Nordkette Downhill.PRO: Poor Conditions, Strong Performances and a Colombian Winner

Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas is triumphant at the Nordkette Downhill.PRO 2014 on August 30.

We proudly present the winners of the Nordkette Downhill.PRO 2014.

The ride of Colombian Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas on the Nordkette Singletrail marked the beginning of a new era, being the only rider to stay below the 7-minute mark (6:59.62 min); hence outclassing his rivals who were only separated by fractions of a second. After last year’s winner Benedikt Purner fell victim to a mechanical failure, the young Innsbruck-local André Vögele finished fifth, holding up the colors as best Austrian rider. The rainy weather made the track even more challenging for the riders and the bikes. Die-hard downhill fans along the racetrack made sure the atmosphere was tops, especially at the new track section "Red Corner".

Marcelo Gutierrez is the fastest men on the Nordkette Singletrail 2014 (c) Andreas Vigl.

The winning streak of downhill pro Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas continues. The new "King of Crankworx" Whistler came to Innsbruck and crowned himself also "King of Nordkette" with a time of 6:59.62 minutes. "The track is unique, totally different from everything else. You need to keep the flow at the top section without too much thinking. I came here to win and I'm super-happy that it worked out! Although I didn't expect the time gap to be that big," said the 24-year-old in a first statement.

Filip Polc riding down the track above downtown Innsbruck (c) Felix Schüller.

The long-distance specialist stayed ahead of second placed New Zealander Wyn Masters (Team Bulls DH) by a scarcely believable 34 seconds. After his injury last year, Johann Potgieter (RSA/Seattlecoffeeco South Africa) was back to claim the win, eventually leading the pack but finishing third, only 0.97 seconds behind after 3.5 km. Last year's winner and co-favorite Benedikt Purner wasn't able to repeat his victory. The honor of best local rider comes to André Vögele, who competed in the pro-class for the first time, finishing in a shiny fifth place.

André Vögele on his way to take the fith place and became the "best local rider" at the Nordkette Downhill.Pro 2014 (c) Felix Schüller.

The juniors were dominated by British riders Innes Graham (7:41.89 min) and Andrew Dorrit (8:00.70 min) riding for the Austrian world-cup downhill team MS Mondraker, who managed to finish first and third, co-favorite and last year's winner Andreas Kolb (Sports-Nut DH Team, 7:59.13) from Austria, slipped in between the two claiming the second spot on the podium.

Innes Graham (MS Mondraker) is back racing and wins the Nordkette Downhill.JR (Junior) (c) Andreas Vigl.


The podium: Innes Graham (1), Andreas Kolb (2), Andrew Dorrit (3) (c) Andreas Vigl.

Tough, awesome, muddy - that's how the fourth Nordkette Downhill.PRO & JR presented itself on this Saturday. This gravity-defying event high above the roofs of Innsbruck united pros and amateurs in a race themed "the winner takes all".

All details on www.nordkette-downhill.com