September 7, 2010 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC) – Tracy Moseley (Great Britain) finally captured her first World Cup downhill title at Mont Ste Anne after 15 years of racing at the highest level. Under overcast skies with on and off drizzle, Moseley decimated the competition, finishing 7.5 seconds ahead of second placed Sabrina Jonnier (France). Her time of 5:17.47 seconds was the time to beat as she crossed the line, and none of the other women were even able to come close as the Brit put the power down.

“This season I’ve not been racing as well as I’ve been practicing but this morning I just put all those thoughts away and focused on the day. It’s been a long time coming and it’s awesome to win – it feels absolutely amazing,” said the 31-year-old Moseley who topped the official timed sessions earlier in the week by 1.3 seconds

Jonnier took home the silver, while compatriot and defending champion Emmeline Ragot finished in third. The top Canadian in 9th was Claire Buchar, who has been riding with a broken wrist since the Windham World Cup. Fellow Canuck Micayla Gatto suffered a flat tire and had to roll down the track to a disappointing 21st finish. Rebecca McQueen and Miranda Miller slide into 22 and 23rd spots, also suffering from mechanicals and crashes.

Full Elite Women’s results and more photos here.

Elite Men’s DH Report

Australian Sam Hill capped off an impressive return from injury as he captured the coveted rainbow stripes in the Elite Men’s Downhill final on Sunday at Mont Ste-Anne, the final event of the 2010 MTB Worlds. The Aussie suffered after a string of crashes that caused extensive injuries to his knees and shoulder this season, forcing him to sit out most of the World Cup stops.

“This feels unreal – I didn’t expect it. Last year the course wasn’t the best for me, only giving me an outside chance. The year before I gave it away falling down, so that was two chances I missed out on,” said Hill. The Aussie has always done well at MSA and this year was no exception.

“The course here suits me and I’ve done well here since the WCup in 2001. I’m pretty excited to come back after all of the injuries and stuff I’ve had this year and win,” added Hill. He had knee reconstruction and tore three ligaments in his shoulder early in the season. “I was actually pretty devastated after practice this morning, I felt pretty slow and didn’t think I’d have a pretty good chance at it.  Sitting in the hot seat and watching rider after rider come down was pretty awesome.”

For Canada’s Smith winning the silver was a fairy tale end to a season that saw him land his first World Cup podium on the previous weekend at Val di Sole and finish 10th overall in the WCup series. His second place finish was Canada’s best World Championships Elite men’s DH result ever as the Vancouver Island rider was just 2.63 seconds back from the legendary Hill.

“Second at Worlds… my run was good but I nearly died near the bottom,” said an elated Smith, “I had a little front wheel loose-age and almost crashed near the end. After that I was excited just to finish. I wasn’t expecting a podium whatsoever. I just sat there waiting and watching guys go through, it turned out to be second place. I’m pretty stoked!”

Smith had crashed earlier in training and was suffering from a torn ACL in his right shoulder but worked with his trainer to keep it stable for race day. “My trainer is great and helped me a lot. There was still some pain but I blocked it out once I started my run. It’s a great course at MSA, fun with lots of variety and it’s cool to see the Canadians moving up,” said Smith referring as well to Lauren Rosser’s gold in the Junior Women’s DH competition.

“This is a real confidence booster and I’ll be shooting to be on the podium much more next season,” he added.

Full Elite Men’s results and more photos here.