1st, 5th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 3rd. That's how Aaron Gwin's season has gone so far, and with his third place result in France he has secured the overall World Cup title for 2011, even though the season isn't over yet. Gwin has become the first racer to do that since Greg Minnaar in 2005, and the first American ever to do it. In fact Gwin is the first American male to ever win a World Cup Overall Title.
Team Manager Martin Whiteley had this to say about Gwin's run in France:
Despite the fact that no American male has ever won a Downhill World Cup in France, and there's been 12 opportunities over 19 years, Aaron was as determined as he had been at all previous 2011 rounds, to win this event. Nothing changed in his preparation or practice from the previous events, and he looked set to take his 5th win of the season after qualifying fastest on Saturday. The big change for all riders was that Saturday afternoon after qualifying, the rain moved in. It had been dry all week and this meant that the riders who'd qualified on dry set up, would now only have Sunday morning practice to get things dialed for what looked to be a wet race run. Aaron was again on his new carbon Session 9.9 and had some special prototype pieces from Shimano, namely brake calipers and shifter, and decided on cut Maxxis Wetscreams for the race run.
The only glitch for Aaron was that he'd decided on doing a 3rd practice run late in the morning practice session, but left it too late and missed the window to get onto the shuttle for the top of the mountain. Coming back to the Trek World Racing tents he was clearly disappointed but accepted that there was little he could do about it. The rain stopped and the sun came out and the course started to dry out in some sections, but then half way through the race the rain came down again, firstly as light drizzle and then as heavy rain for about 3 minutes. This really affected the riders who were 45th from 25th to last starting. By the time Aaron started, the track was back to good speed. Not as fast as qualifying, but better than it had been. However, during his race run Aaron made some mistakes that compounded on each other, losing a little time here and there, and it was too much against the likes of Greg Minnaar and Gee Atherton who both rode strong and clean runs. Aaron was super happy at winning the overall, but was frustrated with his run as he knew it wasn't completely solid.
Pietermaritzburg (1st Place)
Aaron won the first round of the World Cup circuit in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and set the pace for his entire season. 4th overall at the end of last season, he moved up to the number one plate after this race.
Fort William (5th Place)
Running the number 1 plate for the first time in his life, Gwin had a few troubles at Ft William and ended up 5th. Greg Minnaar moved into first place overall and would start the Leogang race with the number 1 plate.
Leogang (1st Place)
Gwin started with the number 2 plate in Leogang, but his second win of the season there put him back into first overall, a position he would keep for the rest of the year, although no one knew it at the time...
Mt Saint Anne (1st Place)
At Mont Saint Anne Aaron started with the number 1 plate and won again, some people began to wonder if he was unstoppable. At this point everything was still undecided, Minnaar and Gee were less than 100 points behind and could still beat him for the overall title, but he was in the lead.
Windham (1st Place)Windham NY, and another win for Gwin. This was the first World Cup win by an American racer on American soil since Shaun Palmer in 1999 and the phrase "Gwinning" was really beginning to stick. Aaron's lead was growing...
La Bresse (3rd Place)
Gwin only needed a few points in La Bresse to secure the win, and 3rd place did it. Even with Minnaar's win here Aaron still ended up with enough of a lead that even if Greg wins the next round and Aaron doesn't race, he'll still take the overall.
Val di Sole
If Aaron Gwin wins Val di Sole he'll become the first male DH racer to ever win 5 races in the same year. That's a feat that has only ever been accomplished by Anne Caroline Chausson in 2000, and that was in an 8 race season. Do you think he can do it?
No suprised at all. Read his Bio - "Aaron Gwin started his cycling career off early racing BMX from age 4. By age 8 Gwin was racing all the nationals. At age 12 Gwin moved on to motocross and raced up until he was 17 when he quit due to constant injuries. In 2008 at age 20 Gwin was loaned a bike by fellow professional downhill racer and good friend Cody Warren and was encouraged to compete in a race"
I think he's going out to destroy everyone at Val Di Sole, he crashed last year while up on Mark Beaumont's time so he has something to prove and nothing to lose if the title is already sewn up. Expect a big winning margin...
As long as he doesn't have any bad luck, Gwin should win Val Di Sole by at least 5 seconds. Maybe more. I wanna see him and Hill tangle there so bad. But not this year. Maybe someday.
