Round six of the downhill at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Val d'Isere, France turned out to be a much more difficult course than anyone anticipated, with many top riders crashing and performing below expectations. Rachel Atherton (GT Factory) took her fourth win of the season to extend her lead over Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker Team) in the overall standings, with one round remaining.
Atherton won round six ahead by 1.49 seconds ahead of Ragot and 3.12 seconds ahead of Floriane Pugin (Scott11).
Petra Bernhard (Alpine Commencal Austria) was the first to record a sub-2:50 run, but Myriam Nicole (Commencal / Riding Addiction) immediately took nearly seven seconds off the leading time, good enough to eventually finish fourth. Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) then knocked a further second off, but the final two riders were in a class of their own.
World champion Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker) was 1.6 seconds faster than Pugin, but Atherton, the fastest qualifier, once again showed that her return this season, after struggling with injury, is complete - finishing a second and a half ahead of Ragot and recording the only sub-2:40 time of the day.
"I am so happy," said Atherton. "I think this is the most nervous I have been all year. This track is very, very difficult. One day it's dry and then it's really, really wet, so tire and suspension changes are so important, and you don't know how it's gonna be on your race run. Everyone was just playing it like a guessing game.
"I almost crashed today [in training]; I landed on my seat. My stomach was hurting really bad, but I thought, this is like Fort William: I need to just switch off and then switch back on for the race. I have learned that from racing and crashing."
Several riders were missing, including Jill Kintner, who is recovering from surgery following a crash earlier this month, and Tracey Hannah, who crashed out earlier this weekend
Atherton now holds an 80-point lead over Ragot, 1,200 points to 1,120, with Nicole a distant third at 892 points. There is one round of the downhill World Cup remaining in mid-September.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rachel Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 0:02:38.97 |
| 2 | Emmeline Ragot (Fra) MS Mondraker Team | 0:00:01.49 |
| 3 | Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott11 | 0:00:03.12 |
| 4 | Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 0:00:04.25 |
| 5 | Manon Carpenter (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 0:00:04.90 |
| 6 | Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott11 | 0:00:08.18 |
| 7 | Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 0:00:11.12 |
| 8 | Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 0:00:12.79 |
| 9 | Mio Suemasa (Jpn) | 0:00:13.50 |
| 10 | Morgane Charre (Fra) Passion Velo.Fr | 0:00:14.37 |
| 11 | Tahnee Seagrave° (GBr) | 0:00:18.46 |
| 12 | Chloe Gallean° (Fra) Dagg - Racing | 0:00:19.86 |
| 13 | Mélanie Pugin (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 0:00:20.53 |
| 14 | Zarja Cernilogar (Slo) | 0:00:21.49 |
| 15 | Anita Molcik (Aut) | 0:00:23.72 |
| 16 | Fiona Ourdouillie° (Fra) | 0:00:26.40 |
| 17 | Caroline Sax (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 0:00:28.10 |
| 18 | Elke Rabeder (Aut) | 0:00:29.30 |
| 19 | Jana Bartova (Cze) | 0:00:31.53 |
| 20 | Harriet Rucknagel (Ger) | 0:01:25.56 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GT Factory Racing | 99 | pts |
| 2 | MS Mondraker Team | 87 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 81 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Scott11 | 50 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 42 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 38 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Lapierre International | 36 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Devinci Global Racing | 31 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Trek World Racing | 28 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Hutchinson United Ride | 26 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Monster Energy-Specialized | 22 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 22 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 22 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 21 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 18 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | SC-Intense | 15 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Pila-BlaCK Arrows-MTB Herin School Asd | 14 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Passion Velo.Fr | 12 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| 19 | Dagg - Racing | 9 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
| 20 | Kona | 9 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
| 21 | Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 8 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
| 22 | Topcycle By Trek | 7 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
| 23 | CK Racing Santacruz | 6 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
| 24 | Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 4 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
| 25 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 3 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
| 26 | Unior Tools Team | 1 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rachel Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 1200 | pts |
