Finals - Cairns DH World Cup 2
It's a biased thing what we do as photographers and journalists, even at a bicycle race. 'The camera never lies' is probably one of the most accepted heinous lies out there. Besides any optical illusion, Photoshop cheat or random technical glitches, the perspective we provide is not always close to the reality. As DH photographers we use our individual taste and talent to seek out the most aesthetic surrounds, ragged lines and relevant riders from the angle that best suits a computer-sized rectangle. Then only shots that have some impact telling a certain story are selected. While a World Cup may often be better or worse in the flesh, only being there first hand could ever provide your own personally accurate truth... And only at your own point in place and time on the mountain. In the clichéd words of T.Rice:
 | You know it's funny what's happening to us. Our lives have become digital, our friends now virtual...and everything you could ever want to know is just a click away. Experiencing the world through second hand information isn't enough: If we want authenticity we have to initiate it - The Art of Flight. |
But of course that's not always possible and that's the reason we've been sliding around in the filth, doing this job on the other side of the planet. If we can give someone at work or in bed a thousand miles away a rush of excitement by looking down our lens, then our work is done. Our shots were not the whole race. The live feed was definitely not the whole race. But we hope Cairns WC raised some hairs at some point because it was a hell of a time out in the jungle.
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 Going Pro. How many videos of how much carnage were made today? In all Cairns World Cup was quite a spectacle and one that a thousand SD cards will make sure we don't forget any time soon. |
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| We checked in with Adam Brayton to see how he managed to split his shin open, knee to ankle and how his bike ended up in further danger after the incident in what would become by far the most shared footage from the WC series so far. |
| Yo just hit a tree in my run, spectators were awesome couldn't thank them enough. The guy who took my bike down was a good man, no idea why he hit the whoops but I don't blame him they were sick. I think he's ok though, he was in my ambulance on a spine board and was pretty KO-d but that's all I know... I'm going to pop down to the hospital tomorrow and see how he's doing - Adam Brayton |
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Photo credit: Adam Bowey
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| We can say it's been an experience. Only in Australia would there be another red flag course closure for a snake slithering over the track. Good thing the crazy crowds left this guy well alone. |
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| Little April showers. The SRAM pits were given a decent morning surprise from mother nature today. Further storms overnight left a lot of the pits in a shambles, but thankfully nothing more was to fall for the rest of the race. |
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| Try as they may no team was successful in stopping the syrupy mud seeping into their workspace. |
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| Leave nothing to chance on race day. Spokes must be tensioned. Pressures checked, tires ready in case conditions change. It's all about preparation. |
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| The Muscles From Brussels found some sharp new spectacles that match GT team colors. If a bug flew straight at his eye, he might be in trouble though. |
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| Connor Hamilton made it across the Tasman Sea to battle it out in the jungle. 5th place for the Kiwi junior and one worthwhile trip. |
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| Vernon into the cork at pace. Later he got slightly overexcited and unfortunately flew off the course taking himself off the youngsters' podium. |
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| Luca Shaw didn't get the run he was looking for compared to his dominating win last week in Pietermaritzburg and will be training hard over the next month to make sure he can defend his title. |
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| Let the battle begin in the Junior Division. Loris Vergier came out on top today for the juniors, he was nearly six seconds up on Aussie Aiden Varley. Shaw crashed and ended up in tenth place giving Vergier the leaders jersey for now. |
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| Loris Vergier, Straya's Aiden Varley and Neil Stewart were the men among boys out there on track today. |
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| All the Aussies got a deafening reception on track... Cairns locals were especially well received, but it wasn't enough of a boost to take Tracy to the top. Nevertheless, she was stoked to get herself up on the podium rocking her national colors. |
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| Rachel slid out on the first practice run as she was coming to terms with the track. Many riders thought the track early in the morning had gotten worse, not better after the rains had stopped. |
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| Pom Pon destroyed the slippery, root-ridden mud section of the track, looking confident and in control |
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| Manon Carpenter hanging on to her #1 plate as tight as she can... |
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| Rachel Atherton recovered from her South African virus and back on her game to take another double Atherton win here in Cairns. |
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| 'Are these cool?' asks Rach. When you smoke the field by 11 seconds you tell the people what's cool. Her exceptional career just gets ever-more exceptional. |
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| Back to the classic Atherton sandwich formation; Carpenter, Nicole, Ragot and Hannah making the bread. |
