June 20, 2010 (Leogang, Austria) – The inaugural World Cup Downhill event victories in Leogang, Austria go to Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate and Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) of Maxxis-Rocky Mountain. Rain fell steadily throughout race day and turned the already muddy, rutty track into a warzone. Holes were axle deep and bigger, and the ruts were deep enough to catch pedals and then some. Rider after rider went down victim to the mud, sent flying off course and onto the shoulders and their heads.

Steve Peat (GBR) Santa Cruz Syndicate, set the early time to beat, and spent an eternity in the hot seat until finally being knocked out by Cam Cole of New Zealand (Maxxis). Minnaar came across second to last, and set a time that no one could touch, taking home yet another victory this season.

“It was honestly one of the worst conditions I have ever ridden in. It wasn’t a race-winning run I’ll tell you. It must just have been cleaner than the others. The rust were so deep, I tell you. It changed so much from my last practice runs until now, and I had a terrible last practice run crashing twice. I tried to back it off and ride smooth, but even doing that was so hard. I was bouncing off of stuff. Luckily for my gangly legs or I would have been screwed! I’m stoked for the win. I definitely didn’t think it was enough for the it. I only knew I had it because I saw Steve [Peat] jumping.”

For the women, Jonnier sat in the hot seat nervously awaiting arch rival Rachel Atherton (GBR – Commencal Animal) who was fastest qualifier, and up three seconds at the first split. Disaster struck, Atherton and she went down just after the second split, hurting her shoulder and having to walk her way down, a DNF.

“It was a great victory. I stayed on my bike but didn’t think it was fast enough for the win. I made some mistakes, but you can’t afford to have any mistakes on this track. I just tried to be clean – these were not my preferred conditions at all. It was really bad out there. I was safe for today and I hope Rachel is alright. I wanted to do a 43 or 45, so I am kind of off. It was way harder than this morning as it was getting a bit dry.”

For Canada, it was Steve Smith (MS Evil Racing) and Claire Buchar (Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense) taking top honors. Smith had a big crash on Friday and spent the night at the hospital, after hitting his head and suffering from concussion symptoms (throwing up an dizzyness). In the final he managed an 11th place, while taking it easy so as to not fall again.

“I was 11th and I’m happy. After spending a night in the hospital I was stressing about even making the race. I wasn’t supposed to be riding. I just took a mellow run and made sure not to hit my head again. I’m just gonna chill for a bit and smash some shit in Champery.”

Buchar told us, “My run wasn’t as good as I hoped. I caught a bit of a chest cold this weekend, so I had a bit of trouble with the physical part of it. I was on the brakes more than I wanted. But I managed to stay on and that put me into 7th, even though I am not completely happy with my performance. I’m off to Morzine, (France) for a few weeks now to practice in these conditions!”

Results

Women

1. Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain 04:52.7
2. Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center 3.54
3. Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott 11 5.35
4. Tracy Moseley (Gbr) Trek World Racing 9.69
5. Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal Superiders 12.78
6. Céline Gros (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie 18.21
7. Claire Buchar (Can) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 20.02
8. Manon Carpenter (Gbr) 20.5
9. Petra Bernhard (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria 20.92
10. Micayla Gatto (Can) Commencal Marzocchi Young Guns 35.99
11. Fionn Griffiths (Gbr) Norco World Team 40.02
12. Harriet Rucknagel (Ger) 43.81
13. Joanna Petterson (RSA) 44.56
14. Melissa Buhl (USA) KHS 51.79
15. Katy Curd (Gbr) 58.24
16. Mio Suemasa (Jpn) FFC 59.26
17. Miriam Ruchti (Sui) Dr-Gravity Union 01:01.3
18. Aimee Dix (Gbr) 01:21.3
19. Sophie Borderes (Fra) 01:57.8
DNF Rachel Atherton (Gbr) Commencal

Men (brief)

1. Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 04:05.7
2. Gee Atherton (Gbr) Commencal 0.74
3. Aaron Gwin (USA) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team 4.44
4. Samuel Blenkinsop (Nzl) Lapierre International 5.52
5. Cameron Cole (Nzl) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain 6.12
6. Steve Peat (Gbr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 6.17
7. Brendan Fairclough (Gbr) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz 6.96
8. Justin Leov (Nzl) Trek World Racing 7.28
9. Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 7.6
10. Matthew Simmonds (Gbr) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 8.17
11. Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 8.44