Atherton wins Val d'Isere downhill World Cup

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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.

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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.

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