WORLD CUP RACE RESULTS - Lourdes 3

An epic track results in unforgettable race action in Lourdes, France, during the first round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill. The track was getting rougher and drier with every rider, creating even more challenging conditions despite the beautiful, sunny day.

Junior Men started competition and Australian Andrew Crimmins (Kona Factory Team) earn a hard-fought victory over Laurie Greenland (Trek World Racing). Laurie had been the rider to beat with fastest times in training and qualifying, but Crimmins dug deep and took the win by just .3-seconds. The winning time in Junior Men was just 1-second slower than qualifying.

The 20 qualified Elite Women dropped in under bluebird conditions. All eyes were on Tracey Hannah (Polygon UR) who qualified 6-seconds faster than her nearest competitor. While she earned the fastest speed of the day for the women and was on a competitive run, she caught her front wheel in a hole and flew off the bike, over the bars. She crossed the finish line 10-seconds off the pace in 5th. France's Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker) who was on the verge of not returning to racing at the end of 2014 after a broken wrist suffered at World Champs put together a flawless run that would result in a 1st place finish, 2-seconds ahead of Rachel Atherton (GT Factory Racing). Atherton was on a strong run with a the fastest split times, but nearly washed out and came to a stop after the big ruck huck. Ragot took 6-seconds off her qualifying time. Myriam Nicole (Commencal / Vallnord), also French, rounded out the Top 3, just .5-seconds behind Atherton. Reigning World Champ, Manon Carpenter (Madison Saracen) finished 4th, about 8-seconds off the top.

The chaos of qualifying was still settling as the Elite Men challenged the demanding Lourdes course. Gee Atherton (GT Factory Racing) with a DNF in qualfying due to a massive crash powered through pain and managed to a complete a race run, but was well off the pace. Aaron Gwin (Specialized Racing) with a DSQ after a big crash in qualifying would drop in for his race run much earlier than normal. Gwin crossed the line after a smoking run and was first and only rider to go sub 3-minutes all week with a 2:58. Mike Jones (Team CRC) had an exceptional run and ultimately earned his first World Cup podium for a 3rd place result. With only a few riders remaining, no one could touch Gwin's performance between split 1 and split 2. Neko Mulally had a major disappointment with a broken wheel just a few seconds out of the gate. 3 riders remained. Ratboy rode ragged, but wasn't even close and Remi Thirion was riding well, but a flat tire 20-seconds from the finish sealed his fate. Fastest qualifier and last rider down, Loic Bruni made everyone's heart stop as he almost went over the bars in the first corner. He held it together and had a fantastic run but in the end his effort was only good enough for 2nd place. Aaron Gwin took victory by almost 4-seconds after anxiously sitting in the hot seat for what felt like an eternity.

Loic Bruni leads the UCI World Cup downhill overall with Gwin in 2nd. Gwin's DSQ in qualifying resulted in no points toward the overall.

Elite Men's Results

Elite Women's Results

Junior Men's Results