This past weekend marked the fourth round of gravity racing in the mountain bike World Cup series. If you didnt get up in the wee morning hours to catch it on Freecaster, you missed some heated racing! Fort William, Scotland is known for wet weather, huge crowds that never disappoint, and arm-blasting rubble!
The Santa Cruz Syndicate has now won four out of four. Frenzied fans were lucky enough to witness Greg Minnaar of Santa Cruz make short work of the rock filled race course and won with a time of 4:38.98. As Greg crossed the finish he was surrounded by his closest mates and extended South African family. South Africa was alive and well in the Scottish pits that night! Runner-up Sam Hill was hungry for a win but fell short by a second and a half. Sam would later say, Syndicate got their four in a row, now its time to get my four.
Steve Peat (1st place overall) and Greg Minnaar (2nd place overall) currently stand at two wins each with only 150 points separating the top five riders in the overall standings. Its the closest action seen in years, and racers need to have a good, if not great, qualifying run to maintain points in the race for the overall DH title.
Four Cross is a crowd favourite in Fort William. Spectators lined the track and even hung from trees to witness the side-by-side racing action. Jill Kintner displayed her talent with a strong move in the first corner and continued to battle Fionn and Caroline Buchanan for the win. You have to give it up for Jill this year. Jill wears many hats acting as team manager, mechanic, PR manager and athlete. Congratulations on the win and for moving up into the top position in the overall standing!
1 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate
SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ
2 Samuel Hill (AUS) Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz
SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ
3 Samuel Blenkinsop (NZL) Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team
4 Gee Atherton (GBR) Animal Commencal
5 Michael Hannah (AUS) GT Bicycles
SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ
