September 9/07 1:21 am - MTB World Championships DH Report & Results

Posted by Editoress on 09/9/07
 

MTB World Championships Fort William, Scotland

Coverage sponsored by Maxxis

Photos It was deja vu at the Mountain Bike World Championships on the final day of competition, when both Sam Hill (Australia) and Sabrina Jonnier (France) repeated as world champions in the elite downhill. Host Britain also had lots to cheer about with medals in each of the elite and junior categories, including a gold medal in the junior men for Scottish hero Ruaridh Cunningham. France took a second world title in the junior women's race from Floriane Pugin.

FONT COLOR="#0033FF">Elite Women

The day started with promising weather - at least, promising for Fort William. High clouds and no rain meant that the track was drying out well for the Junior riders and Elite women.

Jennifer Makgill of New Zealand set the early at time of 5:57.48, only to be beaten by Melissa Buhl (USA) by three seconds. Buhl didn't even get a chance to sit in the Hot Seat before Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain came roaring down behind her to knock off another six seconds.

Griffiths time stood up until Jonnier set what proved to be the fastest time of 5:28.35, as the fifth to last rider to go. Of the four remaining riders, Tracy Hannah (Australia) managed to move into third and the fastest qualifier on the day, Rachel Atherton (Great Britain), took silver, but was still a full four seconds behind Jonnier. Former World Cup winner and British favourite Tracy Moseley ran into troubles higher on the course and finished fourth.

"It wasn't the best for me, as it was wet and muddy, and I am from the south of France where it is dry," commented Jonnier. "Also, it felt like I was on enemy territory, with Rachel and Tracy (Moseley) having so much support! But I focussed and just went for it. I broke my derailleur somewhere on the track, and made two huge mistakes when i took the wrong lines. It was so easy to make mistakes because the course was so long. But there was no way that i wanted to give up my jersey; I like it too much."

FONT COLOR="#0033FF">Elite Men

Sam Hill was definitely the man to beat. This year he has proven that he can win on wet tracks, dry ones, long or short. However, he did not qualify well, and 2003 world champ Greg Minnaar (South Africa) rode an extremely strong qualifier.

Hill's early start began to look prophetic when rain rolled in more or more heavily through the men's competition. The first rider off, Pasqual Flix Canals of Spain set an an extremely strong time; so strong that it held up until Hill set the winning time of 4:52.01 with 23 riders left. Fabien Barel (France), just back from injury, came within 64-hundredths of a second of taking his third title, but that was a close as anyone got.

Gee Atherton (Great Britain), second from last, managed 4:56.38 - good enough for third - while Minnaar could not duplicate his qualifying performance, finishing fourth, eight seconds back.

Hill explained his relatively poor showing in qualifying was partially due to circumstances and partially by choice.

"I had only one day of practice before qualifying, so I didn't know the lines very well and took it easy in qualifying. Plus, I didn't want the pressure of going last, and the pressure was more this time because I was defending."

"I like a longer course like this one because it takes me a little while to get into a rhythm, but this one was almost too long. I had quite a few little mistakes, and I didn't feel fully into my run, but I think it came down to the fittest guy who makes the fewest mistakes."

Race Notes

- Steve Smith crashed during his run and finished 11th in the Junior Men's race. Steve finished 3rd in the qualifying round and hopes were high. But it seems his injured hand may have caused the problem. He says that he crashed twice in training because he couldn't grip the bars properly.

- Cedric Gracia's crash in the 4-Cross turned out to be more serious then expected, with a badly broken wrist and ligament damage which requires surgery. He will obviously not be racing today.

- Junior woman Miranda Miller crashed badly in her run and was taken to hospital. She has a broken clavicle.