I've never cared about a world cup season like this. God damn I hope he pulls off the 5th win. Wish he'd start rockin' a leatt brace and proper downhill BICYCLING helmet... but at his speeds I guess he probably NEEDS the moto lid
It matters to those of us who are American. However, around the world people don't care if he's American, British or an alien. He is damn fast and great to watch. good luck to a great racer and a super nice guy.
Dude, you'll never convince anyone it's not awesome to watch your own countrymen kick ass. It would have been awesome to see Steve Smith win worlds last year, but you're telling me it wouldn't be just a little cooler because he's Canadian too? I just don't buy it, sorry. People just love hatin' on the stars and bars.
Even though he's Canada's best WC rider, you're not proud of the fact he's Canadian? Just that he's local? Interesting. I take pride in supporting riders from my own country, but that's just me.
Scott I can explain, because of overexposure of American patriotism, via our location and access to American media, most Canadians feel negative towards the concept, our fellow country men seem to think that if we cheer a national on its like being American, and for the most part the Canadian identity is based on not being American.
I for one think its just rad because Steve is a smooth rider, Canadian and only getting better. Too bad he's not our national champion, but I've heard that is related to sponsorshit issues and the jersey issues. Also the national jersey have a Tim Hortons add on them.
"Canadian identity is based on not being American" ...nice.
Sorry you feel that way towards the USA, but besides just "not being American", Canada also has Poutine, great bike parks, cool people, the Yukon, etc. etc.
he just seems to have a very calm and quiet vibe on race day but still very respectful to his competitors. atleast that is what i see on video. It's a nice change to see. So different from the Palm. less talk more rock. Was looking forward to a showdown with Hill all year..bummer. with all the young guns looking insanely fast, DH is getting better than ever! gotta buy a seat on freecaster for worlds.
Totally agree. I'd pick a down to earth, hard working guy to win over some cocky show-off any day. No disrespect to Palmer though, you can't beat the gold-sequin podium jacket
palmer was doing it in the era of skinsuits on dh races, so it was just awesome that he was so arrogantly winning races in vans and moto pants. he made modern dh racing
Great rider and a deserved win. Only minor thing missing: It would have been great to for his first worldcup win happening last season on the yeti. Would have been just cooler for a small company like yeti scoring a worldcup win, rather than a big company like trek. Also yeti is the company introducing Gwin to the worldcup races.
maybe that just shows the trek is a better bike for him? or that trek funded his training more? or they put more preassure on wins? trek could have done many things to get the best out of the sponsorship deal
Well, Gwin was 4th overall last season so lets face it: it was only a matter of time before he scored a win. I think he would have won his first worldcup race this season even if he stayed with Yeti. And it would be a cool thing because they brought him into the worldcup circus.
What Trek did was probably paying him much more than Yeti ever could. Don't get me wrong, it was a good decision to go to Trek for Gwin as i think nobody of them gets really rich by riding downhill so they have to get the most out of it. It's just a bit sad to see Yeti being left off after discovering such a great talent. With Blenki and Gwin leaving the downhill team, it took quite a big hit (no disrespect to the current yeti downhill riders). In this case i am really looking forward what Graves will do when he goes 100% downhill, i hope he stays with Yeti.
It would be cool to see Yeti fueling his fire this year, but you gotta wonder if that "big-company"race support wasn't a big factor in the jump from 4th overall to 1st.
Gwin almost had a win at val de sole last year but crashed 3 seconds up, it was only his second full season on the world cup. and his 4th year riding a downhill bike
This is why I love the downhill community..especially here and PB. Nothing but love for fellow bikers no matter of what nationality, sex, ect... Grats to Gwinn, glad to see the US scene being inspired by him.
Luckily the comments in this article so far are clean. There have been some people on a witch hunt when it came to Gwin simply because he was an American and winning.
How the heck do we get ESPN to do a piece on Gwin? Isn't it about time that our sport starts to get some bigger exposure. If Gwin isn't enough of a story to get that coverage here in the states, I don't know what will.
I remember Gwin racing in the Senior mens class in the Garbanzo DH in Whistler a few years back. He crushed the field by a entire minute. I remember being kinda pissed about it because I thought he was a pro sand bagging it. Turns out it was his first year on a mountain bike. The guy is incredible.
I think Peaty won the series with a round to spare in 2004. Remember he did his run in Livingno with Stella cans on the side of his helmet because he was already celebrating? So it is not the first time in 11 years.
Sam Hill definitely didn't in '07, there was a chance that Peaty could have won it at the beginning of the round but Hill made it impossible in qualifying.
