Gwin had a Crankbrothers Joplin on and also a secret surprise from an old stash, courtesy of Chris ‘Monk’ Vasquez, his new mechanic, a Lopes Bling Bling for the front and a semi–slick High Roller for the rear. When a win on a long track is only measured in tenths of a second every small millisecond–shaving device certainly helps. When Trek paid tens of thousands of dollars to do wind tunnel research that we brought you in Dirt a few seasons ago, many scoffed. But that wind tunnel influenced redesign of their downtube may have made all the difference. At this rarefied level it’s all about minute increments in performance from both body and bike.

The women’s final ended up being a lot tighter race than everyone imagined…the racers included I think. It was a forgone conclusion for most that Tracy Moseley would take the win. Her maiden race in the Rainbow stripes and in obvious good form after the Cape Epic as her qualifier showed. But the track had sped up and the pedaling became easier, the other riders also dug deeper. A lot deeper. In the end it was not Tracy who was fastest at any one of the splits. It was Emmeline Ragot in the first sector, then team mate Fionn Griffiths in the energy sapping second sector and Sabrina Jonnier in the last sector. Tracy seemed fatigued from the last two days of riding, straight into team camp and the provincial race, having little recovery and time off after the Cape Epic it was finally catching up with her, but she hung on for a consistently strong run from top to bottom. She could hear the announcers saying it was going to be close near the finish line and she gave it all she could for the win. Hats off to Fionn though for another second place finish for the weekend, a good start to her newly formed Griffiths Racing team with third place finisher Ragot.

All week the middle section of the track was the elephant in the room which eclipsed riders’ thoughts and focus. Most riders that is, not all. The intermittent rain each night and hot race day made the loose surfaced top of the track somewhat unpredictable come Sunday’s final. The top was relatively simple to ride and most felt ‘fast’, but few truly pushed hard all week. Neethling was quick but paid the price, maybe the nerves and pressure of a home race or maybe the “just going for it” approach that is the difference between a top ten and a podium. Hill and Bryceland were two other riders running quick podium times up top but dropped back out further down. Beaumont and Steve Smith improved on their qualifiers and just missed the podium by the narrowest of margins. Peat put in a solid lung busting effort, lung infection and all, welcome back to the box Peaty, it has missed you! Then there was Fabien Barel who has always been a free thinker, never worried about what others are trying. He chose to run spikes while others opted for semi slicks. He has won two rainbow jerseys on spikes in the dry before and while it may have seemed like a crazy plan he felt he could attack the upper part of the course best with spikes. Third fastest up top he only dropped back one spot on the rest of the track.

The biggest surprise when analyzing the splits, as it is so easy to do post–race, was Gee being a little behind up top with a stall then smashing out an incredible middle section pedal performance. Putting up the fastest time by almost two full seconds. His training is obviously on–track and fitness and power will not be an issue for him this year. Greg rode strong and consistently all weekend long, the weight of a nation on his shoulders in his hometown must be overbearing. Torn a hundred different ways in the build up to the event by TV, sponsors, charities, newspapers and reporters, not to mention drunk fans and well wishing supporters during the event, how he manages to hold his composure so well and in such a professional manner I don’t know. The fairytale ending for him was not to be repeated despite an incredibly fast, strong finish that brought him to within a wheel’s length of Aaron Gwin whose name remained at the top of the leader board. Greg seems to be racking up a lot of big second place finishes by the slimmest of margins, his luck will turn in his favour soon enough. He will be happy to race away from home in Ft William where he has some unfinished business. Sadly we weren’t in for a nail biter of a finish like in 2009 as Hannah failed to appear on the screens while the clock ticked on. Like Neethling, he too simply and inexplicably lost his front wheel. Mick hit the deck at speed and received quite a beating and bruising, the impact of the crash sheering his Ti stem bolts clean off. He limped down with the help of some medics and marshals while Aaron’s victory sunk in under the drone of blaring vuvuzelas and a setting African sun.