2012 UCI MTB World Champs By MS Mondraker
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 6:17AM The UCI MTB world championships 2012 of Leogang/ Austria are over and even we missed the win of the rainbow stripes we end up with a 2nd place in the women’s race and pretty good team result. But lets start at the beginning…
After a couple of days with a lot of rain and temperature drop close to 0° we were lucky for race day. The weather turned back to good and so the conditions on the track changed quiet a lot from deep and slippery to a really fast and rough piste.
After a descent timed training on Saturday where Emmeline set the fastest time for women’s and all male riders end up in the top 15 we were prepared for the race.
Emmeline came down as second last rider with some little mistakes here and there. When she came to the finish she knew that it hasn’t been a winning run and so it was when she checked on the timing board . Emmeline came in in 2nd place and there was Rachel Atherton still to come. Rachel was handicapped by a back injury and so she was not able to put a winning run together as well. The winner of the day was the 19 year-old Chaare Morgane from France- maybe the unexpected racer of this weekend even she showed up already and the one or other worldcup podium.
The boys showed a strong performance in seeding already and the boys knew what’s possible. Starting by the current UCI ranking Markus Pekoll was the first to come down of the MS boys. He is Austrian and so he was in the position of being the local hero, which puts some pressure on him. Markus had a solid run on and managed it to hop into the 2nd position of the hot seat. He sat there for a while and a few top riders haven’t been able to beat his time and in the end this brought him into 9th position.
Second last of MS-RACING to come down was Damien. He has a good but not perfect run, but in the end he finished in 6th position. Brook was the last man of MS to come down and he was on his limits, but not without mistakes, which cost too much time in the end for being on the podium- Brook ended up in 8th position.
Even we haven’t been able to win the infamous rainbow stripes we are happy with what we have reached in co-operation with our partners. One rider on the podium and 3 others in the top 10 is an awesome result and makes us one of the best teams on the circuit.
Thanks to all our sponsors and partners, who helped us during this week with special products, service and hospitality.
Greg Minnaar And Morgane Charre Are The 2012 Downhill World Champions
Sunday, September 2, 2012 at 3:35PM The first weekend of the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships in Leogang, Austria, concluded on Sunday with the crowd favourite Downhill. Morgane Charre (France) took her first world title in the Elite women's race, while Greg Minnaar (South Africa) returned to the top step of the Elite men's podium after a nine year absence. Holly Feniak (Canada) and Loic Bruni (France) won the Junior women's and men's titles, respectively.
The women's race was expected to be between defending champion Emmeline Ragot (France) and Rachel Atherton (Great Britain), the two riders who have been battling it out all season in the UCI World Cup. However, Atherton was not a factor in the race, suffering from an undisclosed injury and finishing fifth. After Canadians Micayla Gatto and Casey Brown came close to breaking the four minute barrier, Charre obliterated it, taking the lead time down to 3:50.654 with six riders remaining.
Countrywoman Floriane Pugin came within 1.617 seconds, with last year's Junior world champion Manon Carpenter then getting a tenth of a second closer. Ragot was next, but she could only get within 1.2 seconds, leaving Atherton the only rider who could deny Charre the championship. Atherton was within two-hundredths of a second after the first intermediate time check, but faded badly in the second half of the race, allowing the 22 year old Charre to step into the rainbow jersey.
"I did not expect this," admitted a visibly shocked Charre. "I thought that Emmeline [Ragot] would beat me for sure, or Atherton. I had a very good run and pedalled a lot, with only little mistakes, but I have never had a result like this before."
In the men's race, there were a dozen strong contenders, and Minnaar's victory came down to the wire. Australia's Bryn Atkinson set the first sub-3:30 time, with nearly 50 riders to go. Sam Dale (Great Britain) quickly took off three-tenths of a second and held the Hot Seat for 20 riders before he was replaced by Florent Payet (France), with a drop of two seconds in the lead time.
Australian Mick Hannah took the leading time below 3:24 with ten riders to go, but was immediately replaced by Canada's Steve Smith, who was bumped by Gee Atherton (Great Britain) with two riders left to finish. Minnaar came in next, half a second ahead of Atherton, but everyone knew that the final rider, American Aaron Gwin, could quite easily upset the standings. Gwin has won an incredible nine World Cups in 13 races over the past two seasons, so everyone was waiting to see what he could do.
However, it became apparent early in his run that Gwin was suffering mechanical problems, eventually finishing a distant 83rd. Minnaar jumped to his feet from the Hot Seat as he was mobbed by well wishers, ecstatic to win his second world title.
"It’s been nine years and this run it was tough," commented Minnaar. "I had a lot of pressure today, I was super nervous. To be honest, I tried to nail the top section, just after the bridge I lost a lot of speed, I had to pedal hard. But I held it together, in a way same as in the Pietermaritzburg World Cup earlier this season. I couldn't believe I crossed the line in first."
"I am a bit bummed for Gwinny, he seems to have a mechanical, I am not sure what happened. It is not exactly the best way for me to win, or how I'd like to win, but we are all out there trying our best. We all have mechanicals from time to time, that's part of racing."
2012 Leogang World Champs Downhill Timed Session Results
Saturday, September 1, 2012 at 8:15AM 