Peaty definatly did and I have a feeling Minaar has done it too. And to be honest i would be willing to bet that one of the ladies like Rachel or Sabrina have done it too.
Yes Peaty did it in 2004, we reported on it at the time here and Minnaar did it in 2005 when his win at Angel Fire put him more than 500 points ahead of 2nd place Nathan Rennie with 2 races left to go. Info is now corrected in the post above.
To be honest, not to be harsh, but i found this season more boring than the last few when it was being fought to the death to the last round. This season gwin has just dominated.
I agree with ben. It is impressive but boring since you know who will win. Especially since Gwin isnt that flashy. Though all the best to him. He is a great rider.
Flashy? It's a race, not a style competition. Get over your weak-ass excuses because you're only insulting the other riders by saying that none of them are good enough to be expected to win.
Seriously dude get the stick out from your ass. I am insulting everyone by beliving that this season Gwin is best rider in my opinion? So opinions are bad or only such opinions about Gwin?
Why does a rider need to be flashy? Unless I've been misinformed, style doesn't matter in a DH race, time does. And how do you "know" Gwin will win a race? You can say that in hindsight now that you've seen him win a bunch, but no one knew he was going to be this much of a dominating rider throughout the season.
That's understandable, but as an American it's great to see an American rider own the series, not just scrape out a win. And on the style thing... yeah it's more exciting to watch guys like Brendog race, but all the top guys just focus on being smooth rather than flashy anyways. Seeing an American win the series AND be super flashy would be like having your cake and eating it too. I'm just happy to see him win
Where did I say anyone has to be flashy? I just claimed I like watching flashy riders and I neg repped for preference? Really?
As for Gwin - after the first 2-3 races you could see he will be dominating. Of course you could never be 100% sure but when a rider gets on a run and is beating everybody by A LOT assuming he will win the overall is not that unreasonable.
You called the UCI this year boring because of Gwin not being "flashy" and winning a couple of races and that's a backhanded compliment or an insult depending on who you talk to. I didn't neg. prop you rather the community did and even so, who cares? If you're going to make comments that not everyone will agree with then at least stand by them.
On a side note, I highly enjoy Hart's riding... so smooth! I was out of the whole scene for a while a couple years back and I've got to say that I'm really enjoying the progression of DH riding.
Why do you care so much about props? And you said it's been boring because you know he will win and because he isn't flashy, IE; if a rider isn't flashy then DH is boring. Most of us who watch DH aren't bored by the lack of "flash" in a riders style, we're impressed with the times and the results. And the results this season speak for them self.
I dont. Im just suprised people think im being offensive towards anyone. I dont find DH racing boring while it is not flashy - I find it a bit more boring when one rider wins it all and in the mid season he has a huge point advantage. I still enjoy watching it, I just found last season where Greg and Gee were head to head last season more interesting(even though they are also quite composed as opposed to wild). It doesnt mean Im not impressed by Gwin, he is a great rider and DH racing for him as a racer is not about entertaining me but rather about winning races. At the same time for me as a viewer watching races is about entertainment and I prefer closer competition and watching riders with more flash. I know it is not the fastest way to go but I still prefer it. Why is that a bad thing.
@cyrix - Im still impressed by results and respect Gwin for them. Just not entertained. I think you mistook respect and being impressed with being fully entertained (I still am just less) .
and yet agian the speed of world cup racers has risen. Hill showed the world how fast you can ride a bike, now Gwin has took it a step further. I think Downhill is even closer to becoming a olympic sport. Well done sir, well done
It is not the speed that takes you to an olimpic sport. DH would be hard to get to the olympics due to the venue limitations. Where would you host dh in London? The closest real dh course is faaar away.
They host some Olympic events relatively far away from where the main venues are located when winter/summer games are held. Happens every time they do it.
Yeah, and you'll never convince me that it's harder to create a downhill track compared to creating something like a huge bobsled/luge track. When sports like ping-pong are Olympic events, it makes you wonder who is making the decisions...
a) There's only a certain number of cycling medals at each games. You try convincing the UCI to drop a track event in place of DH... b) DH is too 'track dependant'. Certain riders will NEVER win on certain tracks, so it's not a genuine competition of every rider out there (think Sam Hill at Canberra Worlds - that was never going to be his race). c) The UCI/IOC have said that DH is also too equipment dependant, although I think that's a pretty thin arguement these days. d) DH is a very young sport, compared to other Olympic events. The first World Champs was 1991. There have only been 5 games since then. Even BMX has another decade on DH (FIAC Champs in 1982), and that only made it to the Olympics 3 years ago.