| 2 | Emmeline Ragot (Fra) MS Mondraker Team | 1120 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 892 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Tracey Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson United Ride | 732 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott11 | 705 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott11 | 500 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Manon Carpenter (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 425 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 402 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Morgane Charre (Fra) Passion Velo.Fr | 381 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Anita Molcik (Aut) | 380 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Jill Kintner (USA) Team Norco International | 363 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 239 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Miriam Ruchti (Swi) SC-Intense | 232 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Mio Suemasa (Jpn) | 230 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Micayla Gatto (Can) | 221 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Miranda Miller (Can) | 140 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Tracy Moseley (GBr) | 124 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Fionn Griffiths (GBr) | 115 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| 19 | Casey Brown (Can) | 95 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
| 20 | Tahnee Seagrave° (GBr) | 90 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
| 21 | Céline Gros (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 90 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
| 22 | Luana Maria De Souza Oliveira (Bra) | 84 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
| 23 | Mélanie Pugin (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 75 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
| 24 | Harriet Rucknagel (Ger) | 75 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
| 25 | Caroline Sax (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 75 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
| 26 | Zarja Cernilogar (Slo) | 70 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
| 27 | Jacqueline Harmony (USA) | 65 | Row 26 - Cell 3 |
| 28 | Claire Buchar (Can) | 57 | Row 27 - Cell 3 |
| 29 | Alia Marcellini (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop | 55 | Row 28 - Cell 3 |
| 30 | Jessica Stone (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 50 | Row 29 - Cell 3 |
| 31 | Chloe Gallean° (Fra) Dagg - Racing | 45 | Row 30 - Cell 3 |
| 32 | Martina Bruehlmann (Swi) | 35 | Row 31 - Cell 3 |
| 33 | Sarah Newman (GBr) | 30 | Row 32 - Cell 3 |
| 34 | Fiona Ourdouillie° (Fra) | 25 | Row 33 - Cell 3 |
| 35 | Gabriela Williams (Cze) CG Racing Brigade | 25 | Row 34 - Cell 3 |
| 36 | Carina Cappellari (Swi) | 20 | Row 35 - Cell 3 |
| 37 | Lauren Rosser (Can) | 20 | Row 36 - Cell 3 |
| 38 | Elke Rabeder (Aut) | 15 | Row 37 - Cell 3 |
| 39 | Tamara Maria Ulrich (Aut) | 15 | Row 38 - Cell 3 |
| 40 | Jana Bartova (Cze) | 10 | Row 39 - Cell 3 |
| 41 | Jaime Hill (Can) | 10 | Row 40 - Cell 3 |
| 42 | Jaime Rees (USA) | 5 | Row 41 - Cell 3 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | Header Cell - Column 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GT Factory Racing | 463 | pts |
| 2 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 347 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | MS Mondraker Team | 346 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Trek World Racing | 289 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Lapierre International | 280 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Devinci Global Racing | 276 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Hutchinson United Ride | 255 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Scott11 | 238 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 231 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 201 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Monster Energy-Specialized | 179 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 133 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 127 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | SC-Intense | 86 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 83 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Team Norco International | 82 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 78 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Passion Velo.Fr | 74 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| 19 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 67 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
| 20 | Kona | 45 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
| 21 | CG Racing Brigade | 37 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
| 22 | Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 35 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
| 23 | Topcycle By Trek | 32 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
| 24 | Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 28 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
| 25 | Pila-BlaCK Arrows-MTB Herin School Asd | 20 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
| 26 | CK Racing Santacruz | 17 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
| 27 | Unior Tools Team | 11 | Row 26 - Cell 3 |
| 28 | Torpado Surfing Shop | 10 | Row 27 - Cell 3 |
| 29 | Dagg - Racing | 9 | Row 28 - Cell 3 |
| 30 | Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 9 | Row 29 - Cell 3 |
| 31 | Dirt Norco Race Team | 4 | Row 30 - Cell 3 |
| 32 | Ghost Factory Racing Team | Row 31 - Cell 2 | Row 31 - Cell 3 |
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