Gee Atherton's defence of his UCI World Cup Mountainbike Downhill title began in solid style at the weekend with a third place in the season-opening race in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Gee had worked hard all week on the bike's set-up in preparation for the long, physical course, where he had failed to obtain his best results in the past and he ended qualifying in fifth place this time.
He knew he had to step it up on the 3.1km track – the weather had been mixed all week, but it was glorious sunshine on the day with a track temperatures of 33 degrees for Sunday's finals.
The early pace was set by fellow Brit, Steve Peat, who stepped up his riding from qualifying with a time of 4.15.443. That time that was smashed by Aaron Gwin a few riders later by a staggering 6.809 seconds, which meant 4.08.634 was the time to beat.
Frenchman, Fabien Barel, came close and suddenly it looked possibe to topple Gwin from the top spot. Gee up next had a few bobbles up top meaning his first split wasn't great and he was 3.392 seconds down at intermediate one, which left him a lot to do on the rest of the track.
Sven Martin
He dug in deep though and clawed it back to 1.642s before intermediate two. Coming into the finish, Gee launched the final two hip jumps and crossed the line into second place just 1.921s away from Gwin's time.
Local hero, Greg Minnaar rode super strong all the way down and took it to the line and the crowd held their breath while the cloaks ticked through. It wasn't to be for the South African, whose time beat Gee's but not Gwin's, meaning only Mic Hannah, the fastest qualifier, could topple Gwin.
Mic crashed up top though and didn't even make the first intermediate, leaving Gwin with his first World Cup win.
"We came here for a top three and I am happy we got that" Atherton said. "My run was good but definitely room for improvement before Fort William".
Gee will be joined it round two at Fort William, Scotland by brother Dan and sister Rachel who are both returning after injury. With the family in full force there will be no stopping the Atherton crew in Scotland.
Want more?
- Visit the Atherton Racing official site
- Read more at our bike sports page
- Gee Atherton's profile on redbull.com
- Follow Gee on Twitter: @gee_atherton
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