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| AUSSIE Dave McMillan battling the now-infamous rock garden that took out so many, if not all riders at one point this week. Greasy mud, slick rocks, and come race day, hundreds of the rowdiest spectators and their respective decibels, made it one of the most difficult and dangerous parts of the track. If you didn't already have your line sussed, you weren't going to find a moments peace to plan it out this morning. |
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| Equipment choice of the day: flats. MacDonald feels footloose and free on his climb back to the fray and 27th. |
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| Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Sam Blenkinsop surveys the scene at the top of the track this morning among the crowds of other hopefuls. He would return to the top of shuttle at the end of the day and wait in the same spot alone. Last. Man. Down. |
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| With the storm clouds rolling over/never going away all week, Danny was a sure favorite. He was onto a good one too; 5th in split 1, but mistakes later on left him just outside the top 20. |
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| All that home track hype, all those second place finishes... More than a few folk were in favor of a Sik Mik special here in Cairns. |
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| Sik Mik wanted this race more than anyone else here, cruelly sliding out in the same spot he crashed in yesterday down the alien tree chute. |
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| The hometown hero with a nation's hopes on his back. Mik gave it his all, but sadly the crash put him, amongst many other big names, out of contention |
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| Ratboy soaring like a bird...boy to put down the run of his life. |
| I'm so ready for a win now, and honestly looking forward to Fort Bill. I Just want to keep this ball rolling with the wicked speed I've got this year and a lot more fit from the year before. Toughest race I've done in a long time in the unpredictable jungle Josh Bryceland - Santa Cruz Syndicate |
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| "Hey, it's nice up here." Ratboy noticed that being up on the podium has a different feel to it rather than just leaving the finish corral. |
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| Steve Peat had a bit of an interesting day nearly running over the knocked out fan who crashed on Adam Brayton's bike. Getting a red flag and a re-run, Peaty cleaned an insane 7th place with a bad back and hardly any practice here. As Warner said, he must have remembered the track from his run in 1996. |
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| Troy Brosnan pinned and hunting for a podium here in Cairns. He sprinted to the finish like nobody else, incredible power and fitness from someone not so famed for physical power. |
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| Gutierrez, low, smooth, fast and seriously mean on the pedals too. |
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| Australian heckling at its finest. |
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| The highest qualifying Aussie put the fear up everyone yesterday with a 7th on this intimidating course, but early errors spoiled the broth in his run. At 20 years old he should have more than a few chances ahead of him to put it right. |
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| Loic Bruni was fastest up at split one and could have given Gee a major run for his money if he hadn't crashed out. Along with many others in the field, the course took out a number of riders today that could have done a lot better than they did. |
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| You could say Neko Mulally has arrived. He finished 8th in South Africa and followed up that result with a third place finish in Cairns. With a crash. Had he not come off who knows what the outcome would have been. "I'm really happy with how it went today. I was really pushing it. I had a mistake, but the risks I took proved worth it in the end." |
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| What could have been? Neko scored his highest world cup result to date, third place... with a crash. |
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| The pot roast is near done. Mulally made consistent gains last year finishing the season in the top fifteen. He took eighth place in South Africa. At 8:30 this morning he was cool, calm and collected. Focused on his next goal. |
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| Gee Atherton was able to hold it together and get the win today. While the only weather we saw was a quick light drizzle and the track dried out considerably, it was still a slick mess out there. |
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| Gee Atherton sprinting for gold. |
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| Gee passing nervous moments in the hotseat with his incessant and boring fishing stories. |
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| What's more surprising than a fast moving overhead python? Eddy Masters coming down after Gee and before Greg. |
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| Eddy shaved his beard down to racing weight and even added a little ornamentation to it. Unfortunately the lightning bolt oxygen filtration system couldn't help him follow up on his qualifying result. |
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| Masters held onto 26th despite his significant fall, which is still about the best result he has landed at a World Cup so far. Unmistakably on the up and taking much away from the experience of being 4th last down the hill |
| Even though I didn't get the result that everyone was begging me for, it's a huge confidence boost for Fort William and I couldn't be more happy with a top 30 result! Hoping me, Casey and Jack with his 11th today can start to put Bergamont on the map outside Europe! Eddy Masters - Bergamont Hayes World Team |
