Here’s the top five men and full results (see below) from today’s scorching finals from UCI World Cup Round 1 in Lourdes, France.
1: Aaron Gwin
2: Loic Bruni
3: Mike Jones
4: Danny Hart
5: Sam Dale
Jaysus, what a race. Lourdes has been bathed in hot sunlight and stampeded by a rowdy French crowd today, and the top riders certainly did not fail to put on one hell of a show. Aaron Gwin left before the final 20 due to his DQ in qualifying, which left him with an awful long time sitting in the (very) hot seat and soaking up the glory of a true return to the form he showed in 2012.
The American was blisteringly fast, with only Loic Bruni really in with a shout – fastest for the Frenchman at the first split but he dropped time, or rather Gwin gained it, in the lower reaches of the course. Gwin has clearly been meticulous in his preparation this weekend, stopping and inspecting every section, resulting in some crafty line choice, plus of course that he had one heck of a pace on him.
Allez les Brits! Five Brits in the top seven male riders here, with commendable rides from Mike Jones (3rd), Danny Hart (4th), Sam Dale (5th), Brendan Fairclough (6th) and Josh Bryceland (7th). Now if that isn’t a dream line up for a Brit downhill racing fan I don’t know what is.
Title photo: Seb Schieck.
