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Hill, Jonnier repeat world titles in Fort William

by VeloNews.com

• September 09, 2007
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By Fred Dreier

Australian Sam Hill and Frenchwoman Sabrina Jonnier successfully defended their world downhill titles on Sunday, each posting the fastest run down Fort William’s famously rocky, technical track. Hill squeaked by 2004-05 world champ Fabien Barel of France by a mere 0.84 second, while Jonnier enjoyed a wide 4.01-second advantage over Rachel Atherton of Great Britain.

The famously damp Scottish Highlands served up plenty of rain and mist for the final day of the September 3-9 UCI world mountain-bike championships. The worst weather of the weeklong event pounded the Nevis range throughout the day, transforming Fort William’s rock-strewn course into a slippery obstacle course. Strong winds from the south whipped along the upper slopes and sent air-seeking riders skidding off the trail.

“It was horrendous, I got blown away by the wind so many times,” said Finland’s Matti Lehikoinen. “All of the bump holes were getting soft and deep, so the track was running slower than in qualifying.”

Indeed, Hill’s winning time of 4:52.01 was only one second faster than that posted by South African Greg Minnaar in Friday’s qualifying round. Hill opted to take it easy during the qualifying run, and rolled across in 24th place.

“I only had one day of practice and didn’t have any of my lines sorted, so I took it easy,” Hill said. “I didn’t want to have the pressure of qualifying on top.”

But in the finals Hill showed his world-class skills, flying down the course with flawless precision. His splits at the midway time check put him nearly 10 seconds up on the next closest finisher, Pascal Canals. By the end of his run Hill owned a 9.67-second advantage over the Spaniard.

The world’s best gravity racers then took turns trying to best Hill’s time — some came close, most fell extremely short. Steve Peat, the sentimental favorite, crashed and broke his seat off midway down, eventually finishing a disappointing 67th. A 10-year veteran of the sport, Peat had hoped to win his first world title in front of Fort William’s home crowd. But a dislocated foot, suffered six weeks before the competition, stalled his buildup for the world’s.

“The week before this race I was still on crutches — it wasn’t very good,” Peat said. “The British trainer did some amazing work and it felt all right today.”

Barel looked posed to dethrone Hill, hitting Hill’s times at intermediate time checks, but the Frenchman fell just short. The second-place finish marked a best result for Barel, who missed much of the 2006 season with a broken bone in his foot.

“It is all mental and confidence — that’s what gets you to the top,” Barel said. “Right now Sam has all of the confidence for sure.”

It came down to Minnaar, the 2003 world champion. The South African bolted out of the start gate and down Fort William’s top rocky pitches, but crashed before hitting the woods and badly dislocated his left shoulder. Minnaar, 26, has struggled with shoulder dislocations throughout the 2007 season.

Brit Gee Atherton posted the third-fastest time.

Jonnier took her second consecutive world title ahead of youngsters Rachel Atherton (Great Britain) and Tracy Hannah (Australia). The win, Jonnier said, came as a bit of a surprise — the 26-year-old Frenchwoman struggled during the week leading up to the finals, and despite giving her best in qualifying, the reigning world champ only managed to post the fifth fastest time.

“I was super nervous — I was riding very bad all week,” Jonnier said. “This morning was very bad. Everything was bad. I was too slippy. But in my warm up I could finally find my little world and focus.”

Indeed Jonnier was 20 seconds ahead of Brit Helen Gaskell by the midway point, and took the hot seat with a 22-second advantage on the rest of the women’s field. While Hannah, the 2006 junior world champ, and Atherton came close, they couldn’t catch the Frenchwoman.

But it wasn’t all sweetness and light for Jonnier, who added, “I felt so old on the podium — I am 26 now and [Hannah and Atherton] are both under 20.”

Race notes
Great Britain’s Ruaridh Cunningham won the junior men’s downhill in 5:06:82. Finishing second was American John Swanguen, who posted North America’s top result in downhill events. Swanguen, from San Diego, California, qualified 11th.
France’s Floriane Pugin took the junior women’s downhill in 5:50.18. Katy Curd of Great Britain was second and Myriam Nicole of France third. Anne Laplante of Canada was the top North American woman in sixth.
American Kathy Pruitt was top North American woman in ninth, 24:60 down on Jonnier.

2007 UCI World mountain-bike championships
Fort William, Scotland
September 9, 2007
Downhill
Men
1. Sam Hill (Aus), 4:52.01
2. Fabien Barel (F), 4:52.65
3. Gee Atherton (GB), 4:56.38
4. Greg Minnaar (SA), at 4:59.96
5. Pasqual Canal (Sp), 5:00.25
6. Matti Lehikoinen (Fin), 5:00.93
7. Julien Camellini (F), 5:01.11
8. Florent Payet (F), 5:01.51
9. Sam Blenkinsop (NZ), 5:01.77
10. Dan Atherton (GB), 5:01.99

Women
1. Sabrina Jonnier (F), 5:28.35
2. Rachel Atherton (GB), 5:32.36
3. Tracey Hannah (Aus), 5:39.89
4. Tracy Moseley (GB), 5:47.76
5. Fionn Griffiths (GB), 5:47.76
6. Mio Suemasa (Jpn), at 5:48.62
7. Helen Gaskell (GB), 5:50.43
8. Celine Gros (F), 5:52.85
9. Kathleen Pruitt (USA), 5:52.95
10. Marilelle Saner (Swi), 5:54.22