The second round of the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William, Scotland, saw Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) repeat as the women's champion, and take the lead in the World Cup standings over Rachel Atherton (Commencal).
"It was a long run," said Jonnier. "I hit my pedal on the top section and lost all my speed, but I knew that I could make up the difference at the bottom, so I gave it everything there. All the people cheering were amazing, and it pushed me to go harder."
The women's race was expected to be a battle between Jonnier and round one winner Atherton. Atherton had qualified first, but Jonnier has a long history of winning in Fort William, including the world title in 2007.
Fort William is one of the favourite tracks for the riders, requiring both technical skills and endurance for runs that are over five minutes for the women. It also boasts some of the largest and most enthusiastic crowds of the series, with thousands lining the course. This year, the fast upper section was made more technical, and uncharacteristically dry conditions made for a loose, dusty track that had more than a few riders washing out.
Canada's Micayla Gatto (Commencal Marzocchi Young Guns) set the first sub-5:40 minute time, to take the lead and the hot seat, which she held until Celine Gros (Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute Savoie) knocked a further four seconds off. The Junior World Cup leader Manon Carpenter was the next to take the lead, but she barely had time to settle into the Hot Seat before Canadian national champion Claire Buchar (Chain Reaction) took the leading time below 5:30.
In quick succession Mio Suemasa (Funn Bike) and world champion Emmeline Ragot (Suspension Centre) each set faster times, but it was Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing), the 2008 Fort William champion, who set the first sub 5:20 time of 5:16:46, only to have Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) immediately overtake her by an infinitesimal two-hundredths of a second.
Jonnier was next, and completely crushed the leading time by nearly five seconds, after a powerful ride on the bottom half of the course. This is where Atherton lost the race, having the fastest second intermediate time by half a second, but losing over two seconds on the final section.
Jonnier overtook Rachel Atherton (Commencal) for the lead in the women's series by a slim 15 points.
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 0:05:11.6 |
| 2 | Rachel Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 0:00:01.1 |
| 3 | Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott 11 | 0:00:04.9 |
| 4 | Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing | 0:00:04.9 |
| 5 | Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center | 0:00:09.1 |
| 6 | Mio Suemasa (Jpn) | 0:00:12.7 |
| 7 | Claire Buchar (Can) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 0:00:14.9 |
| 8 | Manon Carpenter (GBr) | 0:00:19.2 |
| 9 | Céline Gros (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 0:00:19.7 |
| 10 | Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal Superiders | 0:00:22.2 |
| 11 | Micayla Gatto (Can) | 0:00:24.0 |
| 12 | Petra Bernhard (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria | 0:00:28.9 |
| 13 | Melissa Buhl (USA) | 0:00:31.6 |
| 14 | Jessica Stone (GBr) | 0:00:31.9 |
| 15 | Katy Curd (GBr) | 0:00:32.2 |
| 16 | Miriam Ruchti (Swi) Dr-Gravity Union | 0:00:34.0 |
| 17 | Anais Pajot (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 0:00:40.8 |
| 18 | Harriet Rucknagel (Ger) | 0:00:41.0 |
| 19 | Aimee Dix (GBr) | 0:00:44.7 |
| 20 | Sophie Borderes (Fra) | 0:01:23.4 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 80 | pts |
| 2 | Commencal | 75 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 75 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Trek World Racing | 63 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Scott 11 | 62 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 50 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Gt Bicycles | 48 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 30 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Suspension Center | 28 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Commencal Superiders | 28 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Lapierre International | 26 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Kenda-Playbiker | 23 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 22 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Giant Factory Team | 19 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Rc Alpine Commencal Austria | 19 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Kona | 18 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Dr-Gravity Union | 15 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Team Sunn Montgenevre | 14 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| 19 | Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 9 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
| 20 | Ms Evil Racing | 6 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
| 21 | Blackmountain Morewood United | 2 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 425 | pts |
| 2 | Rachel Atherton (GBr) Commencal | 410 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott 11 | 350 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal Superiders | 240 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing | 234 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Mio Suemasa (Jpn) | 222 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Claire Buchar (Can) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 186 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center | 185 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Petra Bernhard (Aut) RC Alpine Commencal Austria | 175 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Céline Gros (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 145 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Manon Carpenter (GBr) | 117 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Katy Curd (GBr) | 70 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Jessica Stone (GBr) | 70 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott 11 | 65 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Micayla Gatto (Can) | 50 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco World Team | 45 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Harriet Rucknagel (Ger) | 45 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Melissa Buhl (USA) | 40 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| 19 | Miriam Ruchti (Swi) Dr-Gravity Union | 40 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
| 20 | Anais Pajot (Fra) Team Sunn Montgenevre | 20 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
| 21 | Fanny Lombard (Fra) | 20 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
| 22 | Aimee Dix (GBr) | 10 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
| 23 | Birgit Braumann (Aut) | 10 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
| 24 | Sophie Borderes (Fra) | 5 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
| 25 | Morgane Charre (Fra) | 5 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott 11 | 150 | pts |
| 2 | Commencal | 150 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense | 144 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain | 132 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Trek World Racing | 108 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 105 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz | 69 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Commencal Superiders | 62 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Gt Bicycles | 61 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 54 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Suspension Center | 49 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Rc Alpine Commencal Austria | 47 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Lapierre International | 45 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Morzine-Avoriaz/Haute-Savoie | 42 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Ms Evil Racing | 41 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Kona | 41 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Giant Factory Team | 30 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Dr-Gravity Union | 28 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| 19 | Kenda-Playbiker | 23 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
| 20 | Mondraker Factory Team | 22 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
| 21 | Team Sunn Montgenevre | 20 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
| 22 | Norco World Team | 19 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
| 23 | Blackmountain Morewood United | 9 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
| 24 | Massi Team | 8 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
| 25 | Dirt Norco Race Team | 5 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
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