Gee Atherton claims downhill World Cup in Cairns

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British brother and sister combination of Gee and Rachel Atherton dominated the Australian leg of the UCI World Cup Series, claiming downhill victories at the Smithfield Regional Park in Cairns on Saturday.

The win was the fourth time that reigning world champion Rachel and elder brother Gee (both GT Factory Racing) have reached the top step of the podium at the same World Cup event.

After a wet qualifying session held on Friday, roots and rocks began to protrude from the peanut butter like course, undoing many top players including reigning world champion Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate).

However the ever flawless Atherton siblings soared through their final run, with Gee stopping the clock in four minutes flat, four seconds ahead of Great Britain's Josh Bryceland (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and close to seven seconds in front of America's Neko Mulally (Trek World Racing).

"It's been a tough weekend with really testing conditions. Yesterday's qualifier was quite a big learning round for me, I was surprised how hard it was when I got here," said Gee of his sixth place in qualifying.

"It was absolutely nuts in that rock garden, I knew the crowd were going to be loud, and it was a real struggle to concentrate but it definitely pushed me on, I was pretty amped when I got to the finish."

World Cup series leader Aaron Gwin (Specialized Racing DH) finished fourth while Australia's Sam Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles.com) ignited the crowd by taking the hot seat before being usurped by Bryceland.

Gwin remains in the UCI World Cup series lead (415 points), ahead of Gee Atherton (305 points) and Samuel Blenkinsop (Lapierre Gravity Republic / 262).

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