September 3, 2005 — France’s Fabien Barel (FRA) defended his World Championship title today in the elite men’s downhill race. He won the rainbow jersey at last year’s World’s in Les Gets, France.

Barel, who placed 34th in the seeding run, pulled it together for the final, setting the time to beat, 3:54.77. Nobody could kick the Frenchman out of the hot seat, not even heavy hitters Samuel Hill (AUS) and Greg Minnaar (RSA), who placed second and third, respectively.

Hill clocked the fastest seeding run with a time of 3:58.49, but Barel shattered it by nearly four seconds it in the final.

Charles-Alexandre Dube (CAN) logged the best Canadian result with 50th place. Justin Brown (CAN) was 64th, National Champion Tyler Morland (CAN) was 72nd, Luke Kitzanuk (CAN) placed 77th and Louis-Philippe Leonard (CAN) ended up 88th.

Results

1. Fabien Barel (FRA) 3:54.77
2. Samuel Hill (AUS) at 0.77
3. Greg Minnaar (RSA) 3.02
4. Steve Peat (GBR) 3.37
5. Gee Atherton (GBR) 7.21
6. Karim Amour (FRA) 7.82
7. Bryn Atkinson (AUS) 8.47
8. Cedric Gracia (FRA) 8.74
9. Nathan Rankin (NZL) 8.84
10. Marc Beaumont (GBR) 8.85
Canadians:
50. Charles-Alexandre Dube (CAN) 21.68
64. Justin Brown (CAN) 27.43
72. Tyler Morland (CAN) 29.60
77. Luke Kitzanuk (CAN) 30.95
88. Louis-Philippe Leonard (CAN) 42.80