Bike
MTB
Colombians dominate the steep streets of Red Bull Guanajuato Cerro Abajo
From injury, straight to the podium top spot – Juanfer Vélez's return sees him slays the steep back streets of Guanajuato in incredible style. Watch the replay here.
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Hot on the heels of the 20th anniversary Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo in February, the Red Bull Cerro Abajo urban downhill racing made it's second stop of the three-round championship at Red Bull Guanajuato Cerro Abajo in Mexico, where Colombian riders dominated the podium for the second straight year.
No podium finishers from Valparaíso were able to repeat their success on the stair-filled and narrow Guanajuato course. Instead, it was 2023's Red Bull Cerro Abajo champion Juanfer Vélez who returned from injury to ride straight onto the top step of the podium ahead of team-mate and fellow Colombian Sebastian Holguín, while ever-present threat Tomáš Slavík claimed the final step of the podium.
Juanfer Vélez launching into the finish on his way to Guanajuato glory
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer/Red Bull Content Pool
Second in qualifying, Vélez missed the race in Valparaíso after breaking his wrist in early January at the long-standing Manizales urban race at home in Colombia. Just a week after getting back on his bike however, the rising downhill racer delivered a masterclass of urban racing in Mexico to smash the previous fastest time of Slavík and storm to a stunning victory in a time of 1m 51.212s.
Fastest qualifier Holguín had crashed out whilst riding at a fast pace in Valparaíso and while he couldn't match his team-mate's pace on the lower half of the course in Mexico, his time of 1m 52.246 was enough to bag second, making it a Colombian 1–2, and scoring him some decent points towards the series overall.
Vélez and Holguín are becoming the urban racers to beat
© Jose Duch/Red Bull Content Pool
Slavík's time of 1m 52.478 was enough to place the veteran Czech rider third for the day, making up for not only the broken chain he suffered in Valparaíso, but also the huge crash he suffered in Guanajuato last year.
3 min
Tomáš Slavík's Guanajuato run
Take a look back at Tomáš Slavík's run from Red Bull Guanajuato Cerro Abajo 2024.
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A course distinct in personality
At 1.6km, this Guanajuato course provided a very different challenge to the Valparaíso track that we'd seen three weeks previously. Considerably narrower, featuring a lot more steps and with quite a bit of hard pedaling required, Guanajuato proved to be both more technical and physical than in Chile. Add to that the 2,000m altitude of the city and it was a proper test of all the riders.
The narrow alleyways and steep stairs needed pinpoint accuracy
© Jose Duch/Red Bull Content Pool
Johny Salido drops out of the obligatory on-track house
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer/Red Bull Content Pool
Local ace Fabian Alcantar high up on the wallride
© Jose Duch/Red Bull Content Pool
Adrien Loron demonstrates just how little room for error the course has
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer/Red Bull Content Pool
The track itself featured the usual array of steep staircases, narrow passageways, tight turns and man-made obstacles. The riders also passed through a family on their way down and at the finish they also had to contend with two huge, extremely steep ramp jumps.
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Watch the replay
If you want to see all the runs from finals or want to relive the live broadcast of Red Bull Guanajuato Cerro Abajo, then watch below.
Live
The most epic urban downhill MTB race hits one of the most magical little towns in Mexico.
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Red Bull Guanajuato Cerro Abajo results
Rank
Rider
Country
Time
1
Junafer Vélez
Colombia
1m 51.212s
2
Sebastian Holguín
Colombia
1m 52.246s
4
Felipe Agurto
Chile
1m 52.854s
5
Camilo Sánchez
Colombia
1m 54.688s
6
Lucas Borba
Brazil
1m 55.169s
7
Jeronimo Paez
Argentina
1m 56.525s
8
Gabriel Giovannini
Brazil
1m 56.957s
9
Bernardo Cruz
Brazil
1m 57.169s
10
Adrien Loron
France
1m 57.213s
11
Alberto Nícolas
Chile
1m 57.934s
12
Bruno Lavagnino
Chile
1m 58.291s
13
Mario Jarrín
Ecuador
2m 2.181s
14
Fabián Alcantar
Mexico
2m 2.255s
15
Jono Jones
United Kingdom
2m 5.632
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