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UCI MTB DH #3 Andorra Finals Elite Women, Men Report, Results, Photos – Jonnier and Peat Score

by Fraser Britton

May 17, 2009 (Vallnord, Andorra) – The skies threatened but the rains held off in Andorra at round 3 of the DH World Cup. Steve Peat (Gbr) Santa Cruz Syndicate took home a historic win, officially becoming the greatest downhill rider of all time by eclipsing Nicolas Vouilloz’s long standing record of 16 wins.

With his 17th victory, Peaty widens his lead on the overall world cup standings. Peaty narrowly beat fellow countrymen Gee Atherton by .02 seconds. Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate took home third. Sam Hill (AUS) Monster Energy-Specialized was up by 1.6 seconds less than 40 seconds into the course when he had a horrendous crash off of the face away drop and ended up 50m away from his landing zone in a snowbank. He walked away unscathed, somehow.

Steve Peat spoke with us at the finish line. “It feels unreal. I didn’t think i was going to win this week. It didn’t feel like a win. Some bobbles and I just didn’t think I was carrying speed good. I knew it’d take some luck and it did with Sam crashing obviously. I think the lack of off season training has helped me get motivated, I had a second kid coming and just put my mind to that instead. I’ve got two kids at home and a beautiful family. I just come and ride my bike now instead of it being the be all and end all.”

Hill was happy to be in one piece after his encounter with the snow. “I’m just happy to be alive after that crash. That was probably the wildest thing I have had happen to me on a bike. Somehow my head missed the stump, the rock next to it and I landed in the snowbank. I had snowflakes all over my goggles and couldn’t see anything. It was wild.”

Top Canadian was Steve Smith (MS Evil) in 10th: “My run went good. I rode nice and safe and had a smooth run. Nothing went super bad and nothing went super run. It was an average clean run and I am happy with it.”

For the women, Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles took the field to school, winning by almost foru seconds. Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center was second and Tracy Moseley (Gbr) Trek taking third. Jonnier was beaming after the race. ” I’m happy again! My run went pretty good. I knew that I could make the difference on the top, it’s my kid of track. So I tried to go pretty fast at the top and tried to stay on my bike in the technical part. I pedaled to the finish and apparently it was good enough. I’ve never won at Fort William, only worlds. It will be a good challenge because Tracy will be pretty pissed off right now and she always does awesome there.”

Canada’s Micayla Gatto (Commencal) was the top Canuck in 13th. “It was pretty good, just a couple of mistakes. I was happy considering how i was riding during the week. I’m safe and in one piece and looking forward to next week – 20th in qualifying and 13th in finals. I was like 13 seconds faster, so that’s just how the week was going.”

Results

Women

1. Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Bicycles 2:41.58
2. Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Suspension Center 2:45.45
3. Tracy Moseley (Gbr) Trek World Racing 2:45.47
4. Céline Gros (Fra) Morzine-Avoriaz 74 2:47.77
5. Myriam Nicole (Fra) 2:48.41
6. Mio Suemasa (Jpn) 2:48.60
7. Floriane Pugin (Fra) Iron Horse-Kenda-Playbiker 2:48.84
8. Melissa Buhl (USA) 2:51.20
9. Fionn Griffiths (Gbr) Norco World Cup 2:53.35
10. Anais Pajot (Fra) Team Sunn 2:55.05
11. Emilie Siegenthaler (Sui) Scott 11 2:55.47
12. Katy Curd (Gbr) 2:57.58
13. Micayla Gatto (Can) Commencal 2:57.77
14. Petra Bernhard (Aut) Ancillotti Doganaccia Racing Team 2:57.91
15. Miranda Miller (Can) 2:59.44
16. Diana Marggraff (Ecu) 3:02.45
17. Claire Buchar (Can) Chain Reaction Cycles/Intense 3:02.99
18. Anita Molcik (Aut) 3:04.42
19. Jessica Stone (Gbr) 2Stage Factory 3:05.84
20. Fanny Lombard (Fra) 3:08.10 26.52

Men (brief)

1. Steve Peat (Gbr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 2:22:05
2. Gee Atherton (Gbr) Animal Commencal 2:22:07
3. Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate 2:23.46
4. Mick Hannah (Aus) GT 2:23.71
5. Justin Leov (NZl) Trek World Racing 2:23.93
6. Nick Beer (Swi) Scott 11 2:24.00
7. Brendan Fairclough (Gbr) Monster Energy/Specialized/Mad Catz 2:24.06
8. Bryn Atkinson (Gbr) 2:25.26
9. Josh Bryceland (Gbr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 2:25.39
10. Steve Smith (Can) MS Evil Racing 2:25.40





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