Chris Kovarik (AUS, Intense Cycles) is a man on fire. The formerly silent-and-reckless rock star seems to have matured into an easy-going, and even faster, competitor. After demolishing the competition last week in Fort William to the tune of 14 seconds, he was an obvious favorite to do well here in Maribor this weekend.

But how well? After all, Steve Peat (GBR, Orange England) won here last year and Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA, Vouilloz Racing Team) won the two consecutive years prior. And Maribor's course doesn't reward risk-taking like other courses on which Kovarik has won. This is a course that demands both perfection and finesse, traits more often attributed to the seasoned race vets like "Peaty" and "The Alien."

But someone forgot to tell Kovarik that and in Sunday morning's qualifying round he finished just .09 of a second slower than the top-seeded Peat. Vouilloz had encountered problems in the course's most demanding section, a rock garden strewn down a steep tree section. So he was a bit of an unknown going into the final.

Weather was a concern for the men, as the rains from the women's round had stopped, and the track was drying as the first men rode its narrow and packed line. Once the bikes arrived at the finish without mud on their frames or tires, managers radioed to the mechanics up top to take off the spiky mud tires and return to the Maxxis High Rollers, Tioga White Tigers and Intense DHO tires of the top qualifiers.

Finishing times kept decreasing once the top-20 men came down the mountain, then got faster when the top-10 made their runs, each rider shaving a fraction of a second off the previous leader's time. Then Vouilloz changed all that, coming fourth from the end and shattering Mickael Pascal's (FRA, Be-One Team) time by nearly 2 seconds. He took over the hotseat and awaited the arrival of the top-three in Fabien Barel (FRA, Maxxis), Kovarik and Peat.

Barel had a strong run with no problems, saying afterward, "I was riding pretty aggressively with my new bike and just wanted to make some points this afternoon. When I saw it was not too wet I tried to go faster and faster all the way down."

Then came Kovarik, who had spent his lunch break between qualifying and the finals going over and over the track in his head; thinking where he could make up time. One thing he knew he'd do was pedal more wherever possible, as well as do something he hadn't done before, wear a wind-cheating skinsuit.

Kovarik had lost the DH in Grouse Mountain last season by .001, a difference many pointed out could be made up for by losing the baggy wind-catching clothes of so many downhillers.

That, and a complete mastery of the course, helped Kovarik post a fantastic time of 2:57.

"I didn't know how I was doing until I came across the line," he said. "The only information you have is from qualifying, and I knew I was going a bit slower because it was more slippery."

Peat was the only rider remaining and was already flying down the mountain even as Kovarik got comfortable in the hotseat for the two-minute wait. Peat was turning in another near-perfect run and had an amazingly close .32 of a second advantage over Kovarik at the intermediate time check. He was on course to take the win by the slightest margin.

Twenty seconds from the finish, the spectators could see Peat piloting his bike across the ski slope, then diving into the trees. He was now nearly a second up on Kovarik, and it looked like it would be Steve would "Re-Peat." But as close as these men match each other's speed, they leave no room for mistakes. And a tiny one befell Peat.

"Going into the wooded section I hit the braking bumps and lost my line for a second," said Peat. It was enough to scrub just enough speed so that when he arrived at the finish seconds later, he had missed Kovarik's time by one one-hundredth of a second, giving the Aussie his third consecutive win after taking the Mont Sainte-Anne finals last season.

That bumped Peat into 2nd place, Barel into 3rd and Vouilloz to 4th - his second 4th place finish in a row. Kovarik, now much more talkative than when he used to utter one-word descriptions of his runs, was clearly pleased.

He admitted that the key to winning was to get as close to perfection as possible. "There was no room for mistakes on this course, you just had to ride smooth and hold your speed around the corners."

Third-place Barel was pleased as well, saying "I had a good sensation; smooth and not too much mistakes."

For Peat it was an opportunity lost, but he was looking at the bigger picture. "I'm disappointed about that mistake, but I'm happy with the way I'm riding," he said. "And I got some good points in qualifying, because every point counts."

— Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Correspondent