Gee and Rachel Atherton Win Air DH at Crankworx Les 2 Alpes 1

Check out the Vital MTB Photo Gallery from the Air DH Race

LES 2 ALPES, FRANCE July 11, 2012 – The Giant Air DH, supported by Fox sent the best downhill riders in the world through the paces on “Fury”, a track newly built for Crankworx Les 2 Alpes.

Great Britain’s Gee Atherton held on with the fastest times in both the qualifications and the finals to take the title of the inaugural Giant Air DH supported by Fox with a time of 4:26.87. New Zealand’s Sam Blenkinsop was through the gate with the second fastest time of 4:32.49 and South African Andrew Neethling came in third with a time of 4:35.90.

Rachel Atherton followed in her brother’s tracks to also take first place in both the qualifications and finals, crossing the finish line in the final nearly fifteen seconds faster than Australian Tracey Hannah in second place with a time of 5:30.65. France’s beloved Pompon, Myriam Nicole, was awarded third place with a time of 5:37.74.

(COMPLETE RESULTS AT END OF ARTICLE)
Women
1st Rachel ATHERTON – 2000€
2nd Tracy HANNAH – 750€
3rd Myriam NICOLE – 500€

Men
1st Gee ATHERTON – 4000€
2nd Sam BLENKINSOP – 1750€
3rd Andrew NEETHLING – 1000€

“The track was good and super fast. We thought it was going to be a lot calmer but it was a gnarly track. Good fun though, it is a really good course,” says fastest man Gee Atherton.

Rachel Atherton also commented on the technicality of the course. “The track is one of the hardest tracks I have ridden this year, for sure,” she says. “I didn’t fancy going off the big step down. I need to stay healthy for the World Cups. I just tried to ride the track good and fast, and get some lines. You have to push where you can and hold back when you are nervous.”

The course is a new addition to the Les 2 Alpes Bike Park and was designed by Mick Hannah and Marc Beaumont, who just missed the podium coming in fourth overall. The trail crew of the resort of Les 2 Alpes built the trail with Ayton Concept and Seb Chovet, co-producer of Crankworx Les 2 Alpes. 

“We started building the track ‘Fury’ for the Air DH last October 2011 and we finished this year in June,” says Chovet. “We will take rider feedback to integrate some changes and I have already talked to designer Marc Beaumont who said it was a tough race but that he loved the track.”

“Fury” drops a total of 700m over a length of 2.8 km and is open to the public as a double black diamond trail in the Les 2 Alpes Bike Park. The length coupled with technical sections of single track and huge jumps, including the now infamous road gap that took out third place qualifier Aurelian Giordanengo, make “Fury” an apt name.

The fastest amateur, Raymond Orre, got hooked up after pulling in a time of 5:10.32. Giant will be signing him onto a year long contract as a rider and Fox will be outfitting him in the latest kit. Giant has signed Orre into a sponsorship contract for the 2013 season including awarding him with an ATV Glory 2013.

Women's Full Air DH Results from Crankworx Les 2 Alpes

1. Rachel Atherton GBR 5:15.67
2. Tracy Hannah AUS 5:30.65 -- +14.98
3. Myriam Nicole FRA 5:37.74 -- +22.07
4. Tahnée Seagrave FRA 5:42.42 -- +26.75
5. Alia Marcellini ITA 6:02.90 -- +47.23
6. Sarah Atkin NZL 6:27.19 -- +1:11.52