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| Steve Peat greets a disappointed and disqualified Greg after his run. Flying through the tape costing him a podium spot and indeed any rank whatsoever. |
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| Aaron Gwin didn't manage to tame the beast on the day and follow up on his win in South Africa. As rainwater evaporated the mud turned to a thick clay that wouldn't clean from tires, it was a constant battle to stay upright. |
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| The last few agonizing rotations and eyes on the prize. |
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| Gwin looked exceptional all week here and was definitely a little disappointed not to all-out smoke everyone today. |
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| When the chips are down and you put everything on the line, some times things just don't come together. Blenky wanted this win, and was giving it his all, but the track got the best of him. |
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| Greg 'super taco' Williamson keeping Gee cool on the hotseat as his victory became all but sealed. |
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| The flat, gravel fire road was absolute hell for the riders to end on and for some reason the best documented section of the course on the live feed... Blenky dug deep but had to settle for 6th. |
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| A stoked Atherton springs off the hotseat as Blenky comes into view and sinks well into the red. After dipping off the podium in South Africa it was hard to call his evidently good form, but today he dominated, crushing the mud soaked field by 4 seconds. |
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| 8 seconds off the pace, after a big stall in the rocks and a few other blips. Today wasn't quite Blinky's day |
| I was stoked about yesterday, I knew if I had a clean run I would end up first... except didn't have a clean run. Today, I just ended up riding too cautious and got a little boggled, bending my derailleur a little bit. In the end though, it's racing. Sixth is still pretty good and I think I'm 4th in the over-all. Pretty stoked for Fort Bill, I've won lot qualifiers, but really hungry for a win Sam Blenkinsop - Lapierre Gravity Republic |
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| #selfies with maddogboris geeatherton ratboy_bryce and photobomb by duncanphilpott (their Instagram usernames, for those curious). |
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| Flat pedals win medals...but not when your shoes still have cleats. Gee made a last-minute decision to ride flats, and won the race in shoes borrowed from the side of the track. Yes you read that correctly. |
| I decided I really need flats so I have a look through my really limited clothes bag and only have these really thin black Vans I use for a night on the town. Tried to do a run coming down in them and they were awful so stopped half way down the course and I was literally calling people out of the crowd checking their foot sizes! Found some dude with the same size feet and some Five Tens on willing to swap shoes with me! Stoked. Gotta go find him now and give them back! Gee Atherton - Atherton Racing |
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| Just one more track-walk... Ratboy, Kathy and Hill all head off to the podium staging area to collect metalwork, champagne and flowers. |
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| Sam Hill loving his spot on the box in his home country. His team mate Joe Smith also had a great ride, rolling home in 13th. |
| I'd felt a bit sick all day, the humidity got to me a bit I reckon... I just did my best once I was on track, had a couple of close calls and stalled in a few turns near the bottom... tried to pedal as best I could on the finish straight which seemed like it was never gonna end. Thanks to all the Aussie fans for cheerin! Sam Hill - CRC |
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| Putting his helmet down in top spot must have brought a welcome surge of familiarity for Gee... Memories of early last season when he was so unstoppable. |
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| You see that? Dogs can look up and Gee Atherton can smile. Take a look at that grin beaming here like the sun never did. |
| It was a wild weekend. Really difficult to learn the course in the conditions. We worked hard with the team, got the bike set up great and the shoes were the icing on the cake really haha! Gee Atherton - Atherton Racing |
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| Big cash monies for the drinks in Cairns tonight for the formidable blend of Atherton, Bryceland, Mulally, Gwin and Hill |
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| That track's real hard; it's a big roll of the dice if you're gonna get a good run! It took me a couple of years to get comfortable on this stuff and that's one thing I'm definitely taking away from this weekend is I've never felt that good in the mud. A couple of years ago a track like this would have scared the life out of me and I would have crashed ten times haha. It's a World Cup you know, you never know what you're gonna get so you gotta be able to ride everything. I feel I'm still improving I guess - Aaron Gwin - Specialized Racing |
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| Still on top. Gwin leads out the early season and it seems he can make any terrain his own. The fight is on. |
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| Time to finally get clean. Cairns, it's been more than emotional. Maybe we'll be ready for a rematch in say...another 18 years. |
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Second thing is it is Greg Minnaar. He's a star on the circuit and a legit title contender. You don't knock him out of contention on something so debatable. I hate to say look at the NBA of NHL, but there is a reason they give the big boys the benefit of the doubt. You want them in the hunt at the end of the season. What if he kills it the rest of the way and if he wasn't DSQ'd would be the overall winner?
