Every so often a rider nails such a perfect run that they earn a heroSwelcomeandaplaceinthehistorybooks.HereS our guide to eight of the greatest rides of all time...
When you're a pro rider every competitive run is potentially the biggest of your life, whether you're waiting for the beeps or trying to focus on taking it one trick at a time. When it comes to gravity, the clock and merciless judges, the margins between victory and defeat, greatness and mediocrity are tiny. But now and again we get to see the miraculous — the race runs or freeride lines touched by genius, when a rider puts things together in a way above and beyond what should be physically possible. Turn the page for eight runs that will go down in MTB history.
DARREN BERRECLOTH
2005 Crankworx Slopestyle, Whistler, Canada
Compared to today's ridiculous antics, a 360 drop doesn't sound like much. But back in 2005, Bearclaw's massive sender of a teetering wooden ladder and across a 60ft road gap made jaws drop across the world. Bringing a healthy dose of BMX style and technicality to freeride, The Claw's run helped change the face of the sport and raise the bar for future competitions. And he didn't even win, losing out to Paul Basagotia! Four-cross ace Brian Lopes described the drop as "the sickest thing I've ever seen", and we agreed!
GREG MINNAAR
2001 DH World Cup #8, Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
Back at the turn of the century Greg was an honorary Brit, racing as a Junior for the now legendary Animal Orange team. Signing to Martin Whiteley's Global Racing squad for 2001, the South African set his sights on the World Cup series title. It came down to the wire at the last round in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada - a race that not only heralded the 19-year-old's coming of age as a major force in world DH but also the beginning of the end of Nico Vouilloz's decade-long dominance.
SAM HILL
2008 DH World Championships, Val di Sole, Italy
When it comes to mesmerising speed, one name perhaps stands above all others - Sam Hill. The quietly-spoken Aussie remains for many, on his day, the fastest in the world. Hill weaved magic in Champery, Switzerland, in 2007 but his run at the Worlds the following year is still one of the most remarkable pieces of riding ever. The speed he carried through the roots of Val di Sole was unthinkable. For it all to end in a crash with the finish line almost within touching distance makes it somehow all the more notorious and memorable.
STEVE PEAT
2009 DH World Championships, Canberra, Australia
Peaty and the Worlds - a marriage made in hell. The big Yorkshireman had come second an agonising four times over 16 attempts during the best years of his career. His win in Australia felt like the sweetest relief. He didn't win the stripes thanks to weather or problems for the competition - Steve just went fastest, and that was that. He was the world champion, finally, fair and square.
DANNY HART
2011 DH World Championships, Champery, Switzerland
In an age when bike companies invest small fortunes into trying to make video clips go viral, it only took a lad from Redcar three minutes and 41 seconds on a wet Swiss hillside to achieve superstardom. Danny's run, complete with huge whips and one-off lines, won him World Champs glory and international fame. Track down the full replay and watch the big names before and after him to get a proper gauge of just how fast he was travelling.
HOW TO ACT LIKE ACHAMP
Feign disbelief.
Best expressed by shaking your head as you cross the line. No one likes cockiness so try to appear aghast at your own genius.
Hug people.
Or better yet, if possible, have people on hand prepared to rush over and hug you.
Spray yourself in the face with champagne.
This is fairly advanced and best saved for a Steve Peat in Canberra level of emotion.
CHRIS KOVARIK
2002 DH World Cup #1, Fort William, Scotland
Fort William in the Highlands of Scotland is one of the most weather-affected rounds on the DH World Cup calendar. Its debut in 2002 set the tone, with torrential conditions for race day. That didn't bother Australian flat pedal wildman Chris Kovarik and his Intense though. He decimated the field, winning by an incredible 14.02 seconds. It's a record that still beggars belief and stands to this day.
WHAT'S AN IMMORTAL RUN?
TO MAKE THE GRADE, RIDES HAD TO MEET THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:
1. Evoke the 'wow' factor
We can't really sum this up. It's that feeling that stirs in your stomach and
pulls you forward in your chair the first time you see a run. It's that intangible
sensation of seeing something special.
2. Involve overcoming the odds
Chris Kovarik in the rain or Aaron Gwin without a chain - neither of those winning runs should've been possible given the meteorological or mechanical adversity the riders faced.
3. Be a standalone performance
It doesn't matter whether you're a rider being chased by the brands with the biggest cheque books in the sport or still have to buy your own brake pads - reputation doesn't matter when it comes to the runs that'll stand the test of time. It's about that ride and that moment in time only.
ANDREU LACONDEGUY
Red Bull Rampage 2014, Utah, USA
Andreu's been around for what feels like forever but he continues to push the boundaries of what's humanly possible on a bike. The Spaniard's win at Rampage was only Europe's second time on the top step of the podium at this behemoth of freeride events. Some complain that Rampage is becoming a trick ferrets' game, as the number of manmade structures increases year on year and downhillers become increasingly notable by their absence from the invite list. But Lacondeguy's run fused tricks and 80ft natural drops with the kind of amplitude that only he seems capable of producing on a big bike.
AARON GWIN
2015 DH World Cup #3,Leogang,Austria
Perhaps the most remarkable race run of all time. What Aaron Gwin, 2015's eventual World Cup series winner, managed without a chain (lost from the first crank stroke) in Leogang was remarkable. It should've been impossible. On a track not famed for its technicality, the American won by hundredths of a second over a shell-shocked Connor Fearon. Even more incredibly he was fastest through the speed trap too. "I've ridden without a chain before, but only when messing around with friends," he laughed after the race, "but I never thought I'd have to race a World Cup without one!" Gwin's rivals were left to drown their sorrows that night. Some hypothesised that there had been an error with the timing, others that the wind on the flat 'pedally' section may have dropped for his run, others simply shrugged and toasted his skill. If another rider had done what he did, sterner questions would've been asked, but like Nico Vouilloz and Sam Hill before him, Gwin can make things happen on a bike that virtually no other rider can seem to conjure up, and has an even happier knack of doing so when points are needed and titles have to be decided.
