionn Griffiths (Gbr) 27.115
10. Micayla Gatto (Can) Pivot Factory DH Team 32.891
11. Casey Brown (Can) Bergamont Hayes World Team 33.773
Full qualification results here.
Elite Men
1. Aaron Gwin (USA) Specialized Racing DH 4:05.298
2. Josh Bryceland (Gbr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 2.538
3. Greg Minnaar (Rsa) Santa Cruz Syndicate 2.621
4. Loic Bruni (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic 3.669
5. Samuel Blenkinsop (Nzl) Lapierre Gravity Republic 3.834
6. Troy Brosnan (Aus) Specialized Racing DH 4.104
7. Neko Mulally (USA) Trek World Racing 4.180
8. Nick Beer (Sui) Devinci Global Racing 4.879
9. Samuel Hill (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com/Nukeproof 6.727
10. Sam Dale (Gbr) Madison Saracen Factory Team 6.787
Full qualification results here.
Junior Men
1. Luca Shaw (USA) SRAM/TLD Racing 4:19.081
2. Loris Vergier (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic 5.624
3. Taylor Vernon (Gbr) GT Factory Racing 14.237
4. Aiden Varley (Aus) 21.427
5. Thibault Laly (Fra) 21.443
6. Andrew Dorrit (Gbr) MS Mondraker Team 21.550
7. Francisco Matias (Chi) 22.202
8. Thomas Estaque (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott 24.433
9. Sam Herd (Gbr) Perth City Cycles 25.224
10. Benjamin Boutie (Fra) Lac Blanc/Scott 27.091
Full qualification results here.