August 23, 2014 (Meribel, France) – The final round of the 2014 UCI MTB World Cup DH series at the new venue in Meribel, France featured exciting down-to-the-wire racing as Samuel Hill (Aus) Chain Reaction Cycles.Com / Nukeproof and Rachel Atherton (Gbr) GT Factory Racing claimed the day’s victories while Josh Bryceland (Gbr) Santa Cruz Syndicate and Manon Carpenter (Gbr) Madison Saracen Factory Team were declared the overall series winners.

The brand new track here in Meribel was steep, technical and fast. Many people have called it the track of the year, and even potentially one of the best downhill tracks of all time. With dusty conditions, the course was as fast and loose as racers have seen all season.

The pressure was on Carpenter to hold her own as her lead in the overall standings was within striking distance if she had a bad day at the office. Tahnee Seagrave (Gbr) FMD Racing put in strong bid but Tracey Hannah (Aus) Hutchinson UR took over the lead only to see Emmeline Ragot (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic set the time to beat.

Carpenter’s solid ride put her just behind Ragot as Atherton made no mistake in claiming the final World Cup ending up second to Carpenter in the final standings with Ragot third.

Canada’s Casey Brown (Bergamont Hayes), who had a strong qualification run in 7th ended up 9th as the top Canuck with reigning Canadian champ, Vaea Verbeeck (Intense) placing 11th. Micayla Gatto (Pivot DH), still nursing her injured hip, was the top Canuck overall in 10th with Brown 11th and Verbeeck 13th.

“I’m really happy to win the overall,” said Carpenter. “It’s a great track and I was trying to enjoy it and was a bit careful knowing it was tight. It’s great to be consistent all season with this win.”

With dark skies threatening all morning, by the time the top 30 Elite men dropped the sky had gone blue and the tens of thousands of French fans were out in force. They were just as loud for the French racers as they were for the superstars of the sport, and Hill heard the cheers as he dropped into the last minute of the track, which was almost all in the open within sight of the finish.

Taped wide from top to bottom, there were line choices all over the place, something that Hill is renowned for. Being able to be creative is the hallmark of champion DH racers, and the 5-time World Champion has it in spades. The master of the inside line and World Cup veteran proved he more than has what it takes to teach the kids a lesson.

Gee Atherton (Gbr) GT Factory Racing was the first to go under 4:20 as Danny Hart (Gbr) Giant Factory Off-Road Team and  Aaron Gwin (USA) Specialized Racing DH came close but fell short.

Hill smashed thru with an unbeatable time of 3:16.372 as Loic Bruni (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic took over second but got bumped by a Bryceland. Matthew Simmonds (Gbr) Madison Saracen Factory Team aced his run for second as Hill was untouchable for win with Bryceland taking the series title.

The lone Canadians to make the final were Mark Wallace (Devinci Global Racing) who placed 32nd and Kyle Sangers who finished in 53rd.

“This feels awesome. I’ve been feeling nervous all day for some reason, I think it was just about the run I wanted to put down,” said Hill. “I stayed on the track and nothing felt sketchy or out of control. At the second split I could hear something was going on, so I knew to hang it out in the grass turns.

“It was lucky I did! I’m stoked to get the win and take this momentum into Worlds. Yesterday I was doing pretty good at the second split in qualies and lost a bit at the bottom., so I changed some things up and just held her open at the bottom and got a little loose.”

Bryceland was stoked with his first overall title. “I was ok at the start but then I started to get a bit nervous and wasn’t taking my lines well. I’ve been over this day many times so to end up third and take home the overall… I’m pretty happy.”

Loris Vergier (Fra) Lapierre Gravity Republic took home the win and overall title for the junior men. Top-ranked Luca Shaw (USA) SRAM/TLD Racing ended up 5th as he spent the weekend nursing an elbow injury sustained in training and finished 2nd overall.  Canada’s Jack Iles (Evil Vengeance Tour) placed 8th in Meribel to finish a strong 5th overall.

The downhill caravan now takes a short break before heading to Hafjell, Norway for the DH World Championships in 2 weeks time.

Full results here.