Mont Sainte Anne Downhill Finals

Erik Timmerman

August 4, 2015

The weekend of August 1st saw Mont Sainte Anne hold it’s 25th World Cup mountain bike race. This round was also the 15oth World Cup downhill. After two decades, the downhill track is very familiar with some sections unchanged since the first race in 1992 (the first two MSA World Cups were XC-only). The track changes each year, this year they added gnar and made the track less “bike-parky” leveling some berms and turning them into flat or off-camber turns. They removed the iconic Gondola hip jump and added a massive rock drop.

The hardest part of the new rock drop may have been actually getting onto it. Very few people crashed on the rock but quite a few stalled getting there. Stevie Smith was one of them.

The fans were super stoked to have Stevie Smith racing again.

Gee dialing in his lines in morning practice.

After Friday’s qualifying round, the heavens opened up and gave the track a good soaking. Morning dawned with a blue sky but the clouds rolled in as soon as the morning practice session started. One last chance to see how the track had changed since qualifying, to dial their lines, and to try to judge grip levels before their run. Several riders had crashes including World Champion Manon Carpenter, Aaron Gwin who broke the tape several times and Rachel Atherton who found the track to be considerably more slippery than the day before. Emmeline Ragot had the worst of it though, falling off the finish line jump and breaking her left arm and left leg.

Manon laid it down in morning practice. Best to get it out of the way early.

The junior racers went first in dryish conditions. Great Britain’s Laurie Greenland won with a convincing margin of 5.663 seconds over Alex Marin Trillo and 7.528 seconds over series leader Andrew Crimmins.

Lauri Greenland smashing berms on his way to 1st place Juniors.

Alex Marin Trillo jumping out of the first woods and into 3rd place for the Juniors.

Kona's Andrew Crimmins looked strong, but in the finals, he had no answer for Laurie Greenland and finished 3rd for the Juniors. — Kona’s Andrew Crimmins looked strong, but in the finals, he had no answer for Laurie Greenland and finished 3rd for the Juniors.

After a longer than normal wait at the top, Rachel Atherton rode a wet track to a strong victory. That makes four in a row.

By the time the women were in the start gate, the first rumblings of thunder could be heard as darker clouds gathered over the St. Lawrence River. One by one the riders came down until only Rachel Atherton was left. As she waited for her turn to start it finally began to rain. Not a deluge like Friday, but just a steady light rain came down. Rachel was able to continue her dominance of 2015 with a 4th consecutive win. Behind her times were close with Manon Carpenter, Myriam Nicole and Tahnee Seagrave all within about 4 seconds of her. Miranda Miller rounded out the podium in her first World Cup race in 2 years.

Normally a podium favorite, Tracey Hannah was sick all week and could only manage 8th place, 17 seconds back.

Canadian champion Miranda Miller had not raced a World Cup in two years. She rode to 5th place. Welcome back.

Tahnee Seagrave rode into a close 4th place.

Myriam Nicole was very glad to be back after being injured in Fort William. She was still nervous about doing the jumps though.

Manon Carpenter got the monkey off her back and had a mechanical and crash free race into 2nd place.

For a normal rider 8th place would be a great result. Aaron Gwin is far from normal. He never got a feel for the ever-changing grip levels and was not happy with his performance.

The steady drizzle continued into the men’s race and the thunder still threatened a major storm. With the mixed up qualifying from Friday some of the top riders had early runs. This meant that rain mid-way through the race could have changed conditions making for an unfair race. The rain did get heavier in the middle of the race, but probably not by enough to unfairly affect anybody. Steve Smith and the riders around him seemed to face the strongest rain, but it was never enough to really change the track.

Aaron Gwin. Air in the tires, pedals and chain on, frame not broken. Good times.

Big brother Wyn Masters foot out, flat out. A flat tire would relegate him to last place though.

Eddie Masters throwing roost in the woods drop landing zone.

Eddie Masters had a solid result with 16th place. One more result like this will make him a "protected" rider. — Eddie Masters had a solid result with 16th place. One more result like this will make him a “protected” rider.

Reece Wilson enters the lower woods on the high line. It was slower coming in, but faster out.

Sam Hill safely makes the turn to stay on the high line in the woods.

David McMillan shutting it down in the loose wet loam to make the turn onto the rock drop. No pressure.

Loic Bruni's Lapierre teammate finished in an impressive 14th. Great riding by the first year pro. — Loic Bruni’s Lapierre teammate finished in an impressive 14th. Great riding by the first year pro.

Luca Shaw shoots through the bottom woods on his way to top-20 finish.

For most riders 12th place would be a good result. For Gee Atherton, the curse of the Rainbow Jersey continues.

The winning run would have to be error free and the rider would have to perfectly judge conditions. He couldn’t just push all out or he’d slide off the track and down the time sheets. Loic Bruni took the lead despite a broken chainguide which kept him from pedaling for at least half of his run.

Loic Bruni qualified 14 in the worst of Friday's rain storm. Many expected him to win, but a derailed chain cost him. — Loic Bruni qualified 14 in the worst of Friday’s rain storm. Many expected him to win, but a derailed chain cost him.

Troy Brosnan had pace from the first day and was a popular pick for the win.

Troy testing the new rock drop in practice.

Rider after rider came up short until Josh Bryceland was able to crack the code with a run that came in just .2 seconds faster than Bruni’s. The final three riders Danny Hart, Marcelo Guttierrez and Troy Brosnan all fell short. The Rat is back!