Junior Women	Time	Diff
1. Floriane Pugin (France)	5:50.18	0
2. Katy Curd (Great Britain)	6:17.30	27.12
3. Myriam Nicole (France)	6:41.48	51.30
4. Aurea Agostinho (Portugal)	6:44.33	54.15
5. Holly Kernohan-Smith (New Zealand)	6:53.46	1:03.28
6. Anne Laplante (Canada)	7:01.95	1:11.77
7. Christina Pinney (United States Of America)	9:19.59	3:29.41
DNF. Miranda Miller (Canada)
DNS. Caroline Buchanan (Australia)
Elite Women	Time	Diff
1. Sabrina Jonnier (France)	5:28.35
2. Rachel Atherton (Great Britain)	5:32.36	4.01
3. Tracey Hannah (Australia)	5:39.89	11.54
4. Tracy Moseley (Great Britain)	5:47.76	19.41
5. Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain)	5:48.21	19.86
6. Mio Suemasa (Japan)	5:48.62	20.27
7. Helen Gaskell (Great Britain)	5:50.43	22.08
8. Céline Gros (France)	5:52.06	23.71
9. Kathleen Pruitt (United States Of America)	5:52.95	24.60
10. Marielle Saner (Switzerland)	5:54.22	25.87
11. Melissa Buhl (United States Of America)	5:54.54	26.19
12. Emmeline Ragot (France)	5:56.80	28.45
13. Jennifer Makgill (New Zealand)	5:57.48	29.13
14. Vanessa Quin (New Zealand)	5:58.63	30.28
15. Claire Buchar (Canada)	6:00.42	32.07
16. Anita Ager-Wick (Norway)	6:03.74	35.39
17. Micayla Gatto (Canada)	6:03.77	35.42
18. Petra Bernhard (Austria)	6:07.24	38.89
19. Scarlett Hagen (New Zealand)	6:08.16	39.81
20. Anja Rees Jones (Great Britain)	6:10.69	42.34
21. Anita Molcik (Austria)	6:10.97	42.62
22. Miriam Ruchti (Switzerland)	6:13.14	44.79
23. Olivia Johnston (New Zealand)	6:18.23	49.88
24. Amelia Colasurdo (United States Of America)	6:18.88	50.53
25. Amy Laird (New Zealand)	6:19.15	50.80
26. Joanna Petterson (South Africa)	6:21.99	53.64
27. Rika Olivier (South Africa)	6:23.34	54.99
28. Anka Martin (South Africa)	6:25.81	57.46
29. Daniela Bossard (Switzerland)	6:29.17	1:00.82
30. Lisa Myklak (United States Of America)	6:29.84	1:01.49
31. Antje Kramer (Germany)	6:34.00	1:05.65
32. Darian Harvey (United States Of America)	6:40.69	1:12.34
33. Jaymie Mart (Barbados)	6:47.01	1:18.66
34. Harriet Rucknagel (Germany)	6:48.04	1:19.69
35. Elisa Canepa (Italy)	6:51.12	1:22.77
36. Jessica Vogt (United States Of America)	7:02.23	1:33.88
37. Diana Marggraff (Ecuador)	7:04.40	1:36.05
Junior Men	Time	Diff
1. Ruaridh Cunningham (Great Britain)	5:06.82
2. John Swanguen (United States Of America)	5:08.89	2.07
3. Matthew Scoles (New Zealand)	5:09.27	2.45
4. Mitchell Delfs (Australia)	5:09.63	2.81
5. Joel Bain (Australia)	5:13.24	6.42
6. James Maltman (Australia)	5:14.72	7.9
7. Hans Lambert (Canada)	5:16.03	9.21
8. Joseph Smith (Great Britain)	5:16.15	9.33
9. Chris Hutchens (Great Britain)	5:16.44	9.62
10. David Hetherington (Australia)	5:19.68	12.86
11. Steve Smith (Canada)	5:19.78	12.96
12. Marcelo Gutierrez (Colombia)	5:20.34	13.52
13. Rémi Thirion (France)	5:21.85	15.03
14. Seanan O'Riordan (Ireland)	5:23.09	16.27
