2014 Pietermaritzburg World Cup Downhill Results, Aaron Gwin, Manon Carpenter Victorious 8

A fast, dry course served up a dose of drama at the opening round of the 2014 UCI World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

American Luca Shaw opened up with a fantastic win in the Junior Men's class and Manon Carpenter backed up her winning qualifying run with a victory over the Elite Women's field. Rachel Atherton fought illness all week and managed a 2nd place with Jill Kintner earning a solid podium finish in 3rd.

The Elite Men's battle did not disappoint. Mick Hannah, a favorite at Pietemaritzburg had a lackluster qualifying run forced by a brake failure. The Australian dropped in with determination and focus to lay down a flawless run aboard his prototype Polygon bike. He took the lead over hot seat holder, Guillaume Cauvin by nearly 9-seconds with a 4:01.381, 4-seconds faster than Aaron Gwin's qualifying time. 20 of the fastest qualifiers remained. When riders like Gee Atherton and Marcelo Gutierrez posted times nearly 5-seconds off the mark, curiosity about the strength of Mick's time began to build as riders continued to fall short.

Sam Dale attacked the course to come within just under 4-seconds of Mick's time with a crash through the finish area. Mick's lead was being chipped away.

Flat pedal wizard, Sam Hill thundered through the technical upper section of the course earning the fastest split time at the moment, but the pedal section sucked his momentum away. Sam, returning from knee surgery, salvaged what he could, yielding the Aussie a respectable result with a long season ahead.

American upstart, Neko Mulally sprinted out of the gate and posted a fast time at the first split, but lost considerable time at the 2nd split after the pedal section. Despite the fade, Neko earned his first Top 10 World Cup finish. Heck yeah, Neko!

Troy Brosnan, who's been trying to bulk up in the off-season took a 2-second lead at split one, but was back at split 2 and couldn't make up the difference, finishing 1.9-behind Mick with five riders remaining.

Blenkinsop labored through the rock section, carried momentum through the pedal section, but could never make up enough to pull into the lead.

Loic Bruni made easy work of the rock section, 2.7-seconds up on the first split, but was robbed in the pedal section like everyone else so far and could not best Mick Hannah. 3 riders remained.

World Champ, PMB local and dangerman of the venue, Greg Minnaar smoothed out the rocks, earned fastest split time and charged through the pedaling. At the 2nd split, Greg remained up at the split, the first rider to do so. Incredibly, Greg lost 1.5-seconds in the final section and Mick remained in the hot seat, rejoicing on camera.

Surprising 2nd place qualifier Josh Bryceland mobbed the rocks and was up at split 1 when disaster struck in the form of a dropped chain. Raincheck for Ratboy.

Tension and emotion were at an all-time high with only Aaron Gwin remaining. Gwin's 1st place qualifier proved he's returned to form and his rock section time earned him a 3-second margin. After the pedal section, Gwin remained 2.3-seconds ahead and took the victory by crushing the final portion of the course by an incredible 2-seconds over Mick Hannah.

Elite Men's Downhill Results from Pietermaritzburg

Elite Women's Downhill Results from Pietermaritzburg

Junior Men's Downhill Results from Pietermaritzburg

How did the riders measure up to their Vital Power Ranking?

• View Luca Shaw's Winning Bike
  
• View Manon Carpenter's Winning Bike
• View Aaron Gwin's Winning Bike