All of the top men’s challengers had made their respective national teams and were present in PMB. With last years champion Loic Bruni moving on to the Elite class for 2013, the stage was set for a new winner. Aussie Dean Lucas is leading the World Cup standings, but could only manage a fifth place. Taking a second place last year, Yeti’s Richie Rude was hot favourite and the huge powerhouse didn’t disappoint! Only 4th place at the first split, and out of the top 20 at the speed trap, Richie left himself with a lot of work to do on the lower slopes. Powering his way along the pedal, the young American pulled all of time back and then some, crossing the line with more than a 7 second advantage. Richie was seen wearing his rainbow stripes and a massive grin for the rest of the weekend!

As the sun rose over Pietermaritzburg on Sunday morning, the world’s best awoke, all with the knowledge that a less than perfect run was not going to cut it. World Champs is always exciting, but the combination of circumstances that had led to this point made this one feel a little more open. Would the gamble pay off for Jared? Would Greg stand up to the immense pressure? Would Mick’s training and focus lead to success? Would Stevie take advantage of his custom bike? Would Gee continue his amazing run of results? Would Ropelato pull something incredible out of the bag? All of these and more lay unanswered.

The weird scheduling at World Champs came to a head on race day, where the originally planned 30 minutes of training time was deemed to be in breach of a UCI rule which states that there must be a minimum of 90 minutes of practice on the day of a race. Unfortunately for the DH riders, the newly created XC Eliminator event was using the finish line area and thus while the practice was extended for the requisite 90 minutes, the final 2 jumps of the track were closed off.

This situation was completely farcical, the top riders in the world having to pull of the course before the last corner on the day of the biggest race of the season. Hopefully the riders and team managers made enough of a fuss for this situation not ever to be repeated. The fact that there were no marshals on course for the practice session only served to add to the insanity.

With the juniors having raced on Friday, it was straight into the women. The top girls have really stepped up their game this year, and the addition of BMX World Champion Caroline Buchanan into the mix helped increase the level of competition. After a long list of injuries Tracey Hannah was finally back on form and at almost full strength. Beating Buchanan’s early time, Hannah took the hot seat and looked to be in a strong position.

CLICK THROUGH TO VIEW PART two OF THE UCI WORLD DOWNHILL CHAMPIONSHIPS: PIETERMARTITZBURG 2013 GALLERY BEFORE READING ON…

For a while nobody came close, and it was only when Emmeline Ragot came across the line 3.7 seconds up that Tracey had to vacate her seat. Emmeline had taken a win away from Rachel Atherton at the last World Cup, and laid down a solid run to put the pressure on Rach. Manon Carpenter has been solid all season, and has run Rach close on more than one occasion. A crash near the start saw Manon cruise down, well off the pace. Having been a crazy 16 seconds faster in timed training than anyone else, it was evident that Rachel Atherton had plenty in the tank. Passing split two with a full 8 seconds in hand, it would have taken an act of god to stop the inevitable happening. She crossed the line safely and took the rainbows by a huge margin. A truly impressive performance from Miss Atherton, and utterly deserving of the title ‘World Champion’.

The first of the serious contenders in the men’s class was Mitch Ropelato on his 29er speed machine. A tiny mistake saw him go down in the first turn, dashing all hopes of a true big wheeler making the podium. Even with the crash, a top ten middle split time showed that Mitch could have pulled one out of the bag. Next up was Jared Graves, with a decent top split and a spectacular bottom two thirds, Jared settled himself in the hot seat, hoping the time would hold long enough for him to get a medal. Rider after rider went close at the first split, only to lose swathes of time down below.