15. Georg Sieder (Austria)	5:23.70	16.88
16. Tom Patton (Australia)	5:24.15	17.33
17. Maximilian Bender (Germany)	5:25.23	18.41
18. Tyler McCaul (United States Of America)	5:25.32	18.5
19. Patrick Meyer (Switzerland)	5:25.50	18.68
20. Joris Bigoni (France)	5:25.64	18.82
21. Scott Mears (Great Britain)	5:26.01	19.19
22. Marco Bugnone (Italy)	5:26.03	19.21
23. Benny Strasser (Germany)	5:26.25	19.43
24. Michael Langford (New Zealand)	5:26.93	20.11
25. Dennis Dertell (Sweden)	5:27.60	20.78
26. Arnaud Delente (France)	5:28.66	21.84
27. Ewan Doherty (Ireland)	5:32.79	25.97
28. Nicola Casadei (San Marino)	5:33.09	26.27
29. Logan Binggeli (United States Of America)	5:34.01	27.19
30. Brad Oien (United States Of America)	5:34.45	27.63
31. Boris Tetzlaff (Austria)	5:34.46	27.64
32. Anssi Koskinen (Finland)	5:35.09	28.27
33. Tim Price (United States Of America)	5:39.00	32.18
34. Josh Bryceland (Great Britain)	5:40.19	33.37
35. Karl O'Sullivan (Ireland)	5:43.40	36.58
36. Greg Saharin (South Africa)	5:45.44	38.62
37. Joshua Button (Australia)	5:45.87	39.05
38. Jeremias Maio (Argentina)	5:47.29	40.47
39. Jason Murphy (Ireland)	5:47.49	40.67
40. Samuele Aicardi (Italy)	5:48.69	41.87
41. Joey Schulsler (United States Of America)	5:49.50	42.68
42. Gernot Ruppert (Germany)	5:50.84	44.02
43. Jan Savr (Czech Republic)	5:54.34	47.52
44. Matteo Milliery (Italy)	5:54.74	47.92
45. Justin Novella (South Africa)	5:59.00	52.18
46. Hayden Brown (South Africa)	6:00.29	53.47
47. Patrik Zolei (Hungary)	6:00.61	53.79
48. Sho Kadowaki (Japan)	6:02.16	55.34
49. David Scandrett (New Zealand)	6:02.82	56.00
50. Travis Browning (South Africa)	6:03.33	56.51
51. Ryno Fourie (South Africa)	6:05.70	58.88
52. Yousuke Miki (Japan)	6:12.07	1:05.25
53. Matias Cuevas (Argentina)	6:12.97	1:06.15
54. Peter Cooper (New Zealand)	8:10.16	3:03.34
55. Joel Ferreira (Portugal)	9:43.19	4:36.37
56. Kruger Breed (South Africa)	11:13.98	6:07.16
DSQ. Will Rischbieth (Australia)
DNF. Markus Olkkonen (Finland)
DNF. Niklas Wallner (Sweden)
DNF. Marcus Williams (Great Britain)
DNS. Nejc Rutar (Slovenia)
DNS. Edoardo Franco (Italy)
DNS. Johannes Sutter (Germany)
Elite Men	Time	Diff
1. Samuel Hill (Australia)	4:52.01	0
2. Fabien Barel (France)	4:52.65	at 0.64
3. Gee Atherton (Great Britain)	4:56.38	4.37
4. Greg Minnaar (South Africa)	4:59.96	7.95
5. Pasqual Canals Flix (Spain)	5:00.29	8.28
6. Matti Lehikoinen (Finland)	5:00.93	8.92
7. Julien Camellini (France)	5:01.11	9.10
8. Florent Payet (France)	5:01.51	9.50
9. Samuel Blenkinsop (New Zealand)	5:01.77	9.76
10. Dan Atherton (Great Britain)	5:01.99	9.98
11. Michael Hannah (Australia)	5:02.37	10.36
12. Nathan Rennie (Australia)	5:03.19	11.18
13. Marc Beaumont (Great Britain)	5:03.37	11.36
14. Ben Reid (Ireland)	5:05.44	13.43
15. Fabien Pedemanaud (France)	5:06.34	14.33
16. Filip Polc (Slovakia)	5:06.65	14.64
