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Mountain Bike World Championships - CM
Fort William, Scotland, September 4-9, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Race Next Race
Race 16 - September 9: Elite women downhill finals
Jonnier excels in 'enemy territory'
By Rob Jones in Fort William
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The day started with promising weather - at least, promising for Fort William. High clouds and no rain meant that the track was drying out well for the Junior riders and Elite women.
Jennifer Makgill of New Zealand set the early at time of 5:57.48, only to be beaten by Melissa Buhl (USA) by three seconds. Buhl didn't even get a chance to sit in the Hot Seat before Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain) came roaring down behind her to knock off another six seconds.
Griffiths time stood up until Jonnier set what proved to be the fastest time of 5:28.35, as the fifth to last rider to go. Of the four remaining riders, Tracy Hannah (Australia) managed to move into third and the fastest qualifier on the day, Rachel Atherton (Great Britain), took silver, but was still a full four seconds behind Jonnier. Former World Cup winner and British favourite Tracy Moseley ran into troubles higher on the course and finished fourth.
"It wasn't the best for me, as it was wet and muddy, and I am from the south of France where it is dry," commented Jonnier. "Also, it felt like I was on enemy territory, with Rachel and Tracy (Moseley) having so much support! But I focussed and just went for it. I broke my derailleur somewhere on the track, and made two huge mistakes when i took the wrong lines. It was so easy to make mistakes because the course was so long. But there was no way that i wanted to give up my jersey; I like it too much."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com
- Sabrina Jonnier (France) defended her title taking a four second victory.
- Tracey Hannah (Australia) pushed hard but couldn't match the blistering times of Rachel Atherton and Sabrina Jonnier.
- Rachel Atherton (Great Britain) went one better than her 2006 result to take second place.
- Elite women's podium: Rachel Atherton (Great Britain), Sabrina Jonnier (France) and Tracey Hannah (Australia).
Results
1 Sabrina Jonnier (France) 5.28.35 2 Rachel Atherton (Great Britain) 5.32.36 3 Tracey Hannah (Australia) 5.39.89 4 Tracy Moseley (Great Britain) 5.47.76 5 Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain) 5.48.21 6 Mio Suemasa (Japan) 5.48.62 7 Helen Gaskell (Great Britain) 5.50.43 8 Céline Gros (France) 5.52.06 9 Kathleen Pruitt (United States Of America) 5.52.95 10 Marielle Saner (Switzerland) 5.54.22 11 Melissa Buhl (United States Of America) 5.54.54 12 Emmeline Ragot (France) 5.56.80 13 Jennifer Makgill (New Zealand) 5.57.48 14 Vanessa Quin (New Zealand) 5.58.63 15 Claire Buchar (Canada) 6.00.42 16 Anita Ager-Wick (Norway) 6.03.74 17 Micayla Gatto (Canada) 6.03.77 18 Petra Bernhard (Austria) 6.07.24 19 Scarlett Hagen (New Zealand) 6.08.16 20 Anja Rees Jones (Great Britain) 6.10.69 21 Anita Molcik (Austria) 6.10.97 22 Miriam Ruchti (Switzerland) 6.13.14 23 Olivia Johnston (New Zealand) 6.18.23 24 Amelia Colasurdo (United States Of America) 6.18.88 25 Amy Laird (New Zealand) 6.19.15 26 Joanna Petterson (South Africa) 6.21.99 27 Rika Olivier (South Africa) 6.23.34 28 Anka Martin (South Africa) 6.25.81 29 Daniela Bossard (Switzerland) 6.29.17 30 Lisa Myklak (United States Of America) 6.29.84 31 Antje Kramer (Germany) 6.34.00 32 Darian Harvey (United States Of America) 6.40.69 33 Jaymie Mart (Barbados) 6.47.01 34 Harriet Rucknagel (Germany) 6.48.04 35 Elisa Canepa (Italy) 6.51.12 36 Jessica Vogt (United States Of America) 7.02.23 37 Diana Marggraff (Ecuador) 7.04.40
