After 9 years the UCI MTB World Cup returned to Maribor, Slovenia for the first round of the Downhill World Cup. The track offers just about everything in its various sections- high speeds, rock garden, and tight forests, has been rider favorite for decades now. The older generations of athletes were eager to return and the young guns were excited to be racing on a track they had only heard about in legend.The World Cup week started off with sunny and dry weather, but soon it was obvious that those conditions would not last long. The rain during Saturday’s qualifying caught a few riders off guard, shaking things up in the standings for finals.The SR SUNTOUR athletes and mechanics were working hard on adapting to the constantly changing conditions and the work paid off: Tracey Hannah finished qualifying as the fastest woman on the hill. A promising start to the new season for her and the UR Polygon Team, landing a great third place in Sunday’s finals. Her team mate, and older brother, Mick Hannah barely missed the top 30, ending up 31st and Alexandre Fayolle left Slovenia with a solid 23rd place.Despite the gamble with set ups due to the constantly changing weather conditions it’s been a good start to another exciting World Cup DH season. The high level of racing performed by our athletes has us looking forward to a promising and successful World Cup season.