Downhill mania! WC DH #1 in Vigo Spain

I didn’t make the team, coach. This race attracted hundreds of racers from all over Europe and around the world. In the mens’ category there were 208 riders in the semi finals. Only the top 80 get to advance into the finals. So knowing that in order to make the cut, I need to beat at least 128 of these rocketeers just to advance, this left no margin for error and no holding back. In my qualifying run I washed out in a loose burn and went down. I pedaled my ass off, but I was 11 second behind the cut off. I guess I will have to look at this race as a learning experience.

But enough about me. Lets talk about the super stars of DH racing. This is a perfectionists’ sport. With all the racing I have done over the years, I never get to actually watch. So it was really cool to check out the top dogs rail their race runs. The top 40 guys nailed their lines with grace and finesse. They mostly took higher risk lines, but much more calculated maneuvers. With the course being around two and half minutes, times were very tight. There wasn’t a great difference between Mich Hannah’s winning run and Markus Klausmann’s 10th place finish.



This course was really fun. There were lots of technical sections and plenty of high speed. There were two stand out tech sections that were critical in making up time. One was a long rock face with a carpeted ramp at the bottom, and a “thread the needle, off camber, left hander to road gap. This section took down a few soldiers. Next was a wet double step down. This next section was tricky because you had two line options that were very unclear as to which would be quicker. It was about 50/50 each way down. It also shot you into a creek bed with plenty of baby heads to take you down or break your wheels. Most of the heavy pedaling went down at the bottom of the course, and the finish line had a nice lobby road gap. It was a good course.


Men’s results:

1. Mich Hannah
2. Nathan Rennie
3. Steve Peat
4. Mark Beaumont
5. Gee Atherton
6. Sam Hill
7. Cedric Gracia
8. Chris Kovarik
9. Michael Pascal
10. Markus Klausmann

Women’s Results:

1.Tracy Moseley
2. Sabrina Jonnier
3. Emmeline Ragot
4. Celine Gros
5. Rachel Atherton
6. Marielle Saner
7. Danika Schroeter Canada!!
8. Bernadita Pizarro
9. Mio Suemasa
10. Clair buchar Canada!!

19. Katrina Strand Canada!!


Derek Chambers

My shout outs:

www.santacruzmtb.com

www.nrgenterprises.com

www.ogc.ca

www.smithsport.com

www.dainese.com

www.troyleedesigns.com

www.freeride-entertainment.com

www.magura.com

www.osonegrocoffee.com