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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GT Factory Racing | 99 | pts |
| 2 | MS Mondraker Team | 87 | |
| 3 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 81 | |
| 4 | Scott11 | 50 | |
| 5 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 42 | |
| 6 | Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 38 | |
| 7 | Lapierre International | 36 | |
| 8 | Devinci Global Racing | 31 | |
| 9 | Trek World Racing | 28 | |
| 10 | Hutchinson United Ride | 26 | |
| 11 | Monster Energy-Specialized | 22 | |
| 12 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 22 | |
| 13 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 22 | |
| 14 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 21 | |
| 15 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 18 | |
| 16 | SC-Intense | 15 | |
| 17 | Pila-BlaCK Arrows-MTB Herin School Asd | 14 | |
| 18 | Passion Velo.Fr | 12 | |
| 19 | Dagg - Racing | 9 | |
| 20 | Kona | 9 | |
| 21 | Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 8 | |
| 22 | Topcycle By Trek | 7 | |
| 23 | CK Racing Santacruz | 6 | |
| 24 | Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 4 | |
| 25 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 3 | |
| 26 | Unior Tools Team | 1 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rachel Atherton (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 1200 | pts |
| 2 | Emmeline Ragot (Fra) MS Mondraker Team | 1120 | |
| 3 | Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal / Riding Addiction | 892 | |
| 4 | Tracey Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson United Ride | 732 | |
| 5 | Emilie Siegenthaler (Swi) Scott11 | 705 | |
| 6 | Floriane Pugin (Fra) Scott11 | 500 | |
| 7 | Manon Carpenter (GBr) Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 425 | |
| 8 | Petra Bernhard (Aut) Alpine Commencal Austria | 402 | |
| 9 | Morgane Charre (Fra) Passion Velo.Fr | 381 | |
| 10 | Anita Molcik (Aut) | 380 | |
| 11 | Jill Kintner (USA) Team Norco International | 363 | |
| 12 | Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 239 | |
| 13 | Miriam Ruchti (Swi) SC-Intense | 232 | |
| 14 | Mio Suemasa (Jpn) | 230 | |
| 15 | Micayla Gatto (Can) | 221 | |
| 16 | Miranda Miller (Can) | 140 | |
| 17 | Tracy Moseley (GBr) | 124 | |
| 18 | Fionn Griffiths (GBr) | 115 | |
| 19 | Casey Brown (Can) | 95 | |
| 20 | Tahnee Seagrave° (GBr) | 90 | |
| 21 | Céline Gros (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 90 | |
| 22 | Luana Maria De Souza Oliveira (Bra) | 84 | |
| 23 | Mélanie Pugin (Fra) Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 75 | |
| 24 | Harriet Rucknagel (Ger) | 75 | |
| 25 | Caroline Sax (Fra) Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 75 | |
| 26 | Zarja Cernilogar (Slo) | 70 | |
| 27 | Jacqueline Harmony (USA) | 65 | |
| 28 | Claire Buchar (Can) | 57 | |
| 29 | Alia Marcellini (Ita) Torpado Surfing Shop | 55 | |
| 30 | Jessica Stone (GBr) Unior Tools Team | 50 | |
| 31 | Chloe Gallean° (Fra) Dagg - Racing | 45 | |
| 32 | Martina Bruehlmann (Swi) | 35 | |
| 33 | Sarah Newman (GBr) | 30 | |
| 34 | Fiona Ourdouillie° (Fra) | 25 | |
| 35 | Gabriela Williams (Cze) CG Racing Brigade | 25 | |
| 36 | Carina Cappellari (Swi) | 20 | |
| 37 | Lauren Rosser (Can) | 20 | |
| 38 | Elke Rabeder (Aut) | 15 | |
| 39 | Tamara Maria Ulrich (Aut) | 15 | |
| 40 | Jana Bartova (Cze) | 10 | |
| 41 | Jaime Hill (Can) | 10 | |
| 42 | Jaime Rees (USA) | 5 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GT Factory Racing | 463 | pts |
| 2 | Santa Cruz Syndicate | 347 | |
| 3 | MS Mondraker Team | 346 | |
| 4 | Trek World Racing | 289 | |
| 5 | Lapierre International | 280 | |
| 6 | Devinci Global Racing | 276 | |
| 7 | Hutchinson United Ride | 255 | |
| 8 | Scott11 | 238 | |
| 9 | Giant Factory Off-Road Team | 231 | |
| 10 | Commencal / Riding Addiction | 201 | |
| 11 | Monster Energy-Specialized | 179 | |
| 12 | Labyrinth Shimano Racing Team | 133 | |
| 13 | Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof | 127 | |
| 14 | SC-Intense | 86 | |
| 15 | Madison Saracen Downhill Team | 83 | |
| 16 | Team Norco International | 82 | |
| 17 | Alpine Commencal Austria | 78 | |
| 18 | Passion Velo.Fr | 74 | |
| 19 | Yeti Fox Shox Factory Race Team | 67 | |
| 20 | Kona | 45 | |
| 21 | CG Racing Brigade | 37 | |
| 22 | Team Morzine - Avoriaz / Haute - Savoie | 35 | |
| 23 | Topcycle By Trek | 32 | |
| 24 | Team Lac Blanc / Solid / Batibois Alsace | 28 | |
| 25 | Pila-BlaCK Arrows-MTB Herin School Asd | 20 | |
| 26 | CK Racing Santacruz | 17 | |
| 27 | Unior Tools Team | 11 | |
| 28 | Torpado Surfing Shop | 10 | |
| 29 | Dagg - Racing | 9 | |
| 30 | Team Are Bikepark By W-Racing | 9 | |
| 31 | Dirt Norco Race Team | 4 | |
| 32 | Ghost Factory Racing Team |
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