Hometown hero Greg Minnaar sent the massive crowd into hysterical celebrations by winning the downhill title at the RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup, while Australian speedster Tracey Hannah completed a fairytale comeback to MTB downhill racing by winning the women’s title in emphatic fashion at the Cascades MTB course.

The world’s best mountain bikers spent a scorching hot day getting to grips with the cross country and downhill courses on the first official training day for the 2012 RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup Pietermaritzburg that starts today (Friday).

Local downhill star Andrew Neethling posted the second fastest run in the afternoon time straining session, four seconds quicker than world champ Danny Hart, with the day’s fastest time being laid down by Frenchman Cedric Garcia, while the fastest woman on the day was Sabrina Jonnier (FRA).

South African downhill star Andrew Neethling made big strides in the UCI MTB World Cup in 2011, including claiming a first ever podium finish at Windham in the USA.

He’s looking to up the ante in 2012, starting at the RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup Pietermaritzburg.

Hilton based downhill mountain bike rider Tim Bentley is locked in a race against time to shake off a stubborn ’flu virus that is hampering his training and final preparations for the 2012 RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup in Pietermaritzburg from 16th to 18th March.

Bentley is a team rider with the Hitchinson United Ride outfit that was founded at the Morewood bike factory and includes MTB downhill icon “Sick Mick” Hannah and his sister, former junior world champion Tracey Hannah, French junior ace Guillaume Cauvin and rider manager Fabien “CousCous” Cousinié.

With the RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup Pietermaritzburg fast approaching, downhill course designer Nigel Hicks is chomping at the bit to give the Cascades MTB park track a facelift.

Renowned for the tough flat middle section, the Pietermaritzburg track may not always be international riders’ favourite venue, but is one that brings balance to the UCI downhill calendar and sets a unique challenge for riders.

South African mountain bikers participating in the cross-country (XCO) and downhill (DHI) disciplines will be making their way to Cape Town in February for the first round of the national series.

The SA XCO and DHI Series gives riders around the country the opportunity to compete against one another in these disciplines, and provides SA Mountain Biking the chance to see the best of the best in action, and how they handle the competition on the different courses in varying conditions. This process assists SA MTB in selecting the best possible team to represent SA at the MTB World Championships.

The city of Pietermaritzburg will once again play host to the first round of the 2012 Rocky Roads.net UCI MTB World Cup presented by Shimano, opening the global cross-country and downhill series on African soil for the third time.

The well-loved Cascades mountain biking venue, that hosted both the 2009 and 2011 UCI MTB World Cups, has undergone many transformations and the cross-country course in particular was lauded in 2011 as a challenging course that provided the most fun!