The weather definitely played a role in the third round of the UCI Downhill World Cup presented by Shimano in Leogang, Austria, as sticky mud slowed times down from qualifying a day earlier.
However, the fastest riders proved that it didn't matter in the end as the top-seeded qualifiers in both the men’s and women’s competition went on to win the final. Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) took the first World Cup win of her career in the women's race, while Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) regained the lead in the men's series after taking his second win in three events.
Elite Women: Pugin puts a stop to Moseley’s winning streak
With her victory, the young French rider Pugin stopped World Cup leader Tracy Moseley's (Trek World Racing) winning streak at two: the British rider could only manage third. Rachel Atherton (Commençal) took second behind Pugin. Moseley still leads the World Cup standings with 660 points, followed by Pugin at 570 and Atherton - who missed the first round - at 410.
"It is hard to take in," a breathless Pugin said after her run. "I'm so happy. It was so hard in the pedalling section because it [the ground] was getting sticky and it was hard to carry speed through there, but I gave it my all. To win a World Cup was my main goal for this year, and now it is done!"
Elite Men: Gwin reclaims World Cup lead
Aaron Gwin reclaimed the men's World Cup lead from rival Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) with a dominating performance. Gwin, winner of round one but who managed only fifth place in Fort William last week, qualified fastest. He went on to finish over two seconds ahead of Gee Atherton (Commençal) in the final. Minnaar finished nearly six seconds back in third place. Gwin, with 628 points, lies just 46 points in front of Minnaar, with two rounds remaining.
The leading time steadily decreased as the field of 81 riders worked its way down to the fastest qualifiers. Minnaar, the winner of round two, set the first sub-3:50 time with seven riders to go, and no one could match his time until the final two riders, the top two qualifiers, showed that they were a notch above everyone else on this day. Atherton came through the first split three seconds up on Minnaar and finished 3.608 seconds faster than the South African.
Atherton's time wouldn't prove to be enough for the win, unfortunately for the Brit, as Gwin, possibly still smarting from losing a week earlier after crashing while well in the lead, blew through every section of the course well ahead of his competition to score his second win in three races and recover the lead in the standings.
"It feels great to get that monkey off my back after last week's crash," commented Gwin. "I knew I had it in me, I just had to put it together. My run went good until it almost fell apart at the bottom ... I blew my feet out of the pedals and rode the last minute of the track without being clipped in, but managed to hold it together. The bike was working awesome, everything just sort of clicked. I'm just happy it all came together."
2011 WC 3 At Leogang
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