Danny Hart remains in the mix in the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup after a fine fourth-placed finish in Leogang.
The 27-year-old, who won World Championship titles in both 2011 and 2016, finds himself fourth in the overall standings after impressing in Austria in the third round of the 2019 downhill series.
Hart, who finished second at the season-opener in Maribor, Slovenia, in April, and was also fourth in Fort William last time out, came home in an accomplished 3:18.126.
The British rider held a place on the podium for long swathes but was eventually edged out of third place by the sport’s most prolific competitor Greg Minnaar, who roared into second place with a storming run – the last of the day.
France’s Loic Bruni (3:16.132) took gold, with Minnaar second and Troy Brosnan third in 3:16.878.
Hart’s countrymen Matt Walker (3:20.397) and Greg Williamson (3:20.397) were 13th and 14th respectively while Reece Wilson also bagged a top-20 finish as he was 16th in 3:20.845.
Just look at those times!
— UCI MTB (@UCI_MTB) June 9, 2019
Congratulations guys.
@LoicBruni
@GregMinnaar
@TroyBrosnan#MBWorldCup pic.twitter.com/8bwLxZtPxX
Rachel shakes off adversity
Meanwhile, Rachel Atherton was in a pragmatic mood despite a crash wrecking her chances of going for glory in the women’s race.
Atherton (4:08.548) was left playing catch-up after falling early in her run and she slipped to second in the overall downhill standings courtesy of a 14th-placed finish.
But the 31-year-old was delighted to escape without any major injury and paid tribute to winner Tracey Hannah – the Australian is the new series-leader.
“I really don’t feel disappointed. I feel fine,” said Atherton.
“I was genuinely pleased for Tracey. If she’d have crashed, I’d have been gutted.
“At the start, the track’s always a bit rougher, so you feel like you should be going quicker.
“At that massive moment, I pushed into the corner and out of nowhere, [I went] massively over the bars.
“I don’t go over the bars like that often and when I do, I normally hurt myself. I was upside-down under my bike, folded in half, and I was like: ‘oh my god!’.
“I jumped up and I was like: ‘I can still do it!’. You spend the whole run thinking: ‘what’s the point in pushing it?’ but you’re in a race and you can’t help it.
“It was mad. I haven’t crashed for so long.”
