Over the weekend, on Saturday, not Sunday, the top riders from all over the downhill world descended (quite literally) on Mont-Sainte-Anne for the 6th race in the season, and once again the results have helped to mix things up.
Unlike last year when it was quite obvious who the winners of the season were going to be after a few rounds, the 2017 World Cup has been a real mix from round 1. Diverse weather, track changes and injuries have all factored in to make this year one of the most unpredictable for some time.
This past weekend, riders hit up Canada, for the Mont-Sainte-Anne round of racing and what started off as quite a dry race, ended up with heavy rain making the already slick rock sections even trickier.
The weather remained fine for the women’s final where Rachel Atherton gave spectators a scare while schooling everyone in how to ride a bike as she managed to stay upright after careening down a particularly rock section and landing almost sideways at two points. Incredibly the World Champ managed to get to the bottom with on two wheels for a 5th place.
It was Tahnee Seagrave though that took the win ahead of Myriam Nicole in second place with Tracey Hannah in a solid 3rd place.
Once the men’s final began the weather was starting to turn, but despite wetter and slicker conditions, riders managed to tackle the Canadian track at impressive speed.
Australian Dean Lucas managed to put in a solid time ahead of the major rain, and many fans believed that the race would be his as racers struggled to get within 10 seconds of Lucas’ time. However, by the time the top riders were ready to hit the hill, it was already evident from a fast ride by Jack Moir that there was still some speed to be found even in the wet.
Greg Minnar looked set to challenge Lucas but an off track excursion showed the South African to be 20 seconds off the pace and ultimately was disqualified for incorrect re-entry on to the track.
Danny Hart managed to pull off a fast wet run, unsurprisingly, for 3rd spot, but it was Aaron Gwin who ultimately took the win with green lights all the way down the mountain and at one point 2 seconds up on the field.
UCI DH World Cup Mont-Sainte-Anne Women’s results
- Tahnée Seagrave: 4m 46.723s
- Myriam Nicole: 4m 52.460s
- Tracey Hannah: 4m 58.779s
- Emilie Siegenthaler: 4m 59.476s
- Rachel Atherton: 4m 59.549s
UCI DH World Cup Mont-Sainte-Anne Men’s results
- Aaron Gwin: 4m 18.426s
- Dean Lucas: 4m 19.484s
- Danny Hart: 4m 19.846s
- Loïc Bruni: 4m 21.684s
- Mike Jones: 4m 21.858s
We don’t have all the highlights from the race, but we do have Gwin’s impressive race run for you to enjoy embedded below:
The next, and final round, of the UCI WC will be held on August 26-27 at Val di Sole in Italy, followed by the World Championships at Cairns, Australia from September 5-10.
