Podium for Gee in South Africa  Mar 22, 2012  A strong
performance for GT Factory Racing at the first World Cup of the
year in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Under constant changing
conditions the Brit pair of Marc Beaumont and Gee Atherton took
to the challenging track at the Cascades Mountain Bike Park in a
bid to start the season off on a flyer.  The weekend started
badly for Beaumont who hit a tree on the first day of practice,
he had to nurse that injury through qualifying which he did well
to take a solid 15th spot. Team mate Atherton started slowly in
the hope to build up for the finals on Sunday, his qualifier a
very solid 4th spot and just 1.7 seconds from fastest rider and
native Greg Minnaar.  The weather however threatened to change
things dramatically as a heavy rain storm sat over
Pietermaritzburg for 4 hours on Saturday evening, the risk of a
wet track was not to anyones likings as the soil tends to turn
to ice making even the Worlds best struggle down the hill on the
clay based surface.  Than