The 100th Downhill mens' final today (Sunday 8th June) saw a glorious weekend at the Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Fort William draw to a close in dramatic fashion.
The challenging Fort William course pushed each rider to the limit. With extremely dry conditions this year the riders careered down the world-renowned track. Rider after rider cut the time as they raced against the clock.
Whilst the Brits put up a sterling performance they could not match the speed of Greg Minnaar (RSA) who thundered over the finish line to steal the gold, three seconds ahead of Gee Atherton (GBR) in a close second place, followed by Steve Peat (GBR) in third.
A thrilled Greg Minnaar said, “I’m just over the moon, it was so good to get revenge after the World Championships. After recovering from a few broken bones I’m back at the top of my game.
“The weather here is beautiful but the course is by far the hardest. The crowd has been amazing and it’s so nice to have so many followers from home behind me.”
Gee Atherton the first Brit to finish romped over the finish to take the silver. Gee said, “I’m really pleased with my performance, Greg’s run was far better than mine but I know it’s something I can work on. It’s been a great day.”
Taking bronze, Steve Peat said, “I’m happy to be on the podium today. The track was very dry and the top turns really pushed me but I felt I still had a solid smooth run.”
Scottish rider Ben Cathro, 20, from Oban came in 8th place just seconds after the top set of riders with a crowd-pleasing time of 4:49:06.
Top mens junior on the Downhill course was the fearless Josh Bryceland, 18, from Manchester, finishing in 16th place overall coming in at just 4:57:13.
MENS DOWNHILL (DHI) Results:
1. MINNAAR Greg (RSA) 4:43:52 2. ATHERTON Gee (GBR) 4:46:69 3. PEAT Steve (GBR) 4:47:42 4. RENNIE Nathan (AUS) 4:48:19 5. HILL Samuel (AUS) 4:48:70 6. ATHERTON Dan (GBR) 4:49:76 7. LEOV Justin (NZL) 4:52.38 8. CATHRO Ben (GBR) 4:52:40 9. BLENKINSOP Samuel (NZL) 4:52:97 10. PASCAL Mikael (FRA) 4:53:87
The crowd at Fort William were buzzing as the womens’ Downhill kicked off with the scorching sun beating down on Aonach Mor. Brits Tracy Moseley (gold) and Rachel Atherton (bronze) set pulses racing as they flew to the finish line with Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) narrowly denying Atherton silver.
Ecstatic at her victory an elated Tracy Moseley said, “It’s an amazing feeling to win in front of a home crowd. The crowds have been wicked and I’m delighted I’ve proved I still have what it takes.
“I had a fairly slow start to the season and Rachel really set the bar, but I just kept imagining how it would feel to win and used it as my incentive to get me through. It’s been a real boost for my confidence.”
Commenting on her silver victory Sabrina Jonnier of France said, “I feel good about coming in second place. I really scared myself at the start as I went too fast. I tried to slow down but the conditions were really dry.”