The only two riders to really challenge were Matt Simmonds and Sam Blenkinsop. Simmonds on his custom painted, but pretty much stock Nukeproof, risking semi slick tyres on both ends, putting in an incredible performance to take fifth place on the day and fastest Brit. Sam Blenkinsop was on an altogether more custom bike, with his Lapierre running 650b wheels. One of the few teams alongside Devinci who had actually done testing on the bigger wheels prior to the race. fourth place on the day for the Kiwi was an impressive result for a rider who has struggled in recent years. It is great to see Blinky back on form. It was beginning to look as if Jared’s little bike was paying off with only six riders left when Mick Hannah powered out of the gate. Smashing the first sector and holding onto his lead on the pedal section, Mick was onto a good run and sprinted his way across the line three seconds up. Riding a full on DH bike, Mick had little in the way of modifications. Simply riding the bike he had been on all year faster than anyone else at that point. Loic Bruni wasn’t able to make an impression and finished the day out of the top 10.

Sam Hill was off pace as well, and looking tired he had a high speed over the bars crash on the final rock garden into the finish section. Sam was lucky to be able to get up and walk away from such a gnarly collision with the ground. It was beginning to look as if Mick might have done enough, when hometown hero Greg Minnaar took to the start gate, the third to last rider to go.

A master of consistency, before he even set off down the PMB track Greg was a two time World Champion, and had been on 69 World Cup and World Champs podiums to date, and it was this incredible consistency that he put on display. With the crowd whipped into a frenzy by the somewhat partisan commentary, Greg absolutely smashed the first sector, putting a full second into Hannah. All eyes were on the timing board above the finish, with it seeming almost impossible that he could hold onto this lead in the pedal against the powerhouse from Cairns. Red. The time had slipped slightly, but still within touching distance, anything was possible. As the light fell late in the day, chainsaws echoed through the valley, mingled with Vuvuzelas and screaming fans, all urging Greg to go faster. As he sprinted into view of the bottom of the hill, he looked fresh where Mick had looked tired, maybe his slight time loss in the middle sector was a calculated risk. Crossing the line the crowd erupted, the seemingly impossible had been achieved, Greg had pulled back the time to take a slender lead of 0.396 seconds. A nervous five–minute wait in the hotseat all that stood in front of him, the real work was done.

Now all eyes were on the big screen with only Steve Smith and Gee Atherton left at the top of the hill. Stevie had seemed to be relaxed all week, not suffering under the kind of pressure that must have piled down on Minnaar, but it was not to be. A simple mistake in the tricky first turn left Stevie and his hopes for a gold medal in the dust.

Riding straight through the finish and back up to his guesthouse, the incredible frustration he felt was palpable. Last man in the gate. Gee Atherton has been incredibly strong all season, and enjoys a healthy lead in the World Cup overall because of this, but South Africa did not agree with ‘Geeman’ this time round. Reports of stomach issues during the week seemed to be correct, as he looked down on power and never looked like a real challenger once he was on course. Losing a full four seconds over the 3km track, Gee had to settle for 7^th place on the day, leaving Mr Minnaar to pull off something quite spectacular. Greg Minnaar had won in the UCI World Downhill Championships in his back garden, against quite incredible pressure, on his DH bike with 26” wheels.

The barriers at the finish were never going to be enough to stem the crush of the crowd, and the One Life crew descended on the finish arena, hoisting Greg atop their shoulders and proclaiming him their king. There is little left to say about the day from there. All the hype, all the gossip, all the predictions, no longer mattered. With a tear in his eye, Greg was quick to dedicate his win to fellow South African and good friend Burry Stander, who tragically lost his life on a training ride earlier this year. Back to back wins for Greg seal his place in the history books as one of the greatest to ever ride a downhill mountain bike. Congratulations Greg, you deserve it bru!

1.       Greg Minnaar          South Africa  3:58.058

2.       Michael Hannah      Australia       3:58.454       +00.396

3.       Jared Graves          Australia       4:01.391       +03.333

1.       Rachel Atherton      Great Britain 4:28.043

2.       Emmeline Ragot      France          4:36.675       +08.632

3.       Tracey Hannah       Australia       4:40.438       +12.395

1.       Richard Rude Jnr    USA   4:06.640

2.       Loris Vergier France          4:12.367       +05.727

3.       Michael Jones         Great Britain 4:14.043       +07.403

1.       Tahnee Seagrave    Great Britain 4:52.001

2.       Danielle Beecroft     Australia       4:59.513       +07.512

3.       Tegan Molloy Australia       5:11.449       +19.448