The 2006 UCI MTB World Cup has concluded, with the final round of the DH, XC and 4X competitions taking place at Schladming, Austria.
Going in to the final round, British riders Steve Peat and Tracy Moseley both had comfortable, but not totally secure, leads in the overall standings. Neither had to win to take the World Cup title, but neither could afford to do too badly either.
It wasn't going to be easy for any of the competitors - the Schladming course drops 600m over its 2.1km length by way of lots and lots of corners linked by rutted straights.
In both men's and women's categories, the recently-crowned World Champions showed just why they have rainbow jerseys - Sabrina Jonnier won the women's race and Sam Hill the men's. Tracy Moseley took third on the day, more than good enough to take the overall title.
Steve Peat had, for him, a slow day, only managing 13th. But again, with plenty of points in hand he still ended the day as World Cup Champion, 38 points clear of Hill. Top-placed British rider at Schladming was Brendan Fairclough, taking fifth for (we think) his first World Cup podium.
All of which shows once again that British riders are really quite good in downhill. Not only are both World Cup Champions Brits, but there were plenty of others near the top of the standings. Gee Atherton made it on to the overall podium in fifth, while in the women's competition there were three Brits in the top five, with Rachel Atherton third and Helen Gaskell fifth.
Results
DH6 - Men
- 1. HILL Samuel 3:49.83
- 2. RENNIE Nathan 3:55.34
- 3. MINNAAR Greg 3:55.38
- 4. LEHIKOINEN Matti 3:56.19
- 5. FAIRCLOUGH Brendan 3:56.36
Other Brits
- 7. BEAUMONT Marc 3:56.95
- 8. ATHERTON Gee 3:58.62
- 13. PEAT Steve 4:01.87
- 17. ATHERTON Dan 4:03.48
- 18. DONOGHUE Neil 4:04.16
- 28. BRAITHWAITE Thomas 4:07.85
- 30. JONES Ralph 4:08.04
- 31. SORRELL Rowen 4:08.38
- 33. DEACON Tom 4:09.13
- 34. MARSHALL Luke 4:09.16
- 37. CHEETHAM Richard 4:09.96
- 41. CUNNINGHAM Ruaridh 4:10.48
- 41. STOCK Alex 4:10.48
- 44. STANBRIDGE Dan 4:11.25
- 51. BALL Chris 4:12.66
- 53. CHEETHAM Jonathan 4:13.37
- 54. WARDELL Dave 4:13.52
- 63. CRITCHLOW Daniel 4:16.08
- 67. BERTRAM Lee 4:16.98
- 69. ASTON Paul 4:17.43
- 71. HARPER Dan 4:20.15
- 74. LAMB Fergus 4:22.72
- 77. BARNES Joe 4:44.29
- 79. HUGHES James 5:37.31
DH Men - Overall
- 1. PEAT Steve 974
- 2. HILL Samuel 936
- 3. MINNAAR Greg 890
- 4. RENNIE Nathan 809
- 5. ATHERTON Gee 758
Other British
- 7. BEAUMONT Marc 691
- 16. ATHERTON Dan 283
- 22. DONOGHUE Neil 212
- 25. FAIRCLOUGH Brendan 177
- 35. WARDELL Dave 90
- 41. STANBRIDGE Dan 79
- 42. BRAITHWAITE Thomas 78
- 48. BALL Chris 53
- 50. SORRELL Rowen 43
- 52. LONGDEN Will 42
- 54. BERTRAM Lee 40
- 60. DEACON Tom 29
- 62. JONES Ralph 27
- 67. MARSHALL Luke 23
- 70. CATHRO Ben 21
- 77. CUNNINGHAM Ruaridh 15
- 78. CHEETHAM Richard 14
- 103. THOMAS Richard 5
- 111. LAMB Fergus 3
- 115. PINCHER Lee 2
DH Women
- 1. JONNIER Sabrina 4:33.43
- 2. RAGOT Emmeline 4:33.84
- 3. MOSELEY Tracy 4:39.30
- 4. GASKELL Helen 4:41.11
- 5. ATHERTON Rachel 4:44.46
Other British
- 11. GRIFFITHS Fionn 4:58.58
- 20. CANN Calamaty Jayne 5:22.78
- 24. HORRIDGE Emily 5:49.63
DH Women - Overall
- 1. MOSELEY Tracy 1263
- 2. JONNIER Sabrina 1205
- 3. ATHERTON Rachel 1020
- 4. RAGOT Emmeline 907
- 5. GASKELL Helen 674
Other British
- 9. GRIFFITHS Fionn 485
- 24. CANN Calamaty Jayne 92
- 30. HORRIDGE Emily 73
- 31. CONWAY Maria 71
- 51. REES-JONES Anja 37
Fraser Cook
