Moseley prevails, extends World Cup lead

Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing) took her fourth win of the season to solidify her lead in the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup, at round six in La Bresse, France. Moseley now leads second place finisher, and second-ranked, Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) by 150 points going into the final round in two weeks' time. Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) continues her comeback, posting a season-high third on the course she won on in 2009.

After a dry run during qualifying a day earlier, the rain moved in and soaked the course all night and the morning of the final, changing lines and sending riders scrambling for spiked tires. While it was not raining during the women's race, there were still plenty of slippery sections and water-filled ruts to give riders problems.

Junior World Cup leader Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) set the first fast time, and held onto the lead until one of the favourites, Rachel Atherton (Commencal), smashed her time by nearly five and a half seconds, to finish in 2:46.385. Atherton had crashed in training and just rolled the start of the qualifier, so she rode much earlier than usual. Atherton's time was even more impressive given that she slipped on one of the singletrack sections low on the course and laid her bike down momentarily.

Atherton retained the lead until Jonnier, third in qualifying, posted the first sub-2:40 time. The French rider, cheered on by thousands of compatriots, was 1.1 seconds up at the first time split, 1.8 seconds ahead at the second, and then completely crushed the lower section to finish over 8.5 seconds ahead at the finish line.

Pugin, one of only two riders to beat Moseley this year (Atherton is the other), was expected to offer the greatest threat to Moseley, but she struggled with the pedaling section at the top of the course, nearly 3.5 seconds behind Jonnier. By the second split she had improved to only four-tenths of a second back, but was a minuscule one-hundredth of a second ahead of Jonnier at the finish; not the run she was looking for.

Moseley, on the other hand, stepped up her game for the final, and was fastest through every section of the course, despite hitting a big puddle near the top which temporarily blinded her. The world champion finished nearly five seconds ahead of her French rival to extend her lead in the overall competition to 150 points, with Atherton third, a further 235 points behind.

"It didn't feel that good at the start, that's probably the worst start I've ever had at a World Cup," said Moseley. "I took a line that absolutely drenched me, there wasn't a puddle there before today. I was soaked, through the helmet ...I could not see a thing. I had to grab a tear-off from my goggles.

"After that awful start I just tried to keep it going, I had lost so much speed that I felt like I was starting from zero again. It was a pretty tough track, and it had changed a lot from yesterday. I knew that I would have to give it everything to beat Floriane in a home race, and she is often a better mud rider than me. I just had to bury myself and go for it. I'm just glad that I managed to stay on, it's pretty amazing."

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Full Results
1Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing0:02:32.829
2Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott 110:00:04.991
3Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain0:00:05.001
4Rachel Atherton (GBr) Commencal0:00:13.556
5Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Team GR0:00:14.662
6Myriam Nicole (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal0:00:17.736
7Harriet Rucknagel (Ger)0:00:18.634
8Manon Carpenter* (GBr) Madison Saracen0:00:19.007
9Jill Kintner (USA)0:00:20.992
10Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Team GR0:00:23.686
11Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria0:00:24.863
12Zarja Cernilogar (Slo)0:00:25.926
13Jessica Stone (GBr)0:00:27.600
14Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott 110:00:29.888
15Agnes Delest* (Fra)0:00:29.962
16Miriam Ruchti (Swi)0:00:32.592
17Jacqueline Harmony (USA)0:00:34.454
18Sarah Atkin* (NZl)0:00:35.751
19Emma Wareham (GBr)0:00:46.691
20Céline Gros (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie0:02:53.819
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Teams
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResultHeader Cell - Column 3
1Trek World Racing94pts
2Commencal61Row 1 - Cell 3
3Mondraker Factory Team53Row 2 - Cell 3
4Scott 1142Row 3 - Cell 3
5Santa Cruz Syndicate40Row 4 - Cell 3
6Team GR34Row 5 - Cell 3
7Chain Reaction Cycles / Nukeproof33Row 6 - Cell 3
8Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain30Row 7 - Cell 3
9Lapierre International28Row 8 - Cell 3
10MS Evil Racing28Row 9 - Cell 3
11Devinci Global Racing24Row 10 - Cell 3
12Riding Addiction Commencal20Row 11 - Cell 3
13Monster Energy / Specialized / Mad Catz20Row 12 - Cell 3
14Giant Factory Off-Road Team18Row 13 - Cell 3
15Morewood Unitedride17Row 14 - Cell 3
16Madison Saracen16Row 15 - Cell 3
17Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team15Row 16 - Cell 3
18Unior Tools Team13Row 17 - Cell 3
19Team Sunn Montgenevre11Row 18 - Cell 3
20Alpine Commencal Austria10Row 19 - Cell 3
21Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Massif Des Vosges9Row 20 - Cell 3
22Dirt Norco Race Team5Row 21 - Cell 3
23Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team2Row 22 - Cell 3
24Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie1Row 23 - Cell 3
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UCI World Cup Downhill standings after round 6
1Tracy Moseley (GBr) Trek World Racing1330pts
2Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott 111180Row 1 - Cell 3
3Rachel Atherton (GBr) Commencal945Row 2 - Cell 3
4Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis - Rocky Mountain795Row 3 - Cell 3
5Myriam Nicole (Fra) Riding Addiction Commencal689Row 4 - Cell 3
6Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Team GR560Row 5 - Cell 3
7Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott 11510Row 6 - Cell 3
8Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria492Row 7 - Cell 3
9Jill Kintner (USA)357Row 8 - Cell 3
10Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Team GR352Row 9 - Cell 3
11Manon Carpenter* (GBr) Madison Saracen305Row 10 - Cell 3
12Céline Gros (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie287Row 11 - Cell 3
13Micayla Gatto (Can)235Row 12 - Cell 3
14Miriam Ruchti (Swi)210Row 13 - Cell 3
15Mio Suemasa (Jpn)181Row 14 - Cell 3
16Harriet Rucknagel (Ger)174Row 15 - Cell 3
17Jacqueline Harmony (USA)165Row 16 - Cell 3
18Jessica Stone (GBr)130Row 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
23Fanny Lombard (Fra)35Row 22 - Cell 3
24Joanne Muoser (Swi) SC - Intense30Row 23 - Cell 3
25Agnes Delest* (Fra)30Row 24 - Cell 3
26Rika Olivier (RSA)25Row 25 - Cell 3
27Joanna Petterson (USA)20Row 26 - Cell 3
28Darian Harvey (USA)20Row 27 - Cell 3
29Maria Michalogiannaki (Gre) Unior Tools Team20Row 28 - Cell 3
30Katy Curd (GBr)15Row 29 - Cell 3
31Gabriela Williams (Cze)15Row 30 - Cell 3
32Sandra Reynier* (Fra) CK Racing Santacruz15Row 31 - Cell 3
33Sarah Atkin* (NZl)15Row 32 - Cell 3
34Anne Laplante (Can)10Row 33 - Cell 3
35Emily Horridge (GBr)10Row 34 - Cell 3
36Emma Wareham (GBr)10Row 35 - Cell 3
37Lauren Daney* (USA)5Row 36 - Cell 3

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