UCI Mountain Bike World Cup: top downhill riders extend their series leads. The crowd-pleasing downhill competitions rounded off the the Mont-Sainte-Anne leg of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano. Both Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) and Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing), the men's and women's leaders in the World Cup, won their respective events in the Quebec resort, padding their leads after this fourth round. Moseley took her third win of the season to extend her lead in the overall women's standings to 140 points. Moseley, who had qualified first by an impressive 11.5 seconds, had more of a battle on her hands in the final, with second-ranked Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) finishing 1.850 seconds behind. Rachel Atherton (Commençal) finished third. "I've definitely got good memories from Mont-Sainte-Anne, when I won [the world title] here last year," commented Moseley. "But the course changed completely yesterday after it had been so wet all week. It had some big holes and was possibly the roughest Mont Sainte-Anne I have ever raced. It's really great to get the win here again, but it's the same top three every race, so I can't count on the title yet." Moseley now has 910 points to Pugin's 770, with Atherton in third at 580 points. Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) continues to lead the Junior World Cup, with 200 points. The Men's downhill was expected to be a battle between current leader Gwin from the United States and second-placed Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), who was only 36 points back. Minnaar had qualified first and Gwin second, and the rider who won the final would don the leader's jersey. Unfortunately, Minnaar crashed during his run, which derailed his attempt to take the jersey, while Gwin extended his lead with his third win of the season. Josh Bryceland (Santa Cruz Syndicate), the third fastest qualifier, took silver, with Brook MacDonald (MS Evil), one of the revelations of the season, finishing third. Troy Brosnan (Monster Energy/Specialized/Mad Catz) was the top Junior, in sixth place overall. Gwin tried to put the pressure of the World Cup lead out of his mind for the final. "My qualifying run didn't go as well as I hoped it would, so I was focused on not making any mistakes and riding like I knew I could. I know at this point that if I put a good one together I should be right up there, so I just focused on doing that. Minus one massive mistake at the top, I think I did that, so it was good." Gwin now has 868 points, followed by Minnaar with 695, and then Gee Atherton at 547. Brosnan continues to lead the Junior World Cup standings with 314 points. UCI Mountain Bike World Cup: four-cross series leaders secure their positions. With just one round of the four-cross World Cup remaining, Anneke Beerten (Milka-Trek) and Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) have mathematically tied up their titles for the 2011 edition of the series. In Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, at the weekend, both athletes took their third win in the fourth round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano. Beerten easily dominated the small women's field. By the second corner in both her semi-final and the final, the Dutch rider was well in front of her rivals, and was the only woman to attempt the big jump halfway down the circuit. American Melissa Buhl won the second semifinal, and finished second to Beerten in the final, with Fionn Griffiths (Team GR) taking third. Beerten, with three wins and a third, has 350 points, 160 points ahead of second-placed Buhl. A win is worth 100 points. "I felt so much better here than in Leogang [where she finished third], said Beerten. "Here I just felt that I could pull it together and have some amazing runs. After so many World Cups, I still get pretty nervous, so to win and get the overall title as well makes it a perfect day." Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) was once again unstoppable in the men's four-cross. In each of his four races to victory, he held a significant lead by the first corner, and extended it as he headed to the finish line. Switzerland's Roger Rinderknecht, the only rider other than Graves to win a World Cup this season, finished second to Graves in the final, with Guido Tschugg (Ghost Factory) taking third and Joost Wichman (RSP 4 Cross) fourth. Graves has won the men's overall title with one event remaining. Even if he does not start the final event and Rinderknecht wins, the two will be tied on points at 425. However, Graves would have the advantage as he has three wins to Rinderknecht's two. "I actually felt pretty tired at the start of practice," commented Graves, "but every round I got better, and I ended the day in my semi and final with two solid runs down the hill. So I'm pumped to get the win after last year [when he lost the World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne]."

• published: 02 Aug 2011
• views: 27392