Just touching on that "How far venues can be from the main Olympic venue" topic, when the Olympics were held in Melbourne, Australia, due to our quarantine laws the equestrian events were held in Sweden.
@ brit-100: All good points. In regards to part "B" though, what about stuff like XC racing, or even BMX? They don't use the exact same track in the exact same condition at every single Olympic event (although I understand what you're getting at). Just my two cents.
The differance between bmx and xc tracks is much smaller. They may favor some riders but predicting results based on tracks in dh is well more probable
Respect to Gwin for this season, but the man behind him, Martin Whiteley, is the real genius in my books, how many world cup winners has he 'produced' now. I'd love to have a slice of his management skill, he certainly inspires riders year after year.
It still comes down to the racer at the end of the day, but Whitely is definitely a factor in Gwins jump from top-5 to number 1. At that level of racing you've got to have world-class support to go with the world-class talent, and you can't beat Whitely there.
next season could be the best ever cause ou got all the old dogs going as fast as ever and all the young guns getting right up to their speed and dieing to get there first win, i just want blenki to have a kille year i was disappointed he never really got going like he could have after winning schaldming(or however you spell it)
Usually after one dominant season the rest catches up with you and realises what made you so fast. I wish for Sam to get back but he had some personal issues + he seems to have cought that thing Matti Lehikonen had Blenki may really develop under Nico. Wonder if Barel will train anyone. Spagnolo? Not to mention Dany Hart and Brook McDonald as well as Troy Brossman. They are rising fast.
I hope they all throw down and keep pushing the envelope. It's hard to imagine how these guys can go so fast as it is! Having so much talent at the top is going to make for some crazy racing the next few years.
Thank you Cody Warren for giving this guy a bike, it has been great to watch his domination this year and feel pride in where US Downhill is going again!
Gwin`s been wicked this year , his ridding and tactics have payed off . He has won but i would say the its been boring or easy or that he totally dominated . Its been a close season and really there is about 25 ridders on the scene that could take the win . Its great to c a cool guy up there , what a champ .
Its so great to see a fellow American doing well in the sport I love! Especial since American's haven't done so well in this sport for so long. Thanks for being my inspiration Aaron!
Ya I feel what you saying hamncheese man, this one is for the red white and blue. Basically this title is in your face like it or love it. Don't be surprised when Gwin does it again next season either. Nobody even matching his speed at all. I would be a fan of Gwin and his riding style regardless of where he from. The fact that he rep the U.S. is just icing on the cake. Now we going to throw that cake up in your face!!!!!!!!!lolololloolloololoo
Yeti is kicking themselves for letting Gwin go last year. Oh they were soo close to a title but Trek swooped down with all they money and scoop Gwin up. Put that guy on any bike and he winning titles. I just hope he take it easy at the next race and do a victory lap. No need to show off at last race when he could start training for next years domination.
A USA win at worlds would probably give me a heart attack from excitement. I'd love to see him get that 5th win, but seeing an American in the World Champ stripes would be wayyyy cooler.
the 2012 season will be interesting to say the least, congrats to Gwin but it makes you think, next season will be f*cking EPIC! i want Hill back to be honest!
I wonder will he make D.H boring like Schumacher did F1 because he just kept winning its looking that way lol. Credit where credit is due he's epic came out of nowhere really which makes it even better.
we don't all hoot and holler...for example - Gwin. He's just created alot of deserved excitement and emotion on home soil. No more than some of the F'd up dbag drunk shite that goes down in any football match around the rest of the planet in EVERY country. less reason to hate? you're so proud? relax - we're on bikes, remember?
I'm old skool and by your name you probably are in your teens maybe? Anyway, i think it's all just genuine stoke & nothing more..certainly not a reason to "hate" us more.
"That's a feat that has only ever been accomplished by Anne Caroline Chausson in 2000, and that was in an 8 race season" 1998 & 1999, she won 7 out of 8 races 2000 & 2001, 6 out of 8 races. Not bad.
"He means winning the Champs as well in the same year? Hasn't Hill done that before??" Vouilloz did it in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999.
