Pietermaritzburg Day One - Practice

Apr 22, 2011
by Colin Meagher  
In 4X qualifying, there were no surprises: Jared Graves and Anneke Beerten qualified first. Graves will likely dominate. However, Beerten’s been racing XC in addition to 4X, and while she has the lungs, she may not be able to put as much top end power to the pedals as she’d like.

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Setting up the pits for the racers means early days for the mechanics.
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Only two racers carry plate #1. This is Sabrina Jonnier's sled: a brand spanking new Rocky Mountain Flatline.
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First race of the year is when the one off goodies start appearing; Cedric Gracia is beyond stoked with a custom goggle strap for his Oakleys.
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Ricky Bobby of Santa Cruz checking pressure on a fresh Rockshox air shock.
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With 25 minute waits for an uplift, and a 20-25 minute drive to the top of the course, it's no wonder racers surround the bike trailer like a school of hungry piranhas in an effort to claim their bike and burn in a run.
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Not Joe Smith, but Mitch Delfs, rocking out on his new Kona ride.
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With plate number 127, you know Jared Graves has been a long time away from a World Cup DH track.
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Nick Beer taking the drifty line through a blown out corner before taking the first drop on the track.
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Full moto in the same drift zone is none other than Mr Sam Hill. Look to see this gaudy kit replaced with rainbow stripes come race day.
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With no chair lifts, there's no steady stream of riders on course. Instead, it's 20-30 minutes of inactivity, only to have a cacophony of whistles pierce the air as a prelude to yet another freight train of riders on track.
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Mmmm...Maxxis Minion tracks. These and the Schwalbe Muddy Mary were the tire of choice today.
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Gee Atherton rocking the other #1 plate.
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Steve Smith. It was dry enough today that he manage to keep the racing whites clean.
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Luke Strobel pinning it into the one legit "Extreme Caution" zone on the track.
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Fabien Cousine through "Pebble Beach" at full gas.
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Lukas Machura of Chain Reaction squeezing into a tight spot during 4X qualifying.
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While Quentin Derbier cuts the roomier inside line between the gates.
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Guido Tschugg whipping over the last set of doubles on the midtrack straight.
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Anita Molcik gasping for breath after the 1:08.56 time she laid down during 4X qualifying...good enough to qualify second.
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Michal Prokop coming in hot with a 1:01.538. The Czech rider was gassed coming across the finish line, and 3 seconds down on Jared Graves. Graves was the only rider to go sub 60 seconds on his qualie run.

Stay tuned for more World Cup DH coverage!


Author Info:
meagerdude avatar

Member since Jun 8, 2010
94 articles

30 Comments
  • 16 0
 Bright colors! Is Sam trying to blind all the competition?
  • 3 2
 So is Smith in the white!
  • 1 0
 I wanna see a pic of his white bike.
  • 1 0
 If you go onto the dirt magazine website they have a picture of it
  • 2 0
 I want to see the "extreme caution" section probably sweet
  • 1 0
 the rounds going to be live on pinkbike?
  • 1 0
 sick pictures of the tracks, cedric gracia=hench and ermm noice lips/moustache haha :p
  • 7 1
 I love it how its like "Michal Prokop coming in hot with a 1:01.538... but he's still 3 seconds down on Graves".
What a Legend!!!
  • 4 1
 so out of the11 riders that i could see the necks of, 9 of them were wearing neck braces. that is great to see!
  • 4 1
 it's going to be made compulsory before long and not just a fashion item. when peaty puts 1 on then the full world will follow and so will the uci
  • 3 2
 yeah defiantly. there is no good reason not to wear one. the only thing that annoys me is that everyone thinks you have to buy the highest model, $700, DBX Pro Carbon Leatt neck brace. when the $300 Adventure does the exact same job.
  • 4 1
 the EVS 1 is really good value for money as well pictures don't do it justice to be honest
  • 1 1
 I'm hoping the added popularity gets more companies in on the act, even at £300, it's still three times more expensive than my helmet, for a simpler piece of technology that REQUIRES the helmet in the first place! When the neck brace costs about as much as a helmet or upper body armour, then I'll consider it =/
  • 1 1
 trust me, once you get one and start wearing it and get used to it, you feel naked without it.
  • 2 0
 i'm with 3lfd3wd regarding the high price of neck braces.
and about sam hills kit - what on earth is going on there? looks like childrens pyjamas
  • 1 1
 the thing is Leatt are riding on people wanting to ride with a neck brace. although should ride with one, you don't actually need one. with other companies such as 661 and SRAM, you need the products that they are selling to go out and ride/race. weather it be a derailleur or a helmet.
  • 1 1
 So what you're saying is that there is enough demand for neck braces for Leatt to be successful even with their hideously overpriced braces? Why should that stop 661/Fox/Thor/POC/etc from producing their own at a lower price point? It's a simple enough concept, all those companies could and should make them, POC especially as they seem to love putting actual R&D into their protection (which I applaud).
  • 1 1
 yeah pretty much. and that is a very valid point, i have no idea why all protective gear companies don't make them. i suppose they think Leatt and alpine star are doing a good job. but since they have other sources of income then i suppose they can sell them at lower prices if they did make one. even if they did i would still buy a Leatt, mainly because they look really nice.

the prices are slowly coming down, i wouldn't pay $1000 like they were when they first came out. that was just for the basic model too. but now they are down to $300, and that's not too bad. $300 or the possibility of life in a wheel chair. that's now a hard decision at all.
  • 3 0
 cedric could also win in a body building competition! lol!
  • 2 0
 german riders tschugg & fischbach explaining the 4x track: videos.mtb-news.de/videos/view/13109
  • 4 1
 sam hill is the man
  • 1 0
 Where did Danny have his moment? What that a tease to get me into the pictures? Super Rad photos again! Thanks Pink Bike!
  • 2 0
 graves sub 60 seconds...... WOW!
  • 2 0
 Does anyone know what happened to Danny Hart?
  • 1 0
 love the pictures you took, look amazing! and i like maxxis muddy tire Razz
  • 1 0
 What type of Leatt brace is Sam hill wearing????
  • 1 0
 the one of Lukas Machera looks like he's on a 20" kids bike to me O.o
  • 2 1
 Actually not a single shit photo among these!
  • 1 0
 omg thats sick!







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