Sam Hill on his way to his first season win

Julien Cammelini, Sam Hill and Steve Peat share the podium

All pics: Luke Webber

The biggest names in DH and 4X gathered for the opening race of the World Cup this weekend in the Pohorje hills near Maribor for some full-on and rad racing (accent optional).

The fourth consecutive weekend of international competition was again sunny and dry leaving a perfect dusty course where average speeds were over 30mph for the sub-four minute run. That’s pretty unbelievable considering the nature of the course, too. One of the riders’ favourites it features an open top section before heading into the woods and traversing down to the most infamous section of all.

The rock garden here is massive – steep with conveniently-placed wheel swallowing holes that caught a lot of riders out. The bravest were making gaps between rocks, tree stumps and roots but this required extreme precision. One rider to get it wrong was Josh Bryceland who this morning is facing a rather less comfortable flight home.

With a winning margin of three seconds we imagine Sam Hill will enjoy a Business Class ride back to Australia. Nobody could come close – Julien Cammelini was second and Steve Peat third. Rachel Atherton went one better in the women’s event but will be disappointed to lose by such a tiny amount to Sabrina Jonnier after leading her all weekend in practice. It’s a measure of how successful British DH riders have been in recent years that just two podiums seems almost disappointing…

The 4X events on Saturday evening were as ever action packed with the men’s race decided by who could stay on their bike. Even Brian Lopes could not stay on board and the final was a mix of names few would recognise. Eventual winner Rafael Alvares got his first podium appearance at a World Cup and it was the top step for the Spaniard who kept away from the carnage.

The women lined up and were a little more polite in their passing, resulting in a final containing three of the favourites. Anneke Beerten lived up to her number two reputation (Jill Kintner is busy qualifying for Olympic BMX this year) and took the first step to making 2008 her year.

In two weeks all riders including cross country make their way to Andorra for the first triple header event.