So in Gregs instance he went off track and missed a pole - re-entering underneath the tape after the pole. If he had re-entered where he went out where the tape was broken this would have been fine -- but he didnt so thats a DSQ -
Nick Beer nearly got a DSQ here in PMB for the same thing - but one of our top marshals was there where he crashed and said he returned where he went out so it was fine - So for the remainder of the season - a Rider must come back in where he/she went off course or its a DSQ.
Something else I thought of talking to some buddies was the fact that Gee technically borrowed equipment from a spectator for his race-run. I recall a rule in place for XC, at least, that dq'ed a rider for receiving assistance from a spectator. I believe that was only during the actual race, though, so Gee would be off-the-hook on that were it to become an issue.
Regardless, you think Gee's going to keep a pair handy for future reference?
That rule for the XC relates to "outside assistance" but this is only during Official Racing - I believe this relates more to bike maintanence etc (so getting spare wheels from someone outside of a tech zone etc) ... but also relates to water bottles etc.
I presume that if the UCI wanted to be full of it they could go at Gee for that - as it is outside clothing change - but i doubt it as he got them in Practice (although it was official practice) ... But in this instance i doubt they care about it as its more related to XC where the riders get assitance during race if they have a mechanical etc.
But then comes the counter example: Gwin went out in Champéry in the qualies. Of course it's super steep, and yes it was wet. He couldn't climb back (having been a spectator there I can only confirm). Then it becomes unfair. But ok, obviously it's either try to be fair (and discussions involved), or have a tight rule
*(I've not seen the footage - I'm just going on principle here)
Sure it was a stupid thing to do, but aussies will do what aussies do - he hasn't deserved some of the trash pinkbikers have given him.
Hope it's not too serious; the crash was brutal.
Check out my pics of the actual shoe swap on my JDM Photography Page.
www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=698923540168899&set=pb.248908435170414.-2207520000.1399858726.&type=3&theater
The UCI said they had more issues with the leniancy rule (I think steming from Rachels win at Windam after her course off) .... but yeah there have been a couple of times that this has happened so the UCI Technical deligate said to avoid grey areas - you have to come back in through the tape you have broken - you miss a pole etc thats it DSQ ... Greg knew it ... didnt do it ... His fault.
1996*
Qualifiers
www.pinkbike.com/video/360580
Practice and Race Run
www.pinkbike.com/video/360576
just a bit of video to show what Red Bull missed out on, shame RB, shame!
Weak-sauce on the Minnaar DQ...considering how far down Rachel rode before she got back on track a couple years ago at Windham (and won, IIRC), this was nothing. I hope he can appeal the ruling.
Anywho, what can be said about Ratboy, Neko and the top-Aussie, Sam Hill. Solid results all around. Then there's Peaty...effing LEGEND!!!
Ft. Bill is going to be a slug-fest!
Seems like a bit of a douchebag move.
And to be honest, after seeing Adam Brayton's leg literally split open from the ankle to the knee, I am sure he was their priority. Not some guy that decided to grab a bike. http://instagram.com/p/nPp1eEmxAp/
I'd do owt to have an hour with her. :-P