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LIVE: 2010 UCI Mountain Bike World R4 Cup Champery
2010 Mountain Bike Coverage Home | 2010 UCI MTB World Cup Overall Standings | Start Lists
REPORT: DOWNHILL
Result: Men | Women Series Standing: Men | Women
Gee Atherton has taken his second World Cup Downhill of the season and closed the gap to series leader Greg Minnaar to just 13 points.
In wheel-deep mud Champery the steepest track of the season was transformed from a river in qualifying to wet cement in the race. Living up to its unique nature on its return to the World Cup circuit big time gaps gave an indication of what's to come when Switzerland hosts the 2011 World Championships.
For Atherton it was a significant comeback from the British Championships one week previous. Held in similarly muddy conditions, Atherton was comprehensively beat by Steve Peat, but seven days on it was role-reversal; Peat unable to conquer the severe Champery slopes, finishing in eighteenth.
For Atherton the significance of the weekend was proven as the overall standings were released; Greg Minnaar experiencing a bad weekend, losing points in qualification and the race, and setting up a thrilling battle for the next round in Val di Sol - the stage for Atherton's World Championship win in 2008.
British riders filled three spots of the top ten after racing; Brendan Fairclough third, conceding two seconds in the lowest sections where strong pedalling was demanded, after running in second position in the opening splits.
Ruaridh Cunningham finished tenth in one of his best performances since becoming Junior World Champion in 2007.
Emmeline Ragot proved her World Champion status winning round four of the Downhill World Cup at Champery. On a track so muddy some of the women struggled to get the wheels turning, Ragot was top of a podium filled with four French riders. Second-placed Sabrina Jonnier retained the overall lead in the series, while Tracy Moseley was the top placed Brit in fifth. Manon Carpenter finished sixth in another best-ever result confirming her lead in the Junior standings and an interesting progression into the senior ranks.
REPORT: CROSS COUNTRY
Result: Men | Women | Junior Men Series Standing: Men | Women
Florian Vogel and Nathalie Schneitter were the winners as the cross country World Cup resumed in Champery, Switzerland for round four of the Series.
While British rider Annie Last seems to have overcome her post-Dalby blues to finish 26th in Champery, that's where the good news ended for senior British riders. In the men's race Liam Killeen did not start, Oli Beckingsale did not finish and David Fletcher slipped from 66th on lap one to 86th on his final lap, pulled with two to go on the 80% rule.
The redeeming moment of the weekend for British XC fans came in the shape of first year Junior Grant Ferguson, who finished an exceptional fourth in the under-18s World Cup, only a minute down on winner Julian Schleb.
From Champery the riders travel to Italy for the penultimate round of the 2010 World Cup Series which takes place next weekend.
PREVIEW
Freecaster will be broadcasting the latest round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup this weekend live from Champery, Switzerland. Renowned for the technical XC course and steepest ever downhill track (home of the famous Sam Hill incident in 2007), Champery will be the first chance for National Champions to show off their new jerseys - including Britain's Liam Killeen, Annie Last, Steve Peat and Jess Stone.
DOWNHILL
With six Brits in the top twenty of the men's World Cup standings and the halfway marker passed, Champery could act as a decider for the series. An unpredictable local climate and the nature of the track all conspire toward a showdown between current Series leader Greg Minnaar and second-placed Gee Atherton. Brendan Fairclough will be looking to improve his sixth in the overall, while Steve Peat is after his first podium since his World Championships win in September 2009.
Similarly, Tracy Moseley is looking to get her season back on track after a string of good, if not great results. She elected to sit out the British Championships in favour of preparing for the World Cup, leaving Jess Stone to carry the red and while bands in Switzerland. Meanwhile Rachel Atherton is still working hard to return to full fitness after dislocating her shoulder at the last round in Leogang. Junior Manon Carpenter goes into the World Cup as the only Brit with a leaders' jersey and it'll be interesting to see if she can again qualify for the main race to further extend her lead.
CROSS COUNTRY
Oli Beckingsale, Liam Killeen, Dave Fletcher, Lee Williams and Seb Batchelor travel to Champery to represent the British XC scene. Beckinsale has the highest gridding in fiftieth and will be looking to improve on that prior to the World Championships in September. Killeen also sits in the fifties, representing his best recent start position.
Annie Last and Lily Matthews both ride the women's race and on encouraging recent form it could be a return to the kind of exceptional results we saw at round one, Dalby.
Three British Cycling-supported Juniors also line up - Steve James, Kenta Gallagher and Grant Ferguson.
