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With Gwin being so dominant during the World Cups over the past several years, but always being slightly off the mark during the World Champs, I was curious to see how many seasons had concluded with a rider claiming both honours: a double World Cup Champion and World Champion.
The answer: Not many and not often (at least for Men's)
Francois Gachet (FRA) in 1994
Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA) in 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999
Sam Hill (AUS) in 2007
(honourable mention for Bryceland, had he not launched into outer space in 2015)
For Women's it again isn't many names, but far more often:
Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) in 1998 through 2002 (5x in a row!)
Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) in 2007
Rachel Atherton (G in 2008, 2013, 2015, 2016
Manon Carpenter (G in 2014
Can Gwin/Nicole add themselves to the shortlist??
What other cool facts can we pop out from the history books?
-People often talk about who has the most wins (Vouilloz, Minnaar, Hill, Chausson, Atherton)
-I love when the medal table by country is pulled up and South Africa is up in the top ranks based on the efforts of a single rider (Minnaar)
-Palmer undoubtedly has the most famous runner up story (although Ratboy's is up there too).
-Other famous runs and commentary from Hart (Champery) and Hill (VDS)
-Steve Peat was famous for how many times he was runner up before finally taking the win in 2009
-John Tomac won silver in the DH in 1991, but also won Gold that same year in XC!
-Not looking up the full stats on this one, so there may be others, but interesting that Bruni and Hart won World Champs before winning an Elite World Cup
-Fresh in memory is the Mondraker 1-2-3 podium of last year, that must be unprecedented.
-I remember some site, maybe this one, doing a look at what are the most successful World Cup DH bikes. What are the most successful Champs bikes?
-What was the first year Champs was won on 27.5? Will this be the first year for a 29er--or will it ever happen?
The answer: Not many and not often (at least for Men's)
Francois Gachet (FRA) in 1994
Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA) in 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999
Sam Hill (AUS) in 2007
(honourable mention for Bryceland, had he not launched into outer space in 2015)
For Women's it again isn't many names, but far more often:
Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) in 1998 through 2002 (5x in a row!)
Sabrina Jonnier (FRA) in 2007
Rachel Atherton (G in 2008, 2013, 2015, 2016
Manon Carpenter (G in 2014
Can Gwin/Nicole add themselves to the shortlist??
What other cool facts can we pop out from the history books?
-People often talk about who has the most wins (Vouilloz, Minnaar, Hill, Chausson, Atherton)
-I love when the medal table by country is pulled up and South Africa is up in the top ranks based on the efforts of a single rider (Minnaar)
-Palmer undoubtedly has the most famous runner up story (although Ratboy's is up there too).
-Other famous runs and commentary from Hart (Champery) and Hill (VDS)
-Steve Peat was famous for how many times he was runner up before finally taking the win in 2009
-John Tomac won silver in the DH in 1991, but also won Gold that same year in XC!
-Not looking up the full stats on this one, so there may be others, but interesting that Bruni and Hart won World Champs before winning an Elite World Cup
-Fresh in memory is the Mondraker 1-2-3 podium of last year, that must be unprecedented.
-I remember some site, maybe this one, doing a look at what are the most successful World Cup DH bikes. What are the most successful Champs bikes?
-What was the first year Champs was won on 27.5? Will this be the first year for a 29er--or will it ever happen?
In the early 90's it was home to a very progressive riding culture that became world famous through the MudCows series of Videos.
Also, for such a small city (population now is a bit over 100,000) it has produced more than its far share of good world cup riders like Michael Ronning, Sean McCarrol, Mick Hannah and Tracey Hannah.
It also hosted a world cup in 1994 and a world championship in 1996.
Riders seem to enjoy the DH course, in the dry at least, and the XC course is awesome.
However if you also count women field, I think we have many times Cannondale here (Chausson) or Trek (Atherton).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCI_Mountain_Bike_%26_Trials_World_Champi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCI_Mountain_Bike_%26_Trials_World_Champi…
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