17. Amiel Cavalier (Australia)	5:06.93	14.92
18. Jared Rando (Australia)	5:07.45	15.44
19. Damien Spagnolo (France)	5:07.59	15.58
20. Luke Strobel (United States Of America)	5:08.34	16.33
21. Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spain)	5:09.11	17.10
22. Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spain)	5:11.25	19.24
23. Adam Vagner (Czech Republic)	5:11.77	19.76
24. Alan Beggin (Italy)	5:11.98	19.97
25. Marcus Klausmann (Germany)	5:12.64	20.63
26. Brendan Fairclough (Great Britain)	5:12.67	20.66
27. Duncan Riffle (United States Of America)	5:12.97	20.96
28. R. Leiva Figueroa (Chile)	5:13.19	21.18
29. Claudio Caluori (Switzerland)	5:13.20	21.19
30. Robin Wallner (Sweden)	5:14.65	22.64
31. Herman Olund (Sweden)	5:14.75	22.74
32. Dominik Gspan (Switzerland)	5:14.84	22.83
33. Neil Donoghue (Great Britain)	5:15.63	23.62
34. Nick Beer (Switzerland)	5:16.15	24.14
35. Marco Milivinti (Italy)	5:16.25	24.24
36. Mickael Pascal (France)	5:16.64	24.63
37. Espen Johnsen (Norway)	5:16.75	24.74
38. Cole Bangert (United States Of America)	5:17.04	25.03
39. Mike Skinner (New Zealand)	5:18.18	26.17
40. Samuel Zbinden (Switzerland)	5:19.15	27.14
41. Steve Chan (Canada)	5:19.27	27.26
42. Daniel Wolfe (Ireland)	5:20.37	28.36
43. Kieran Bennett (New Zealand)	5:20.46	28.45
44. Greg Okeefe (Ireland)	5:20.75	28.74
45. Tyler Morland (Canada)	5:21.32	29.31
46. Kamil Tatarkovic (Czech Republic)	5:21.64	29.63
47. David Vazquez Lopez (Spain)	5:21.95	29.94
48. Jonas Westmann (Sweden)	5:22.39	30.38
49. Elias Somvi (Italy)	5:22.49	30.48
50. Matej Charvat (Czech Republic)	5:23.30	31.29
51. Gerard Wolfe (Ireland)	5:23.91	31.90
52. Carlo Gambirasio (Italy)	5:24.80	32.79
52. Jeff Beatty (Canada)	5:24.80	32.79
54. Emanuel Pombo (Portugal)	5:25.94	33.93
55. Erik Irmisch (Germany)	5:25.99	33.98
56. Claudio Loureiro (Portugal)	5:26.40	34.39
57. Markus Pekoll (Austria)	5:27.95	35.94
58. Livio Zampieri (Italy)	5:28.24	36.23
59. Santiago De Santiago (Argentina)	5:28.28	36.27
60. M. Estrada Pulgarin (Colombia)	5:28.38	36.37
61. Mario Sieder (Austria)	5:29.10	37.09
62. Tim Sharp (United States Of America)	5:29.75	37.74
63. D. Klaassenvanoorscht (United States Of America)	5:31.73	39.72
64. Gundars Osis (Lativia)	5:34.57	42.56
65. Franco Emanuel Riva (Argentina)	5:36.20	44.19
66. Karlis Kisuro (Lativia)	5:37.38	45.37
67. Steve Peat (Great Britain)	5:39.56	47.55
68. Darren Quille (Ireland)	5:42.72	50.71
69. Jurgen Beneke (Germany)	5:46.95	54.94
70. Claudio Cozzi (Italy)	5:47.40	55.39
71. Sven Martin (South Africa)	5:48.04	56.03
72. Glenn Haden (New Zealand)	5:49.95	57.94
73. Martins Sprogis (Lativia)	5:53.63   Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top                  |   Privacy Policy | Contact | Subscribe to RSS Feed  | Logout  © Copyright 1998-2024 Canadian Cyclist. All rights reserved.