UCI DH World Cup 2013: Hafjell Preview

13 September 2013 | By AngusMcIntosh

James Smurthwaite has winged over his own very unique preview of the 2nd last world cup of the year which rolls into Hafjell this weekend! Who's going to win!?

Downhill can now breathe itself a massive sigh of relief. Enduro bikes, single crown forks and big wheels did not manage to steal the day at the World Champs, as Greg Minaar stormed to victory in front of his home crowd with 10" front and back and 26" on the ground.

Jared 'Calves' Graves managed to stomp his single crown Yeti to 3rd place

but it was Minaar, dancing through the dust, who claimed top spot

However, had Canada's main man, Steve Smith, not been blinded by the low sun into this first corner, the wheel size debate could still be alive and kicking.

Stevie's Tragic Tumble....

... and the world's reaction when it happened

Whatever the result had been in Pietermaritzberg, you can guarantee that Hafjell, this weekend's destination on the World Cup tour, would be considered 26" only territory. It's a relatively new track on the World Cup scene, but is already marking itself as a classic, idolised by riders and fans alike.

Since the inaugural race last year Scandanavia has been put back on the Mountain Biking map, spawning everything from the beauty of Lines of Lofoten...

... to the madness of the Damage Inc. Crew

Hafjell

Here it is:

As you can probably see from the satelite images, the track is just one of a number of full on Bikepark trails at Hafjell. Don't underestimate the track, however, as the big berms and tabletops you'd expect from a resort like that are interspersed with technical sections to rival the toughest on the entire World Cup Circuit.

The best way to see this track is undoubtably Brendan Fairclough's 360 degree version, but seeing as that can't be put into a .gif, we're going to take a ride down with Peaty and the Syndicate.

Straight out of the starting gate you're thrown into this series of large doubles, expect plenty of riders to be styling it out for the cameras...

The first woods section is a point and shoot affair and a nice easy warm up for the technical sections that follow.

The riders get a brief respite through some bike bike park berms and tabletop jumps

Before the fastest of them will attempt to hit this massive road gap step down.

Then it's on to the technical sections where the biggest amount of time will be won or lost. The rock gardens are long steep and shifting, demanding utter commitment, these are interspersed with off camber high lines and slick roots which will require the lightest of touch on a bike.