News: Maribor WC DH Final Report

Sabrina is still #1 Colin Meagher

On a gorgeous day in Northern Slovenia, Sam Hill put his stamp on the season opener with a resounding win—3 seconds over his nearest rival, the surprising Julien Camellini of France. Julien Who? Camellini, with a ‘C’. Asked after the race if there were any surprises, Sam was quick with, “Camellini”, as a response. Rounding out the remaining top five were Steve Peat—god I hope that guy FINALLY wins a worlds this year—in 3rd, Fabien Barel in 4rth, and Greg Minnaar in 5th.

The race was pretty straightforward. Most riders were busy yesterday scouting safe lines through the danger zones, and quicker lines through the tricky sections. Bryn Atkinson, healthy after last year’s Mt St Anne wrist wrecking accident, was eyeing a couple solutions to a sharp left-hander near the bottom of the course. He got that, but a qualifying wreck elsewhere on the track has him a bit banged up. Marc Beaumont had been eyeing a couple of root lines that could be doubled, but with maybe some consequences. He got that section, but the same left hander that Bryn had been trying to sort out the previous day laid him up pretty good, with maybe a busted collar bone, but then again, maybe just some bruising of the shoulder; X fingers…

Bottom line, the course was fun, but tricky at race pace. Julien Camellini was definitely a surprise, but he was not the only one to post a fast time on the day: Kyle Strait went back to his racing roots after a year plus off, and posted a 24rth place. There’s not many in the world that can take time off like that and come back with that high of a placing… Other racers of note today were Justin Leov (8th), Andrew Neethling (10th), and Nico Vink (16th).

In the women’s field, everyone expected Sabrina Jonnier to steam roll the competition, and she posted a solid 3rd place qualifying, but it was Rachel Atherton who took the pole position in qualifying. But racing the finals is a different animal, and with the chips down in the finals, Sabrina took the lead with a scant 18/100th of a second over Rachel—tight! Emmeline Ragot took 3rd place honors, with Fionn Griffiths in 4th, and Floriane Pugin in 5th.

First time world cup host Andorra is a scant 3 weeks away; hopefully, the injured riders are back to full strength by then, and we’ll see some solid racing at this new stop. Cedric Gracia is super stoked on the 4X, that’s for sure! But the DH and XC tracks are a complete mystery at this point. But Cedric’s positive that they are “going to be kicking some serious ass.” See ya then.

Kyle Strait is back on form after a year off of racing. Colin Meagher