UCI World Cup - DH Round 6 - Val d'Isere
Event: 29 July 2012
Location: Val d'Isere, France
Report: Eddie Allen
Great performances from British riders in the penultimate round of the 2012 UCI DHI World Cup - with Rachel Atherton winning in Val d'Isere and extending her world cup lead, with brother Gee Atherton took second in the Elite Men's, countryman Josh Bryceland taking a career best 3rd.
ELITE WOMEN
Rachel Atherton won the sixth round of the UCI MTB World Cup Downhill in Val d’Isere, beating her World Cup rival Emmeline Ragot by 1.49 seconds. Third place went to Floriane Pugin of Scott 11 who finished 3.12 seconds behind the British rider.
After the win, her fourth of the season, a delighted Atherton said: “The track is very difficult. One day it's dry. One day it's wet.
"You never knew how it was going to be. It was like a guessing game."
Atherton had a scare in practice, with rumours that she’d crashed heavily. However, the GT rider was quick to quash the gossip: “"I didn't crash, but I landed on my seat. It was the same as Fort William. You have to switch off and then switch back on for the race. It's difficult. I was so nervous."
British rider Manon Carpenter finished in 5th position, a small mistake at the top of the course costing her vital seconds.
Results
1 Rachel Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing 0:02:38.97
2 Emmeline Ragot (Fra) MS Mondraker Team 0:00:01.49
3 Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott11 0:00:03.12
4 Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction 0:00:04.25
5 Manon Carpenter (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team 0:00:04.90
6 Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott11 0:00:08.18
7 Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria 0:00:11.12
8 Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team 0:00:12.79
9 Mio Suemasa (Jpn) 0:00:13.50
10 Morgane Charre (Fra) Passion Velo.Fr 0:00:14.37
Elite women individual World Cup standings after round 6
1 Rachel Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing 1200 pts
2 Emmeline Ragot (Fra) MS Mondraker Team 1120
3 Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction 892
4 Tracey Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson United Ride 732
5 Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott11 705
6 Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott11 500
7 Manon Carpenter (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team 425
8 Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria 402
9 Morgane Charre (Fra) Passion Velo.Fr 381
10 Anita Molcik (Aut) 380
ELITE MEN
British riders Gee Atherton and Josh Bryceland grabbed the second and third spots on the podium after New Zealand’s Brook MacDonald snatched his first ever World Cup win.
Atherton was fastest at one stage, beating Greg Minaar’s time, the South African rider toppling USA’s Aaron Gwin, who held the hotseat for much of the competition. Third place for Bryceland was his best ever World Cup finish, topping his 5th position in Fort William.
Atherton’s second place leaves him in 3rd place in the overall standings with one round to go in Norway, while Bryceland is in 7th, two places behind Danny Hart in 5th place.
Result
1 Brook MacDonald NZL 2:19.478
2 Gee Atherton GBR @ 0.495
3 Josh Bryceland GBR @ 0.677
4 Greg Minaar RSA @ 0.677
5 Aaron Gwin USA @ 1.366
6 Michael Hannah NZL @ 1.893
7 Marc Beaumont GBR @ 2.110
8 Cameron Cole NZL @ 2.296
World Cup Standings
1 Aaron Gwin USA 1260pts
2 Greg Minaar RSA 1000pts
3 Gee Atherton GBR 981pts
4 Steve Smith CAN 680pts
5 Danny Hart GBR 650pts
6 Sam Hill AUS 627pts
7 Josh Bryceland GBR 589pts
8 Brook MacDonald NZL 583pts
