Any winning margin over three seconds these days is worthy of note, especially if all of the main contenders race under the same conditions (no rain halfway through finals) and have clean runs (no crashes or mechanicals). As downhill mountain biking has evolved over the last fifteen years, we’ve seen some stellar runs from the greats of our sport that left the competition staring blankly.

Below are some special runs from some special riders that produced stunned silence from the field and pandemonium in the crowd…

A split-screen in one of Alex Rankin’s ‘Earthed’ series between Peaty and fourth place finisher Sam Hill shows the Yorkshireman powering ahead along a fast traverse low down on the course.

Frenchman Fabian Barel had won qualifying by a second over Peaty, but fell foul in finals, posting a time of well over six minutes. Peaty smashed Barel’s qualifying time of 3:12, and his own qualifying time of 3:13, coming in with a 3:08.52. Second place Cedric Gracia could only get within 5.77 seconds of the flying Steve Peat that day.

Last man down, having won qualifying, Vouilloz had just pipped fellow Frenchman Mickael Pascal to the hotseat as Gracia set off in the Swiss gloom. As the video above shows (from 7:00 onwards), Gracia was flying early on, a good five seconds up on Vouilloz at the intermediate split – and he knew it.

Showboating off the final jump, he looked to the crowd before continuing on his gallop to the finish line. Despite gracing the same horrendous conditions as everyone else, Gracia crossed the line a full nine seconds up on Vouilloz.

Chris Kovarik, Fort William, 2002 – 14.02 seconds

Chris ‘Karver’ Kovarik is well known for his balls out riding style that, when the going is good, leads to great race results.

Back in 2002, everything went perfectly for the Antipodean bruiser aboard his signature red Intense M1. At the inaugural World Cup, and the opening round that year, at Nevis Range, Fort William, in similar conditions to Gracia’s win above, Kovarik put down a winning margin that has yet to be beaten.

Danny Hart, Champery, 2011 – 11.69 seconds

In 2011, Danny Hart would give everyone reason to believe that you can ride a track just as fast in the wet as you can in the dry.

Very much like Sam Hill’s performance in Champery in 2007, Hart would take the Rainbow Stripes at the same venue four years later in shocking style. In fact, it’s worth noting that all the World Champions crowned that day (Troy Brosnan, Emmeline Ragot and Manon Carpenter) won their stripes by over 10 seconds, including Hart.

“It’s worth noting that all the World Champions crowned that day won their stripes by over 10 seconds, including Hart”

Anybody unfamiliar with the Champery track should know that nothing comes close to its unrelenting steepness. Average gradient is 1:2.5, but no photo or video can prepare you for just how steep this track is. Even in the dry, this course is fierce, so imagine what it’s like in the wet…

The video says it all on this one, so watch up and try not to get too excited as Danny Hart dominates.

(Writer’s note: I was in the woods above the final jumps when this happened. Despite the mud, the rain and having worked five weeks straight, I still found the energy to lose my sh*t as Hart came down the hill!)

2012 was to be Gwin’s year though, and the fast, steep, natural and super technical course was pulled apart by the then Trek World Racing rider. Way up on split number one, Gwin then went more than six seconds up come split two and made the gap just shy of eight seconds by the time he reached the finish line.

Another video containing classic Rob Warner gold, you can hear the excitement in his voice as Gwin tears the Italian hillside to pieces.

Sam Hill, Champery (Qualifying), 2007 – 14 seconds

Sam Hill has made a considerable impact on downhill mountain biking since he exploded onto the scene in the early 2000s.

Very quickly becoming very fast, it was his years on an Iron Horse that granted him legendary status. Leader of the flat pedal, wide handlebar, neck brace, full attack riding revolution, the Antipodean stamped his mark firmly with some ridiculous wins on tough terrain.

“Hill’s qualifying win at the Champery in 2007 left most others bemused. Despite the severity of the course, he crossed the line 14 seconds up on second place”

Schladming, Austria, has been very good to Sam Hill. Of the six times the World Cup has visited the infamous ski resort, Hill has taken the win four times. Three of those wins have been landslide victories on this ‘true’ downhill course.

His narrowest winning margin in those three years (2005, 2006 and 2007) was 5.14 seconds, the greatest, a hair’s breadth over eight. Hill’s win in Pila, Italy in 2005 was on a similar course in similar conditions. Rack up another near seven second win for the Aussie.

Hill’s qualifying win at the inaugural Champery World Cup in 2007 left most other competitors bemused. Despite the severity of the course, he crossed the line a full 14 seconds up on second place… Madness. And we all know what happened in finals the day after.

A full 6.19 seconds up was different class. Fast forward to the 1999 Åre World Championships in Sweden and another 6+ second win for Vouilloz in miserable conditions. Leap forward to 2001 and at Arai Mountain in Japan, he would give himself another 6.47s cushion over second place Sean McCarroll.

These are just a few picks of Nicolas’ many multi-second wins, and considering that he’s won 10 World Championship golds, it’s not so surprising.

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