June 26, 2007 (Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec) — Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Iron Horse/Monster Energy and Samuel Hill (Aus) Iron Horse/Monster Energy were simply the best under the hot sun on Sunday at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec. The beast of a downhill course that is Ste-Anne had been tamed this year when organizers decided to remove some of the notorious rock gardens at the top of the course. Replacing them was a high speed sidewalk with bermed corners that blasted it’s way through the woods, taking both speeds, and risks, upwards.

Jonnier continued her near domination of the UCI World Cup Downhill circuit this year, flying down the course with a time of 5:04.45, over one second faster than her closest rival Tracy Moseley (Gbr) Kona/Les Gets. Moseley was Jonnier only other real competition on the day, as 3rd place rider Emmiline Ragot (Fra) was 9.06 seconds off the lead. Jonnier’s time would have ranked her 60th in the men’s field, a notable accomplishment.

The Canadian women were down on their luck as several of them suffered mechanical difficulties and crashes. “I crashed hard and went way off course, when I got back up I realized I had a flat,” Micayla Gatto of Rocky Mountain/Haywood explained. Gatto still managed to finish 21st while the top Canadian was Sheila Morris (Gravitesse) in 17th place.

Men’s Race

On the men’s side of things, Hill continued to impress this season in his bid to take both the World Cup title, as well as defend his rainbow stripes. Hill took second place in morning qualifying runs, and mentioned that he missed some lines in the high speed sections up top, which cost him some time. Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate was the top qualifier on the new Ste-Anne course, which many competitors thought gave a slight advantage to the larger, more powerful riders who can carry speed through the uppers sections.

Come the finals and Hill proved that he truly is untouchable as of late. Coming down second to last, he stopped the clock at 4:29.58, ahead of Greg MInnaar (RSA) and Peat by 1.69 seconds. Minnaar lost precious time in the woods when his shoulder dislocated on course once again, and again had to be reset while riding.

“I didn’t feel as strong here as Champery,” Hill commented. “Coming back here and getting the win is a big confidence booster. I said I’d be happy to come out of here second behind Steve, so to win it, that’s awesome”.

Hill also mentioned that he felt the new changes, although being fun to ride, put him at a slight disadvantage. “I preferred the older style, the rocks and the roots. I can’t complain on winning it though. I think it helped the bigger guys that can carry speed through some of the corners.”

The Canadian men had a better day than the women, with Jeff Beatty (Mojo Orange) the top Canuck in 27th. Last year Beatty sufferred a mechanical in qualifiers that took him out of the competition. “This year went much better, I am super happy. I think this means I have the best results at the DH World Cup this year for Canadian riders. I hope this gets me back on the National Team,” he said excitedly.

Results

Elite Women

1. Sabrina Jonnier (Fra) Iron Horse / Monster Energy 5.04.5
2. Tracy Moseley (GBr) Kona Les Gets 0.02.3
3. Emmeline Ragot (Fra) 0.12.4
4. Tracey Hannah (Aus) Orange
5. Céline Gros (Fra) 0.14.3
6. Melissa Buhl (USA) 0.18.6
7. Helen Gaskell (GBr) 0.20.7
8. Vanessa Quin (NZl) Ms-Intense Factory-Racing 0.23.2
9. Mio Suemasa (Jpn) 0.23.7
10. Lisa Myklak (USA) 0.33.7
11. Daniela Bossard (Swi) 0.35.7
12. Joanna Pettersen (RSA) 0.36.7
13. Helene Fruhwirth (Aut) 0.40.4
14. Jennifer Makgill (NZl) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team 0.41.2
15. Anja Rees Jones (GBr) Stendec Racing 0.49.9
16. Fionn Griffiths (GBr) Norco 0.50.6
17. Sheila Morris (Can) Gravitesse 0.52.5
18. Elisa Canepa (Ita) Playbiker – Iron Horse 0.52.6
19. Mylene-Kim Fortier (Can) 1.18.0
20. Marielle Saner (Swi) Bikepark.Ch Tui 1.37.6
21. Micayla Gatto (Can) Rocky Mountain/Haywood 1.50.2
22. Jessica Vogt (USA) 1.52.9
23. Amy Laird (NZl) 1.57.2
24. Claudia Paquin (Can) 2.03.0
DSQ Claire Buchar (Can) Specialized
DNF Scarlett Hagen (NZl)
DNF Amelia Colasurdo (USA)

