Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) broke a streak of bad luck in Maribor, becoming the first World Cup Downhill leader in the 2010 series.

The opening round of the downhill saw a slight easing overnight of the rain that had turned the four cross into a mud bath, which wasn't necessarily a positive thing, since it made the course sticky and slower; especially for the top-seeded men.

Ben Cathro set the early fast time of 3:31.52, before being bumped by Joe Smith (3:30.35) then Aaron Gwin (Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team), who became the first to go under 3:30. Gwin's time held up until Fabien Pedemanaud (Scott 11) took the best time down to 3:25.84; good enough for fourth.

The course was becoming more rutted and beat up as the top seeds took to the course, and riders were having to pick their lines carefully. Gee Atherton (Commencal) was the next to take the lead, choosing different lines from previous riders in the top section of the course, attacking the roots and rocks but slowing in sticky mud at the bottom, to knock two seconds off the best time.

Minnaar rode next, but took the opposite approach - more cautious in the upper technical portion, but powering through the lower third to beat Atherton by a quarter of a second become the first World Cup leader of the season, after the final two riders Brendan Fairclough (Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz) and Sam Hill (Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz) slotted in third and fifth, respectively.

Hill, coming off knee surgery over the winter, had the fastest split for the upper half of the course, but a crash dropped him down to the final podium spot. Canada's Steve Smith (MS Evil Racing) had his best World Cup finish to date, qualifying fifth and finishing sixth, one spot off the podium.

"I have always liked Maribor, but I've always done bad on the track. So that has changed now," said Minnaar. "I knew it was going to be a tough race, but decided to take it a bit safe and easy at the top, and ride a bit smoother; but it is so hard out there.

"I had a few mistakes myself, but I guess a lot less than the other guys. I am overwhelmed; I came here wanting to do well and for me, on this course, in these conditions, I felt a top three would be good, but a win was out of the question. But I pulled it off."

I have always loved going fast. On my bike in cars and even at night. I remember the first time my older sister's boy friend took me 100 miles per hour in his corvette. I think I was 10 and it was really exciting. I have had fast cars in Canada, where we have pretty slow speed limits, so if you go fast you are always taking chances on getting big fines.

When I come to Germany, I have always had mini vans or on occasion a audi wagon. This time when I asked my boss Peter and Ole from Rotwild if they has a car for me to drive while I was touring around Europe, they sent me a picture of this baby. You can imagine, I didn't believe them, but it was true. Wolgang, from Darmstad Porsche was gracious enough to hook me up with this pimped team ride, Cayenne GTS.

Armed with my new Rotwild X2 Carbon all mountain bike, I was off to Italy I went, at between 200 and 240 km/ph to meet up with Hans Rey, Holger Meyer and Karen Eller to do a 3 gondola tour in Bozen. So fun and such nice long descents. Next stop Riva del Garda for the launch of Crankbrothers new bars, stem, post and pedals. Saturday my pals Vanderham and Shandro and I took a bunch of keen riders on Santa Barbra trail to check out the perfect performance of the Shimano Saint parts, on our Legend tours.

After a weekend of perfect weather, great riding with good people I jumped in the Cayenne and drove to Linz, Austria to do some product testing with Hunter and Bearclaw at Adidas eyewear. We needed to get some riding and shooting in so we packed up and went to Gieskoff bike park for a day of riding and shooting. It was typical weather that I see every time I go there, cold and wet. I don't get to ride with Darren and Matt very often, so I really enjoyed it. They are super fun talented guys.

A few more days of rain in Munchen catching up with friends and I was back at the Rotwild head quaters in Dietzenbach. On my last day I did a poster signing at the Darmstad Porsche for the release of the new 2011 Prosche Cayenne.

Back home in Whistler and riding the best trails in the world.

Bikepark Leogang’s new 4X track promises high-class gravity fun on World Cup level. Well-known and experienced 4X World Cup racer Guido Tschugg designed and built the track that is getting finished in these days. The track is about 450 meters long and features numerous doubles, triples, big berms, rock gardens as well as a wooden step up step down combination.

The dirt jump and slopestyle fans might like the brand new foam pit even better. Now you can train your craziest tricks without any danger next to Bikepark Leogang’s gondola station. A separate “FoamPit Opening” session is held on Friday evening from 9 pm on, including a trick show as well as a big BBQ and live DJ set at the B3 cafe located directly next to it.

The “Kona Mystery Tour” hits Leogang on both weekend days, so you can test the evolutionary Kona Magic Link system on the 2010 Kona Cadabra and Coilair bikes for free.

Fresh from wins at the SRAM Tour of the Gila and the USA Crits Speedweek Series, the Colavita/Baci Women’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light headed to the four-day Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville, AR with a strong squad comprised of Rushlee Buchanan, Modesta Vzesniauskaite, Kate Bates, Shontell Gauthier, Heather Logan-Sprenger and guest riders Jasmine Hurikino and Alex Carle.

Stage One (May 6, 2010; individual time trial) -- The race began with a 4km/2.4-mile uphill time trial. Rushlee Buchanan was the squad’s top finisher in 7^th.

Stage Two (May 7, 2010; road race) -- With 62 miles of wide open roads and the only climb of the day coming 30 miles from the finish, the second stage of the Joe Martin Stage Race historically comes down to a bunch sprint, and this year was no different. Despite several breakaway attempts, all of which had Colavita/Baci riders represented, the bunch was all together coming into town at 1.5km to go. With help from her teammates in the closing stages, Modesta rounded the final corner perfectly positioned in fourth wheel. She bided her time and powered up the final drag to take her first NRC stage win of the 2010 season.

Stage 3 (May 8, 2010; road race) – The Colavita/Baci squad lined up for the 69-mile rolling course over two laps aiming to race aggressively and attack to force a break. But with a strong Vera Bradley Foundation team controlling the pace and bringing back any breaks, no rider sustained more than a few seconds of freedom and the bunch held together coming into the finish. As in Stage Two, the Colavita/Baci squad did a great job of helping Modesta into position. She timed her sprint to perfection to capture her second consecutive win.

Stage 4 (May 9, 2010; criterium) -- With 12 corners in a 1.3-mile circuit and a short steep climb to the finish, the Joe Martin Criterium is difficult and highly technical. On the third lap, Rushlee crashed. Thankfully, she was not seriously injured but was out of the race. The team continued to work magnificently, attacking and covering every move. As the course took its toll in the closing laps, Vera Bradley Foundation’s Alexis Rhodes broke clear solo. Despite a concerted chase, Colavita/Baci was unable to close the gap and Rhodes won the stage. Unfortunately, with just two corners to go, Modesta was involved in a crash. Though not hurt, she was unable to contest the sprint. Her teammates were unable to contest the final sprint as they were exhausted from chasing hard. So the stage did not end quite as well as the previous two but the team rode a great race and showed their strength and determination.