Mont Saint Anne Provides Thrills and New Order to DH scene

July 8th, 2011 10:23pm

The most exciting race of the year went down over the fourth of July weekend at Mont Saint Anne.

One of the most loved race tracks on the UCI circuit, Mont Saint Anne delivers everything a downhill racer could want. High speed, big air, technical rocks, the right length and prestige.

This years event started pretty much where last years event left off, in the pouring rain. It rained so hard that most of the riders elected to sit out most of the practice days only doing minimal runs in the very slippery and peaut butter like mud just in case the weather continued. Luckily for them, the skies began to clear and by Friday the weather was actually pleasant and allowed the course to begin to drain.  As the weekend progressed the course continued to improve. Saturdays qualifyers saw the usual suspects at the top with Greg Minnaar and Aaron Gwin continuing their battle going 1-2 in seating. Tracy Moseley held the time to beat for the womens side.

But race day, is where the action really happens and the story was written.

It began with Justin Leov (Trek World Racing) taking the hot seat holding off several faster qualifiers until man of the year Brook MacDonald (MS EVIL) bombed down the hill with a time stamp that crushed those before him. While not a total shock, since MacDonald made a similar run down Fort William to capture his first UCI world cup podium, it was still very exciting and there were still strong doubt that it would hold up to the talent that still had to come down the hill. One by one the challengers came and one by one they left without ever caressing the hot seat. MacDonald's time was starting to look like it might hold up.

It wasn't until the final three riders would the podium spots be dictated. With a shockingly fast  qualy run, Josh Bryceland (Team Santa Cruz) was next to come down the hill. Without a solid finish in his world cup career, Bryceland has been looking strong as of late and seems to have learned that smooth and not crashing is better than the fastest crash. And fast he did go as he beat MacDonalds best time by just .05 of a second for his first ever trip to the hot seat. With only Gwin and Minnnaar left it garaunteed Bryceland a podium spot.

As Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) descended the course, the split times were so close it was mad. Gwin has made a bit of a habit of winning this season by large margins, so when the splits were so close, you knew the other boys had set some good pace. But somewhere, somehow, Gwin managed to find some speed and squeek out a .465 advantage leavin only Minnnaar to stand in the way of a victory.

True to the seasons battle the Sydicate rider pinned it coming down the hill ever in a near dead heat with Gwin until he clipped a pedal in the rock garden sending him a bit off balance. As Minnaar tried to make the save, the undulating rocks would not give him the chance and sent him off. Fallng hard on his wrist, Minnaar would see the maximum points go to Gwin and a gap open up in the points chase. The only question remaining would be if his injury would effect him for the rest of the season.

So while the new sherriff in town took another win on the 2011 season and showed great focus on the big picture (world championship stripes) the young guns are starting to make their presence known that they will not be taken lightly. it may be too early to predict that MacDonald will win a world cup, but I would take the bet. The kid is fast, strong and is in the groove. For Bryceland, his result was even more valuable and impressive. Josh can ride and he needed that boost of confidence. I am excited to see what he makes of it.

Womens Pro Results

Women's Points After MSA

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