Saturday saw the realisation of goal that behind it had a lot of hard work,
especially in the off season, and that goal was to reclaim the World Cup title
that injury and bad luck have prevented Greg from defending for the past 2
years.
The newly crowned 2008 World Cup Champion can now add that to his World Cup
overall titles of 2001 and 2005, and join Peaty as the only men to have won the
series 3 times. Nico Vouilloz is ahead of them with 5 series wins.
Greg came into the season after evaluating all the tracks in advance and knew
he had to have at least 100 points in hand before arriving at the finals in
Schladming. His previous two races there have been top 5 results, but with a
dodgy shoulder in 2007, and a deeply bruised calf muscle, that had no power,
back in 2006. This year he was 100% fit but still had the pressure of getting
the job done, with rain and other factors beyond his control.
There were some nervous moments just after the semi final got started when Greg
was sure his time was not good enough for the top 4 place he needed. But after
Sam came down with a time that was not as fast as expected, and three other
riders went faster than him, Greg was happy to only concede 5 points to Sam,
which was less than planned. It was thought he would lose up to 20.
This meant that the shift of pressure had moved much more to Sam's side for the
final, as Greg had an 111 point advantage and only needed a top 7 result. He
also knew that if any of those 3 riders, Gee Atherton, Sam Blenkinsop or
Brendan Fairclough, went ahead of Sam as they did in a race-like semi, Greg
only needed top 12.
More importantly, he knew that if he took the hotseat as he crossed the line,
mathematically he had it. Despite doing that, Greg refrained from season end
celebrations until all the guys had come in.
Greg - "It's such a relief you know, because you come here with the leader's
jersey on your back, so it's almost yours, and you know that so much can happen
in this sport that could take it away. Even though I knew I had it when I
crossed the line and only 5 guys were left to come down, I still couldn't quite
believe it. After last year where the shoulder was a major problem for me, and
in Brazil where some sharp object sliced my tyre open on track in the final,
after getting the fastest split and knowing I could have won the series that
year, this is a great feeling. I have a great team and the support from home in
SA has been amazing".
There's only three basic ways to win the World Cup title; before the finals in
convincing fashion, from behind at the last round, and from the front at the
last round. Greg has now done all three. Even more sweet is that he knows his
next World Cup race will be in his home town of Pietermartizburg next April,
where he will proudly wear the number 1 plate and hope to start off the 2009
season with a win.
Greg thanks all of his 2009 sponsors: Santa Cruz Syndicate and all of its team
sponsors, plus his individual sponsors Oakley, OGK Helmets, Gamut USA
chainguides, and Crank Brothers pedals.
Date:
16/09/2008