Results of Canberra World Cup Downhill RESULTS - MEN 1- Greg Minnaar 2:41.32 2- Nathan Rennie 2:46.02 3- Gee Atherton 2:47.00 4- Fabien Barel 2:47.64 5- Chris Kovarik 2:48.38 7- Steve Peat 2:48.78 11- Sam Hill 2:50.53
Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson held her nerve in a dramatic, crash-marred final to win the Olympic Games' inaugural BMX gold here Friday.Her compatriot Laetitia le Corguille finished second to take the silver with Jill Kintner of the United States taking the bronze.
In the men's race Maris Strombergs of Latvia kept his nerve in the face of a two-pronged American challenge to win gold in a crash-marred final.The silver medal went to Mike Day of the United States and the bronze to his compatriot Donny Robinson.
Results Women 1 Anne-Caroline Chausson (France) 0:35.976 2 Laetitia le Corguille (France) 0:38.042 3 Jill Kintner (USA) 0:38.674 4 Sarah Walker (New Zealand) 0:38.805 5 Gabriela Diaz (Argentina) 0:39.747
Men 1 Maris Strombergs (Latvia) 0:36.190 2 Mike Day (USA) 0:36.606 3 Donny Robinson (USA) 0:36.972 4 Andres Jimenez (Colombia) 0:39.137 5 Rob van den Wildenberg (Netherlands) 0:39.772
Cycling at the Beijing Olympic Games concluded with the mountain bike cross-country on Saturday. Both the men's and women's races were held on the same day, after the women's race was postponed because of 'unsafe' conditions due to rain on Thursday. The new Olympic champions were the dominant riders in both races, leading from the first lap.
Sabine Spitz (Germany) took the women's title, while Julien Absalon (France) became the first man to successfully defend the Olympic mountain bike title. The weather was possibly the best seen thus far in Beijing for the Games, with blue skies, a slight breeze and temperatures in the low 30s (Celsius).
The ground was almost completely dried out from the soaking two days earlier, leaving a hard and fast track. The women did six laps and the men eight on the 4.5 kilometre course.
Spitz fulfilled her dream of an Olympic gold medal by dominating the field early on. Silver went to Polish rider Maja Wloszczowska and Irina Kalentyeva (Russia) scored the bronze medal. The best Chinese rider was Chengyuan Ren in fifth place, 2'29 back.
Whistler's premier mountain bike festival is set to return to Whistler August 9 to 17, 2008. Nine days of incredible, gravity-defying freeride competitions, pro riding demos, FREE music and entertainment.
WHISTLER, Canada (transcendmagazine.com) -- Sunday brought more rain and clouds, cold temperatures and the infamous Monster Garbanzo Downhill to Whistler Mountain. Over 14 minutes long, the Garbanzo DH has been known to reduce professional racers to mush. When it gets wet and the thousands of roots and rocks that litter the upper portions of the track get tracked with mud, it only gets worse. Riders have to fight to stay upright, let alone put in a winning.
World Champion Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal - GBR) took home the win for the men with a time of 14:20.4.
Last year's winner, Sam Hill (Monster Energy/Iron Horse - AUS) attempted to defend his title, but luck would play no part in helping. Hill had a small excursion off course at the top of the run, and then dabbed while going over one of the small wooden structures on course, and somehow managed to lose his show in a hole. " I debated the consequences of going on without it, and thought better of it" explained Hill from his team truck. Hill would get second and Marc beaumont (Bike Radar Santa Cruz - GBR) took third.
For the women, it was Rachel Atherton (Animal Commencal - GBR) completing the Atherton Garbanzo sweep beating country women Fionn Griffiths (Norco - GBR) and rookie Canadian racer Denice Yusegi (Pinkbike). Rachel stopped the clock at 16:48.9.
Atherton talked to Crankworx media officials after her run. "This course is like three times as long as what I'm used to on the world cup. You really need to stay focused on such a long, hard course."
