Rainbow Stripes and Laser Beams: Finals - Cairns DH World Cup 2016
You call that a race? Mate, THIS was a race! And yet somehow it's already over. Sam Hill's in his pyjamas. He's been to the after-party and back; now he's all tucked up. It's true the 17,000km mission from the Pyrenees wrapped up seemingly no sooner than it began. Next stop? Well there's a while before that one. First, let's soak up all the Australian madness in one visual fell swoop.
In a more than shocking turn of events during cyclone season, the track was nearly completely dry. With the dirt in hero mode, maximum grip was on offer but only the brave few pushed hard enough to make the right kind of dent in the competition. The young Brit, Matt Walker, pulled the junior punches, Rachel Atherton stole the show just one more time in the women's and for the first time ever, Loic Bruni soared like some kind of flying jungle marsupial in a rainbow jersey, high above the men's field to break the beam ahead of the rest and claim World Cup victory. The Hannah siblings did their country proud, alongside a plethora of top Aussie performances in all categories to boot. Not too bad, Cairns. Soon we'll be ready to forgive those unpleasant atmospherics of 2014. To be safe, though, perhaps we'll just see how Worlds go next year before we rush into anything...
All the unmissable action to follow.
Finally, after two years of failed attempts, the dirt was prime for racing. No rain all day meant that things were running hella fast and tacky as you like.
This is the Tissot man's enviable window to the world. How's your office?
Aaron Gwin all in a spin, helter-skelter, corkscrew times. Coming into round 2 it almost seemed harder to imagine Aaron Gwin not winning this race than to imagine him flat-out dominating the entire season. Now he's been undone, he's fallible after all and it's really on... Let the games commence.
\\ THE JUNIORS' RACE
GT's Jackson Frew is getting back to where he should be, heading the junior pack. Fourth for his home race endeavours.
Harry Bush smashed it in the name of mighty Straya this afternoon to nail third place in the juniors.
The Aussie Junior squad was on fire. Four Aussies on a five man... er, child, podium. Bush, Morton, Frew and Clark doing the honours.
A blue skies kind of day indeed for Remi Morton.
Matt Walker speeding his way to a first place finish in the juniors and swiping the leaders jersey ahead of Finn Iles who unfortunately crashed, injuring his wrist in the qualies.
\\ THE WOMEN'S RACE
Seagrave taking some time before the day starts.
Manon Carpenter managed to tackle Tahnee Seagrave here in Aus after getting pipped at Lourdes, but was this time kept at bay by Tracey Hannah.
Tahnee admits she was never quite at home on this track, as she prefers the steeps. She took fourth place here in Cairns.
One last check to make sure everything is straight at the Polygon pit.
Tracey Hannah crushing the last half mile of a gnarly track she has absolutely down.
Bringing home the silver on home turf! The hometown crowd was at full roar for both Tracey and her brother.
The Italians appear to be continuing their assault on the podium, this time Elonora Farina stepped up and rode to 6th place - quite a ride for the dedicated privateer.
Rachel Atherton is too good. Today she was unstoppable for the umpteenth time, taking the win by 3.48 seconds.
The fastest females in town: Atherton, Hannah, Carpenter, Seagrave and Charre.
\\ THE MEN'S RACE
A last few moments to reflect in the troop carrier before dropping into the battle below.
The list of tracks where you can see the finish line from the start gate is short but sweet...
Local entrepreneurs teaching the crowd about supply and demand. Simply set your price, then supply some noise...
Marc Beaumont hauling ass into the whoops.
Sean McCarroll is a legend. He qualified first at the World Championships on this track in 1996, and finished in the top 10. Back in it for the big show, a full 20 years later.
Since witnessing the videos of Troy destroying a dry and dusty Cairns track during the Southern Hemisphere summer, there was no doubt we were going to witness something special. In the end, it was a masterclass, trumped only by the brilliance of the World Champion.
Last run blues... Taylor Vernon had a nasty encounter with a tree in the final minutes of practice, ending up with a possibly broken collarbone.
Thousands of people fought their way through the jungle to watch the best riders in the world throw down.
Morning practice seemed especially focused today as riders tried to learn how to ride this track in the complete dry. Luca Shaw still found time to go big and sideways.
Your eyes do not deceive you. It is a dropper-post, BoXXer, Marshguard vuvuzela.
There's light at the end of the long, winding tunnel.
Graeme Mudd, the second most badass privateer outta Hell/Australia this weekend. A formidable 8th, only 4 seconds off the pace.
Remi Thirion was back in the hunt this week. He took a tenth place finish to move him ahead in the rankings.
It came and it went in a blur, such is the nature of this high-speed business of downhill bicycle racing.
Loris Vergier is following in teammate Loic's foot steps. The quiet Frenchman let his riding speak for itself today. Vergier rode to seventh place.
