UCI Mountain Bike World Cup DHI
Round 6 La Bresse, France
UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Round 6 Results
Men | Women
Tracy Moseley looks set to take her first World Cup downhill title since 2006, following another convincing win in round six of the Series.
The reigning World Champion made the worst possible start to her run, getting drenched by a newly formed puddle within seconds of leaving the start hut, but recovered to post the fastest time at the first split by a huge four seconds.
On the steep and technical track with only one pedal and a combination of flat turns, Moseley was a favourite after qualifying fastest. But early on Rachel Atherton posted a time that set the standard, before falling to Sabrina Jonnier and Floriane Pugin.
Moseley was the last rider on the hill and put together a run which was quicker without explanation - but cemented her place at the top of the World Cup Series and her status as favourite to retain the World Championship title in September.
In the men's race a return to the status quo was not enough to stop Aaron Gwin taking the World Cup Series one round from its conclusion.
Gwin's dominance has perplexed every rider on the circuit, but finally at La Bresse a weakness was exposed - Greg Minnaar and Gee Atherton taking the top two spots with a two second buffer, on a track that didn't promote large time gaps.
For Atherton, the second place showed his capabilities in a season dominated by mechanical failure and underlined by his absence in the race for the World Cup title.
Now third in the overall, behind Gwin and Minnaar, Atherton will ride for his first win of the 2011 World Cup season at the final round of the Series in Val di Sole.
British Results
Men: Gee Atherton (2nd), Marc Beaumont (6th), Ben Cathro (10th), Brendan Fairclough (12th), Danny Hart (13th), Joseph Smith (15th), Harry Heath (18th), Alex Bond (19th), Sam Dale (20th), Lewis Buchanan (21st), Matthew Simmonds (24th), Bernard Kerr (25th), Adam Brayton (27th), Dan Atherton (40th), Greg Williamson (45th), Jack Reading (48th), Ruaridh Cunningham (51st), Mark Scott (52nd), Fergus Lamb (53rd), Josh Bryceland (54th), Joe Barnes (58th), Dan Stanbridge (60th), Ralph Jones (62nd), Peter Williams (71st), Scott Mears (72nd), Robert Smith (75th), Thomas Braithwaite (77th).
Women: Tracy Moseley (1st), Rachel Atherton (4th), Manon Carpenter (8th), Fionn Griffiths (10th), Jess Stone (13th), Emma Wareham (19th)