Elite Men

1. Samuel Hill (Aus) Iron Horse / Monster Energy 4.29.6 38.19
2. Greg Minnaar (RSA) Team G-Cross Honda 0.01.7
3. Steve Peat (GBr) Santa Cruz Syndicate
4. Matti Lehikoinen (Fin) Team G-Cross Honda 0.03.4
5. Fabien Barel (Fra) Kona Les Gets 0.05.0 38.02
6. Nathan Rennie (Aus) Santa Cruz Syndicate 0.05.1
7. Justin Leov (NZl) 0.07.7 39.02
8. Marc Beaumont (GBr) Team Mbuk Santacruz 0.08.5 40.06
9. Mickael Pascal (Fra) Q By Saab-Salomon 0.09.7
10. Michael Hannah (Aus) Cannondale The Cut 0.09.9
11. Fabien Pedemanaud (Fra) 0.10.3
12. Julien Camellini (Fra) Mojo Orange 0.10.9 39.54
13. Brendan Fairclough (GBr) Team G-Cross Honda 0.11.3
14. Gee Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal
15. Luke Strobel (USA) 0.11.4
16. Bernat Guardia Pascual (Spa) MSC Bikes 0.13.8
17. Jurgen Beneke (Ger) 0.14.3
18. David Vazquez Lopez (Spa) MSC Bikes 0.14.4
19. Florent Payet (Fra) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team 0.14.9
20. Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl) Gravity Group 0.15.5
21. Andrew Neethling (RSA) 0.15.8
22. Filip Polc (Svk) Gravity Group 0.16.2 40.03
23. Dan Stanbridge (GBr) Mojo Orange 0.16.4 40.05
24. Jared Graves (Aus) 42.18
25. Joris Bigoni (Fra) 0.16.7
26. Amiel Cavalier (Aus) Giant Mountain Bike Team 0.16.8 41.06
27. Jeff Beatty (Can) Mojo Orange 0.17.3
28. Dan Atherton (GBr) Animal Commencal 0.17.4
29. Ivan Oulego Moreno (Spa) Massi
30. Pasqual Canals Flix (Spa) Massi 0.17.7
31. Ben Cathro (GBr) 0.17.8
32. Nico Vink (Bel) Dolphin Bike Team 0.18.9
33. Matthew Simmonds (GBr) 0.19.1
34. Damien Spagnolo (Fra) Q By Saab-Salomon
35. Antoine Badouard (Fra) 0.19.2
36. Herman Olund (Swe) 0.19.5
37. Duncan Riffle (USA) 0.19.7
38. Ben Reid (Irl) 0.19.9
39. Joel Bain (Aus) 0.21.0
40. James Maltman (Aus) Ssangyong-Fusion Pro Team 0.21.1
41. Neil Donoghue (GBr) Team Mbuk Santacruz 0.21.2
42. Samuel Zbinden (Swi) 0.21.6
43. Mitchell Delfs (Aus) 0.22.1
44. Alan Beggin (Ita)
45. Hans Lambert (Can) 0.22.6
46. Will Longden (GBr) Team Mbuk Santacruz 0.23.4
47. Ruaridh Cunningham (GBr) 0.23.6
48. Luke Kitzanuk (Can) Giant 0.23.7
49. Julius Syvanen (Fin)
50. Charles-Alexandre Dube (Can) Cove 0.24.4
51. Chris Ball (GBr) 0.24.7
52. Robin Wallner (Swe) 0.24.9
53. Espen Johnsen (Nor) 0.25.4
54. Cole Bangert (USA) 0.25.8
55. Jonty Neethling (RSA) 0.26.6
56. Christopher Van Dine (USA) Cannondale The Cut 0.26.8
57. Dominik Gspan (Swi) 0.27.8
58. Tyler Morland (Can) Cove 0.28.6
59. Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze) Kona Les Gets 0.28.7
60. Nicola Casadei (Smr) 0.30.0
61. Mathieu Troquier (Fra) 0.30.9
62. Elias Somvi (Ita) Playbiker – Iron Horse 0.31.5
63. Pierre Charles Georges (Fra) 0.34.9
64. Chris Hutchens (GBr) 0.35.2
65. Scott Beaumont (GBr) Rocky Mountain Uk 0.38.8
66. Dominick Menard (Can) Giant
67. Mike Haderer (USA) 0.39.3
68. Dave Trumpore (Can) Decline 0.42.2
69. Pablo Bascunan (Chi) 0.42.5
70. Pierre Laurent Bucci (Fra) Playbiker – Iron Horse 0.43.7
71. Geritt Beytagh (USA) 0.44.8
72. Lee Trumpore (USA) Decline 0.45.5
73. Alex Morgan (USA) Decline 0.47.0
74. Yannick Wende (Bol) 0.47.1
75. Scott Papola (USA) 0.50.3
76. Logan Binggeli (USA) 0.51.3
77. Evan Turpen (USA) 0.53.1
78. Marcus Klausmann (Ger) Ghost International Racin 1.45.5
79. Louis-Philippe Leonard (Can) Lama Cycles/Crux 2.28.2
80. Justin Brown (Can) Cycles Solutions 3.47.4
81. Sven Martin (RSA) 4.07.0