Nicole, Pugin give French one-two finish

The 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup concluded on Sunday in Val di Sole, Italy, with the crowd favourite downhill. Myriam Nicole (Riding Addiction Commencal) took her first ever World Cup victory, while Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing) held off a tight challenge from Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) to win the overall women's title.

The hot, dry conditions had turned the track into dust bowl, full of huge ruts and bumpy rooted sections that made it difficult for anyone to find a clean line. German champion Harriet Rucknagel set the first fast time for the women, which lasted through three riders before US national champion Jill Kintner knocked six and half seconds off, to take the time down to 4:17.872 .

Petra Bernhard (Alpine Commencal Austria) immediately took another six seconds off the leading time, with junior World Cup leader Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) and Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) shaving fractions off of her time. Emilie Siegenthaler (Scott 11) dropped the time below 4:10, with a time of 4:07.484, but Emmeline Ragot (Team GR) went down another five seconds.

Moseley was playing it safe, knowing that she only needed a top-seven to win the title, and not wanting to crash, slotted in behind Ragot. Rachel Atherton (Commencal), went third from last and took the lead below four minutes with a time of 3:54.405, however, Nicole came through right after, 2.2 seconds faster, which proved to be the winning run. Pugin, the fastest qualifier, and second in the world Cup standings, rode last, but finished eight-tenths of a second behind Nicole for second.

"I don't believe it," Nicole said after her run, "maybe I will realize tonight. I didn't have a clean run, but I was all out on this track. I did not want to crash on the top, it was real hard and my hands hurt already. Near the finish I was [saying] 'come on', and I did it."

Moseley agreed that she was nervous before her run, "I wanted to race hard for the win, but when I hit the first [technical] section, I realized that I needed to play it safe and not take any chances. This has been an incredible season, a dream season, coming towards the end of my career."

Moseley won the overall title with 1465 points and four individual victories in seven races. Pugin finished with 1390 points, one win and four seconds, followed by Atherton with 115 points, Nicole with 929 points and Jonnier with 889 points.

Full Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Myriam Nicole (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal0:03:52.200
2Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott 110:00:00.809
3Rachel Atherton (GBr) Commencal0:00:02.174
4Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Team GR0:00:10.624
5Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing0:00:10.994
6Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott 110:00:15.253
7Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain0:00:18.905
8Manon Carpenter° (GBr) Madison Saracen0:00:19.009
9Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria0:00:19.656
10Jill Kintner (USA)0:00:25.641
11Harriet Rucknagel (Ger)0:00:32.154
12Jessica Stone (GBr)0:00:32.414
13Caroline Sax (Fra) Double Dragon El Gallo0:00:34.058
14Céline Gros (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie0:00:34.136
15Mio Suemasa (Jpn)0:00:37.242
16Alia Marcellini (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop0:00:38.531
17Lea Fourton° (Fra) Double Dragon El Gallo0:00:39.410
18Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Team GR0:00:43.370
19Agnes Delest° (Fra)0:00:46.669
DNSMorgane Charre (Fra) Passion Velo Thiers StemteeRow 19 - Cell 2
DNSAnita Ager-Wick (Nor)Row 20 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Teams
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Trek World Racing81pts
2Commencal62Row 1 - Cell 3
3Giant Factory Off-Road Team57Row 2 - Cell 3
4Scott 1155Row 3 - Cell 3
5Lapierre International48Row 4 - Cell 3
6Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof47Row 5 - Cell 3
7Santa Cruz Syndicate46Row 6 - Cell 3
8Riding Addiction Commencal40Row 7 - Cell 3
9MS Evil Racing36Row 8 - Cell 3
10Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz31Row 9 - Cell 3
11Team GR29Row 10 - Cell 3
12Team Cingolani Trek21Row 11 - Cell 3
13Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain18Row 12 - Cell 3
14Mondraker Factory Team18Row 13 - Cell 3
15Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team17Row 14 - Cell 3
16Madison Saracen16Row 15 - Cell 3
17Alpine Commencal Austria14Row 16 - Cell 3
18Double Dragon El Gallo12Row 17 - Cell 3
19Morewood Unitedride11Row 18 - Cell 3
20Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie7Row 19 - Cell 3
21Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges7Row 20 - Cell 3
22Torpado Surfing Shop5Row 21 - Cell 3
23Kona4Row 22 - Cell 3
24Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team3Row 23 - Cell 3
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite women downhill final World Cup standings
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing1465pts
2Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott 111390Row 1 - Cell 3
3Rachel Atherton (GBr) Commencal1115Row 2 - Cell 3
4Myriam Nicole (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal929Row 3 - Cell 3
5Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain889Row 4 - Cell 3
6Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Team GR705Row 5 - Cell 3
7Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott 11621Row 6 - Cell 3
8Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria552Row 7 - Cell 3
9Jill Kintner (USA)412Row 8 - Cell 3
10Manon Carpenter° (GBr) Madison Saracen387Row 9 - Cell 3
11Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Team GR367Row 10 - Cell 3
12Céline Gros (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie327Row 11 - Cell 3
13Micayla Gatto (Can)235Row 12 - Cell 3
14Harriet Rucknagel (Ger)224Row 13 - Cell 3
15Mio Suemasa (Jpn)211Row 14 - Cell 3
16Miriam Ruchti (Swi)210Row 15 - Cell 3
17Jessica Stone (GBr)185Row 16 - Cell 3
18Jacqueline Harmony (USA)165Row 17 - Cell 3
19Miranda Miller (Can)105Row 18 - Cell 3
20Morgane Charre (Fra) Passion Velo Thiers Stemtee85Row 19 - Cell 3
21Anita Ager-Wick (Nor)80Row 20 - Cell 3
22Zarja Cernilogar (Slo)45Row 21 - Cell 3
23Caroline Sax (Fra) Double Dragon El Gallo40Row 22 - Cell 3
24Agnes Delest° (Fra)40Row 23 - Cell 3
25Fanny Lombard (Fra)35Row 24 - Cell 3
26Joanne Muoser (Swi) SC - Intense30Row 25 - Cell 3
27Alia Marcellini (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop25Row 26 - Cell 3
28Rika Olivier (RSA)25Row 27 - Cell 3
29Lea Fourton° (Fra) Double Dragon El Gallo20Row 28 - Cell 3
30Joanna Petterson (USA)20Row 29 - Cell 3
31Darian Harvey (USA)20Row 30 - Cell 3
32Maria Michalogiannaki (Gre) Unior Tools Team20Row 31 - Cell 3
33Katy Curd (GBr)15Row 32 - Cell 3
34Gabriela Williams (Cze)15Row 33 - Cell 3
35Sandra Reynier° (Fra) CK Racing Santacruz15Row 34 - Cell 3
36Sarah Atkin° (NZl)15Row 35 - Cell 3
37Anne Laplante (Can)10Row 36 - Cell 3
38Emily Horridge (GBr)10Row 37 - Cell 3
39Emma Wareham (GBr)10Row 38 - Cell 3
40Lauren Daney° (USA)5Row 39 - Cell 3

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Latest on Cyclingnews