@seanbob: Not quite 10 straight years, he got a flat in Sierra Nevada '00 where Myles Rockwell picked it up. That's why he retired after 11 years not 10. For the record, CG (yes, that CG) beat his time in Kirchzarten '95 but was competing in the junior category. And you can't say he wasn't challenged, he lost the overall to Corrado Herin in '97, Minnaar in '01 and Peaty in '02, and he never won every round in a year.
For me the only downside to Gwinner killing it this season has been the overblown parochial USA bullshit from guys like this.
The guy is an absolute machine, trained by the son of an American legend, and riding a world-leading american brand, be proud of that instead of behaving like a self-righteous f**kwit.
Indeed. These guy give us a bad name, I swear we're not all like that. In regards to the tyres statement, we adopted our English language from England... if anything they spell it more correctly.
This guy is why a lot of people hate on the USA, I get that... but seriously, the only people on here praising his skills and downplaying his nationality are non-Americans. Everyone gets stoked to see their home-team win.
would u please point out the other countries I trashed? Who did I put down? In an article about an american, what is wrong with suggesting an american spelling of a word?
When someone wins a gold at the olympics, their national anthem is played. What is wrong with quoting our national anthem? Are you ashamed of being american? building up someone or praising someone does not tear down a single other person. Grow up.
Read his Bio - "Aaron Gwin started his cycling career off early racing BMX from age 4. By age 8 Gwin was racing all the nationals. At age 12 Gwin moved on to motocross and raced up until he was 17 when he quit due to constant injuries. In 2008 at age 20 Gwin was loaned a bike by fellow professional downhill racer and good friend Cody Warren and was encouraged to compete in a race"
Big Props.
Sorry you feel that way towards the USA, but besides just "not being American", Canada also has Poutine, great bike parks, cool people, the Yukon, etc. etc.
Only minor thing missing: It would have been great to for his first worldcup win happening last season on the yeti. Would have been just cooler for a small company like yeti scoring a worldcup win, rather than a big company like trek. Also yeti is the company introducing Gwin to the worldcup races.
trek could have done many things to get the best out of the sponsorship deal
What Trek did was probably paying him much more than Yeti ever could. Don't get me wrong, it was a good decision to go to Trek for Gwin as i think nobody of them gets really rich by riding downhill so they have to get the most out of it. It's just a bit sad to see Yeti being left off after discovering such a great talent. With Blenki and Gwin leaving the downhill team, it took quite a big hit (no disrespect to the current yeti downhill riders). In this case i am really looking forward what Graves will do when he goes 100% downhill, i hope he stays with Yeti.
As for Gwin - after the first 2-3 races you could see he will be dominating. Of course you could never be 100% sure but when a rider gets on a run and is beating everybody by A LOT assuming he will win the overall is not that unreasonable.
On a side note, I highly enjoy Hart's riding... so smooth! I was out of the whole scene for a while a couple years back and I've got to say that I'm really enjoying the progression of DH riding.
@ Scott - how am I not standing by my comments?
b) DH is too 'track dependant'. Certain riders will NEVER win on certain tracks, so it's not a genuine competition of every rider out there (think Sam Hill at Canberra Worlds - that was never going to be his race).
c) The UCI/IOC have said that DH is also too equipment dependant, although I think that's a pretty thin arguement these days.
d) DH is a very young sport, compared to other Olympic events. The first World Champs was 1991. There have only been 5 games since then. Even BMX has another decade on DH (FIAC Champs in 1982), and that only made it to the Olympics 3 years ago.
So who to watch for 2012 ?
Stevie Smith ? Troy Brosnen ? Cam Cole? Santa cruz boy's ? or will Gwin step it up again and have a perfect year?
I can't wait to see a full fitness and top form Sam Hill go head to head with Gwin.
but seriously this guy is amazing. so fast and controlled. he deserves it.
1998 & 1999, she won 7 out of 8 races
2000 & 2001, 6 out of 8 races.
Not bad.
"He means winning the Champs as well in the same year? Hasn't Hill done that before??"
Vouilloz did it in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999.
Its tires, not tyres, AMERICA!!!
The guy is an absolute machine, trained by the son of an American legend, and riding a world-leading american brand, be proud of that instead of behaving like a self-righteous f**kwit.
When someone wins a gold at the olympics, their national anthem is played. What is wrong with quoting our national anthem? Are you ashamed of being american? building up someone or praising someone does not tear down a single other person. Grow up.
Suggest away, that sounds rad. "Ammmeeerrrriiicccaaaaa, f*ck YEAH!"