Hafjel World Cup – Final Round

A couple of hours North of Oslo lies Hafjel Bike Park, where the last round of the 2012 Downhill World Cup took place at the weekend. This was the first time the World Cup circus has come to Norway, and right from the track walk the riders were impressed.

There were comparisons to Scotland from the British riders during the track walk and during practice a lot of the riders were proclaiming it as the best track of the year or even the best track in years. Norway was off to a good start, the only downside being the price of the beer, which (at least from my visits to Oslo) is around £6-£10 a pint.

The weekend kicked off with a Staff/Media race using a mostly different course from the World Cup but going into the main finishing area where competitors had to down a beer before their time was counted. This was a bit of fun for a wind down at the end of the season but there were a few people concerned there would be no one left to take photos of the main event. Sven Martin, a photographer as well known as some of the riders, took the win ahead of Nigel Page CRC manager and Chris Ball UCI Technical Delegate. There were some accusations of cheating with the downing of the beer though. I hope they do this again at Fort William and let volunteers race, I can’t ride that well but I can down a beer pretty quick.

The qualifying took place on the Friday with Rachel Atherton and Stevie Smith going fastest, this gave Rachel a helping hand in the overall and left her needing to finish in the top 5 even if Emmeline Ragot won the actual race. Aaron Gwin had already taken the overall however he injured himself in practice and didn’t race, 2^nd and 3^rd could still change around between Minaar and Gee Atherton.

Race day was Saturday for a change and the weather, despite expectations, was staying clear. The women’s race was going to be a hard fought one even with some of the top riders being out injured. Canadian Casey Brown put in a run stomping the earlier times but was swiftly deposed by the new World Champion Morgane Charre. Ragot was after revenge from the Worlds and took 6.5 seconds out of Charres’ time, however next up was Manon Carpenter who had qualified 2^nd unfortunately a massive crash in her run put her out of contention, although she made it down the hill with a broken bike and probably feeling a bit dizzy after landing on her head and came 14^th overall.

Rachel Atherton was last on the hill with everything to play for, the overall title and the win on the day were what she wanted but after a back injury in the Worlds could she pull it off? She was down and looking a little tentative at split one but she pulled back time and went into the lead by split two, looking smooth she crossed the line fastest by 2.283 ahead of Ragot and Charre. Tahnee Seagrave came in 9^th despite a crash and Jess Stone came in 10^th looking good for the British girls.

Full Womens results: http://dirt.mpora.com/news/hafjell-womens-world-cup-final-results.html

The men’s race was hotting up with Markus Pekoll having set a solid time which seemed unassailable, Brendan Fairclough dropped into 2^nd just behind Pekoll with Jo Smith and Matt Simmonds following going into 14^th and 8^th. Marc Beaumont apparently said “inconsistency is key to an average season” which just about sums it up for him as he came down in 11^th place.

The winner of the last World Cup, Brook ‘Bulldog’ MacDonald still couldn’t beat Pekolls’ time, neither could Junior World Champion Loic Bruni however the wind was blowing pretty hard seemingly effecting them on the jumps and through the woods as a headwind. Britain Greg Williamson repeats his Fort William form ending up in 15^th but it’s Cam Cole who finally topples Pekol from the hotseat, but that just starts the ball rolling with Gee coming down and going 2 seconds faster, Sam Hill came down flying but ends up 7^th in the end. Then Greg Minaar sticks it on the hot seat securing his 2^nd in the overall ahead of Gee. 

Ratboy at Fort Bill

Josh Bryceland came down smooth as ever but not fast enough ending up 8^th, it was Kiwi George Brannigan next up on the hotseat securing his first podium ever and looking good for the win even. However it was his team mate Stevie Smith up in the start gate for the final run of the day and led all the way down the hill to take a massively well deserved first ever win and a great day for the De Vinci team getting 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th a full podium set.

Mens Results:http://dirt.mpora.com/news/hafjell-world-cup-mens-results.html

A great exciting end to a fantastic, if somewhat injury riddled season on a superb track in a new venue, I'll be trying to make it out there next year for sure.. The Women’s overall was decided on the day and the final overall podium was 1^st Rachel Atherton, 2^nd Emmeline Ragot, 3^rd Myriam Nicole (injured), 4th Tracey Hannah (injured), 5^th Emilie Siegenthaler (injured). The Junior Women’s title was taken by Tahnee Seagrave from Great Britain.

Tracey Hannah at Fort William

The Men’s overall was taken in the Val D’Isere by the now injured Aaron Gwin ahead of 2^nd Greg Minaar, 3^rd Gee Atherton (who was never off the podium all year), 4^th Steve Smith and 5^th Sam Hill. The Junior title was taken by Loic Bruni. The overall team win went to GT Racing, the Athertons and Marc Beaumont securing the title in their first year together.

Once again the Brits placed well with 2^nd Gee, 6^th Bryceland, 8^th Hart (injured), 13^th Beaumont, 16^th Simmonds and 19^th Smith from the top 20 men and 1^st Rachel, 9^th Manon in the top 10 of the women’s despite Manon being out for a couple of races due to a broken collar bone and Rachel missing the first round due to injury.

The biggest of many injuries of the year were to Cedric Gracia who is suprisingly looking to be back racing next year despite what could have been a career (if not life) ending crash, Tracey Hannah who still came 4^th overall and Troy Brosnan who came back for World Champs then promptly had a huge stack in the race and busted his shoulder. Heal up fast to you guys and all the other riders suffering.

Full overall results: http://dirt.mpora.com/news/2012-world-cup-overall-results-after-hafjell.html