World Cup: Bryceland snatches overall victory
The decision in the Downhill World Cup is just as exciting as it was a year ago, when Canadian Steve Smith took the World Cup crown in the last race. This time it is the Australian Troy Brosnan and the Englishman Josh Bryceland who are battling it out for the overall World Cup. However, the qualifying race has already seen some of the top riders appear in unusual positions. For example, world champion Greg Minnaar and title contender Troy Brosnan appear at the back of the field. In the race, the two can start directly behind the fastest 20 thanks to their protected status, which the top 20 in the overall standings have.
Austrian Markus Pekoll is also the first serious contender in the race. Neither New Zealander Samuel Blenkinsop nor world champion Greg Minnaar (RSA) will be able to beat the Austrian's time. Then Troy Brosnan takes to the track with big ambitions. With his sights set on overall victory, however, he falls short of his potential and only finishes 20th. Gee Atherton is the first rider to oust Pekoll from the leading position. It then becomes quiet again around the top position until Sam Hill (AUS) shoots out of the starting gate as the fifth-last rider. He put in a flawless ride on the technically difficult course and beat Atherton's time by over a second.
No one comes close until the last rider. Qualification winner Matthew Simmonds also scraped Hill's time, but missed it by just three tenths of a second. A further two tenths of a second behind, Josh Bryceland comes third and takes the overall victory in the 2014 Downhill World Cup ahead of Aaron Gwin (USA) and Troy Brosnan. Nick Beer has to bury his hopes of a place in the top 20 and thus Protectet status for the first World Cup race. He doesn't get up to speed and only finishes in 39th place. "I had a major mistake in my ride. That's all I can say about it," says Beer in consternation. Noel Niederberger, on the other hand, is more satisfied: "That was the first good run of this World Cup season. We'll see what the result says, but I'm happy with my run." Niederberger finished in 46th place.
| Ranking #7 Downhill World Cup 2014, Méribel FRA, Downhill Men: | ||
| 1. Sam Hill (AUS) | 0.03.16 | +00.00 |
| 2. Matthew Simmonds (GBR) | 0.03.16 | +00.00 |
| 3rd Josh Bryceland (GBR) | 0.03.16 | +00.00 |
| 4. Loic Bruni (FRA) | 0.03.17 | +00.01 |
| 5th Gee Atherton (GBR) | 0.03.17 | +00.01 |
| 6th Aaron Gwin (USA) | 0.03.17 | +00.01 |
| 7th Danny Hart (GBR) | 0.03.19 | +00.03 |
| 8th Markus Pekoll (AUT) | 0.03.20 | +00.04 |
| 9th Greg Williamson (GBR) | 0.03.20 | +00.04 |
| 10th Greg Minnaar (RSA) | 0.03.20 | +00.04 |
| 39th Nick Beer (SUI) | 0.03.27 | +00.11 |
| 46th Noel Niederberger (SUI) | 0.03.27 | +00.11 |
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.