Connor Fearon sprinting his flats to the bitter end.
New team, new rider. An unreal result for Greg Williamson here in Aus, piloting his Cube to 6th place and missing the podium by only a whisker. And what race is next up on the calendar?
Josh Button on the run of a lifetime. First week on the new bike, first World Cup in years, and first podium... not bad for a wildcard entry.
Ladies and gentlemen, sir Josh Button.
Stevie Smith was looking set to take a podium until a front flat in the rock garden ruined his day.
What could have been? Stevie was on fire all week. He made the most out of a bad situation and wheelied down the final straight like a champ.
Cairns offered an unfamiliar format for Loic Bruni. This time he would not be last man down the hill and he would keep hold of the bars to the very end.
On fire and in the green. Bruni left it all out on the track.
Dear diary... Jackpot.
Gwin thrashing the pedals through a wave of lactic towards the finish arch.
Somewhere high up on the track, Gwin knew there was some section where he was back on the Aussies and Bruni, but simply could not unlock it in time for his final run. No crashes or big mistakes for the Gwizzard, just about beaten fair and square.
Sik Mik Hannah dodging the decibels belting out from the rock garden crowd. Just when you thought they couldn't be any louder, the local favourite nailed his line and blew the lid off the forest canopy.
All the people of Australia, overjoyed to see their local boy back in the game and (almost) on top of the World.
 | After a bit of bad luck with injuries for a while, my top 20 at the end of last season in Andorra I think was critical for me really. That showed that I could do this and it gave me a reason to train hard in the off-season. My goal here was 10th and it just worked out a little bit better than that! - Mick Hannah |
Nervous anyone?
Troy Brosnan charging across the line with everything he had. On this day, it just wasn't enough.
| Man, it was fierce. I knew it was gonna be hard. My run was pretty much perfect, I couldn't ask for much more really. I left it all on the line and that sprint burned so much. But I'm glad about my result and I gotta give it up to Loic. He's riding so well right now and he's definitely hard to beat. I've never been second before and as much as I really, really wanted the win, I'm stoked to do this in my home country. Loic missed out on the win in his, so I guess this can be a bit of payback for me. - Troy Brosnan |
The sound of disappointment from the sea of expectant countrymen told Troy his fate as he crossed the line. So close, but no cigar.
Half a second late. Time to party!
So much 'f*%k yes' for so many reasons. Bruni's first ever World Cup win has arrived and it was a thing of beauty.
| Since World Champs there's been a lot of water under the bridge, so it's been a long winter, training hard and changing bikes too. I think we did everything to win over here, but I never expected to win because it's not the kind of track I like... a little bit too flat! But we optimised the bike to make it as rollable and light as we could. It was pretty hard in the rough sections, but in the flat section it paid off because that's where I won the race. In the last section, which is the most physical, I just got Troy from nothing. I'm pretty happy we made those choices. - Loic Bruni |
Specialized Gravity Republic team manager, Laurent Delorme, with the dream machine in all its rainbow stripe and sunbeam glory.
The step that had eluded Loic Bruni for so long eludes him no more.
| It's always nice to qualify first because every point you can get is important - that's why we go for the best qualification. Maybe fourth took a little bit of pressure off my shoulders, but actually I felt relaxed in Lourdes, I felt relaxed here. I didn't change anything. Maybe I was a little bit safer in some parts of this track than Lourdes, but physically I gave it everything from the top to the bottom. Now Aaron is still in front and it'll be really hard to catch up, but it's good, you know, we're showing him we're here. Troy and me and all the other riders are chasing Aaron, so it's going to be a great season and this race was wild! - Loic Bruni |
Further champagne showers are forecast for the man in the rainbow jersey in the season ahead.
| Now I need to take pee for the UCI, but after that... f*ck man, it's going to be crazy. Red Bull has a barbecue then we'll go to town and we'll celebrate this moment. It's been a long time now working hard with the team and chasing this win, and finding it today in Australia... It's pretty cool! - Loic Bruni |
With all said and done here in the land down under, World Cup epic-ness goes on ice for over a month. Time to see other people.... Take a class, go to the movies, distract yourselves. This is going to drag.
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All the kids on here jizz themselves stupid that he won without a chain but Hart, Hill and Brosnan would have still won races by over 5 seconds (at Champery for example) without chains. Still, feeds into the Gwin hype I guess.
The rear centre length argument stands BTW. Which is why he went plus 10mm. Less of an issue for Bruni and Troy as they're on mediums.
Yeah I agree with your comment. I'm not interested in how fast a DH racer can pedal on the flat.
Wondering!
Mik and Tracey,
Passing Alien tree,
K-I-L-L-I-N-G
You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto.
Let's call the whole thing off.