“Gee Wiz!” Oakley’s Gee Atherton Charges His Way to Second Mountain Bike World Cup Win in Switzerland
It was a nasty, rainy, freezing mudslide of a course.
But Oakley’s Gee Atherton came out of the ‘battlefield’ at Champery, Switzerland on top and victorious, racking him up his second win at the World Cup this year.
“It was really tough,” said Atherton of the Round 4 slugfest, which saw three days of heavy rain hammer the event. “You know, some races you really enjoy, and others it’s a battle the whole time. This I was just fighting the whole way, the run was hard work; it was like a battle from top to bottom. It was a matter of just finding that line, hanging it out and having it pinned, and not pushing too hard and crashing. I guess I was right on that line and right on the limit the whole time. I was half crashing all the way down the hill, just holding on, and luckily I got it dialed."
It was series leader Greg Minnaar who set the early pace with a blistering 4.04.98. Rider after rider struggled to beat his time…that is, until third place qualifier Gee Atherton hit the course. Riding solid Gee hit the first split 1.78 seconds up on the South African. In the middle sector, Gee kept his momentum going and squeezed that lead to 3.85. Stalling slightly as he entered the final woods Gee was still looking good for the lead. Launching stylishly into the final jumps, Gee flew into the finish arena to take the top spot with a time of 4.02.19.
“My run was far from great but I don’t expect anyone’s was down there…it was way more physical than qualifying with the mud making the bikes feel so heavy” said Gee.
But his resilience saw him to the podium when all was said and done. And while Minnaar continues to lead the World Cup overall standings with his 830 points, Gee’s victory and second place finish in qualifying have him trailing but 13 points behind Minnaar with two races left.
Keep on truckin’, Gee!
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