World Mountain Bike Championships Day 3

 

Thursday 6 September

Downhill Qualifying

Report & Images: Joolze Dymond & Dave Stapleton

The Downhill seeding runs got under way at 1.00 Thursday afternoon and boy did team GB look good. In the Juniors Ruaridh Cunningham and Josh Bryceland took the top two spots, with just 1.29 secs separating them, in 3rd spot 4 secs adrift was Canadian Steve Smith. Chris Hutchens was a splendid fifth as well. Sam Dale crashed out, damaging an already injured arm and sadly he won't be fit to ride on Sunday.

One-Two in women's qualifying:  Rachel Atherton (left) and Tracy Moseley

The Senior Women's category was also dominated by GB with Rachel Atherton showing good form after returning from her long layoff with her shoulder injury and claiming the top spot. Tracy Moseley rode a calculated run to take 2nd Emmeline Ragot was 3rd fastest, followed closely by Tracey Hannah and Sabrina Jonnier. Helen Gaskell was looking good in 6th. In the Junior Women's qualifying the very inexperienced Katy Curd was an excellent third.

Gee Atherton and Steve Peat crank their bikes over on the way down

In the senior men South Africa's Greg Minnaar was fastest but only by 0.06 of a second from GB rider Gee Atherton. Dan Stanbridge and Marc Beaumont were ninth and tenth respectively. Meanwhile Steve Peat took it easy coming home in 13th; hopefully it'll be a lucky number for him after his recent crash and all those years of bad luck at the worlds! One his greatest rivals Aussie Sam Hill came home in an uncharacteristic 24th. However, we all know that it's Sunday's run which really counts.

Left, Rachel chats to Brendan Fairclough - right, Same Dale before the crash which put him out

Indeed, Sunday's final is shaping up to be a real cliffhanger for GB fans with plenty of riders in the running. Seeding are not always a clear sign of form, the riders are experienced enough now just to do 'enough', come race day and the gloves are off, with each competitor riding out of their skins for the biggest prize on the circuit. Will luck finally come the way of GB's downhillers at the worlds? Remember, Rachel's 2005 Junior gold is the only world title we've ever won in downhill - a bit of a travesty when you consider the talent we've got. Whatever happens, it's gonna be awesome.

Downhill Qualifying

Junior Women
1. PUGIN Floriane FRA 5:48.07
2. NICOLE Myriam FRA 5:56.90 +8.83
3. CURD Katy GBR 6:14.04 + 25.97
4. BUCHANAN Caroline AUS 6:28.96 + 40.89
5. MILLER Miranda CAN 6:36.23 + 48.16
6. LAPLANTE Anne CAN 6:55.01 +1:06.94
7. AGOSTINHO Aurea POR 6:59.39 +1:11.32
8. KERNOHAN-SMITH Holly NZL 7:00.29 +1:12.22
9. PINNEY Christina USA 8:28.17 +2:40.10

Senior Women
1. ATHERTON Rachel GBR 5:30.20
2. MOSELEY Tracy GBR 5:38.69 +8.49
3. RAGOT Emmeline FRA 5:43.42 + 13.22
4. HANNAH Tracey AUS 5:43.91 + 13.71
5. JONNIER Sabrina FRA 5:46.18 + 15.98
6. GASKELL Helen GBR 5:48.99 + 18.79
7. GROS C FRA 5:50.49 + 20.29
8. SANER Marielle SUI 5:53.64 + 23.44
9. SUEMASA Mio JPN 5:54.06 + 23.86
10. GRIFFITHS Fionn GBR 5:56.55 + 26.35
other
23. REES JONES Anja GBR 6:27.91 + 57.71

Junior Men
1. CUNNINGHAM Ruaridh GBR 5:05.12
2. BRYCELAND Josh GBR 5:06.41 +1.29
3. SMITH Steve CAN 5:09.26 +4.14
4. DELFS Mitchell AUS 5:10.27 +5.15
5. HUTCHENS Chris GBR 5:11.83 +6.71
6. BIGONI Joris FRA 5:14.60 +9.48
7. SCOLES Matthew NZL 5:16.32 + 11.20
8. BAIN Joel AUS 5:17.30 + 12.18
9. BUTTON Joshua AUS 5:18.94 + 13.82
10. HETHERINGTON David AUS 5:19.97 + 14.85
other
13. SMITH Joseph GBR 5:21.18 + 16.06
31. WILLIAMS Marcus GBR 5:39.24 + 34.12
34. MEARS Scott GBR 5:41.75 + 36.63
DALE Sam GBR DNF

Senior Men
1. MINNAAR Greg RSA 4:53.32
2. ATHERTON Gee 4:53.38 +0.06
3. CAMELLINI Julien FRA 4:57.20 +3.88
4. HANNAH Michael AUS 4:58.18 +4.86
5. PAYET Florent FRA 5:00.00 +6.68
6. RENNIE Nathan AUS 5:00.82 +7.50
7. BLENKINSOP Samuel NZL 5:01.16 +7.84
8. PASCAL Mickael FRA 5:02.53 +9.21
9. STANBRIDGE Dan GBR 5:03.41 + 10.09
10. BEAUMONT Marc GBR 5:04.37 + 11.05
11. PEDEMANAUD Fabien FRA 5:04.69 + 11.37
12. VAZQUEZ LOPEZ David ESP 5:04.94 + 11.62
13. PEAT Steve GBR 5:05.03 + 11.71
14. REID Ben IRL 5:05.05 + 11.73
15. DONOGHUE Neil GBR 5:05.07 + 11.75
16. LEHIKOINEN Matti FIN 5:05.12 + 11.80
17. CAVALIER Amiel AUS 5:05.43 + 12.11
18. BAREL Fabien FRA 5:05.51 + 12.19
19. STROBEL Luke USA 5:05.67 + 12.35
20. SPAGNOLO Damien FRA 5:05.83 + 12.51
other
22. ATHERTON Dan GBR 5:06.52 + 13.20
24. HILL Samuel AUS 5:07.09 + 13.77
58. FAIRCLOUGH Brendan GBR 5:29.47 + 36.15