Men's Full Air DH Results from Crankworx Les 2 Alpes

1. Gee Atherton GBR 4:26.87
2. Sam Blenkinsop NZL 4:32.49 -- +5.62
3. Andrew Neethling RSA 4:35.90 -- +9.03
4. Marc Beaumont GBR 4:37.06 -- +10.19
5. Danny Hart GBR 4:38.40 -- +11.53
6. Michael Hannah AUS 4:38.49 -- +11.62
7. George Brannigan NZL 4:40.03 -- +13.16
8. Thibault Ruffin FRA 4:40.93 -- +14.06
9. Sam Dale GBR 4:44.99 -- +18.12
10. Matej Charvat CZE 4:47.99 -- +21.12
11. Filip Polc SVK 4:48.01 -- +21.14
12. Bernard Kerr GBR 4:48.17 -- +21.30
13. Quentin Chanudet FRA 4:48.46 -- +21.59
14. Vink Nico BEL 4:48.48 -- +21.61
15. Marco Milivinti ITA 4:49.19 -- +22.32
16. Matt Walker NZL 4:50.42 -- +23.55
17. Gaetan Ruffin FRA 4:50.76 -- +23.89
18. Antoine Badouard FRA 4:51.59 -- +24.72
19. Ben Reid IRL 4:51.84 -- +24.97
20. Cameron Cole NZL 4:53.27 -- +26.40
21. Benoét Bresset FRA 4:53.34 -- +26.47
22. Gianluca Vernassa ITA 4:53.77 -- +26.90
23. Julien Piccolo FRA 4:56.53 -- +29.66
24. Richard Leacock NZL 4:57.22 -- +30.35
25. Lenssens Kristof BEL 4:57.30 -- +30.43
26. Reece Potter NZL 4:58.10 -- +31.23
27. Stanislav Sehnal CZE 4:58.39 -- +31.52
28. Jérome Clementz FRA 4:59.57 -- +32.70
29. Grégoire Pazdziorko BEL 4:59.85 -- +32.98
30. Nils Correvon SUI 5:01.82 -- +34.95
31. Simon Charvat CZE 5:03.33 -- +36.46
32. Frigout Lucas FRA 5:04.29 -- +37.42
33. Ondrej Barta CZE 5:07.95 -- +41.08
34. Raymond Orre * FRA 5:10.32 -- +43.45
35. Alex Marin Trillo ESP 5:11.42 -- +44.55
36. Kamil Tatarkovic CZE 5:11.63 -- +44.76
37. Grégory Gilson * FRA 5:15.69 -- +48.82
38. Yoan Pesenti FRA 5:20.52 -- +53.65
39. Jordan Maupas FRA 5:22.30 -- +55.43
40. Cédric Moermans BEL 5:24.14 -- +57.27
41. Illian Botteron SUI 5:25.20 -- +58.33
42. Rhys Evans GBR 5:28.31 -- +1:01.44
43. Stéphane Routin FRA 5:29.44 -- +1:02.57
44. Pierre-Edouard Ferry FRA 5:30.75 -- +1:03.88
45. Jonathan Bourg * FRA 5:31.04 -- +1:04.17
46. Ambroise Hebert FRA 5:31.98 -- +1:05.11
47. Aurélien Giordanengo FRA 5:41.32 -- +1:14.45
48. Cuvillier Maxime FRA 5:43.55 -- +1:16.68
49. Erwan Le Blayo FRA 5:45.97 -- +1:19.10
50. Sacha Rosmant * BEL 5:47.56 -- +1:20.69
51. Simon Nicolas BEL 5:49.05 -- +1:22.18
52. Matthieu Mengel FRA 5:49.65 -- +1:22.78
53. John Cobb GBR 5:51.68 -- +1:24.81
54. Laurent Pheulpin FRA 5:55.61 -- +1:28.74
55. Arnaud Blondel FRA 5:58.72 -- +1:31.85
56. Vincent Koller FRA 6:00.90 -- +1:34.03
57. Lescure Xavier FRA 6:02.71 -- +1:35.84
58. Romain Desseaux FRA 6:06.56 -- +1:39.69
59. César Chauvet FRA 6:09.13 -- +1:42.26
60. Marc Lovari FRA 6:09.30 -- +1:42.43
61. Valentin Debaque FRA 6:14.30 -- +1:47.43
62. Lorenzlo Lima Blaise BEL 6:16.08 -- +1:49.21
63. Loic Caminale FRA 6:16.66 -- +1:49.79
64. Thibaut Rosmant BEL 6:18.13 -- +1:51.26
65. Fabien Martinez FRA 6:18.74 -- +1:51.87
66. Michael Williamson NZL 6:18.98 -- +1:52.11
67. Robert Julien FRA 6:20.15 -- +1:53.28
68. Jean-Christophe Berthelot * FRA 6:22.77 -- +1:55.90
69. Alexandre Daon FRA 6:28.50 -- +2:01.63
70. Joris Gontier FRA 6:30.25 -- +2:03.38
71. Romain Sehier FRA 6:37.29 -- +2:10.42
72. Quentin Doppl FRA 6:43.25 -- +2:16.38
73. Didier Blondel * FRA 6:44.34 -- +2:17.47
74. Loic Salaun * FRA 6:46.42 -- +2:19.55
75. Quentin Briey FRA 6:53.38 -- +2:26.51
68 Anthony Regis FRA DNS
93 Arthur Giorgetti FRA DNS
124 Kevin Falko Dewinski GER DNS
137 Gaetan Lenoir FRA DNS
74 Wolfram Tavel FRA DNS
73 Christophe Vucher FRA DNS
154 Fabian Geisev ITA DNS
69 Chabert Clement FRA DNS
75 Quentin Kolly SUI DNS
62 David Gouait FRA DNS
125 Ronan Jolly * FRA DNS
11 Fabien Cousinie FRA DNS
28 Lucas Sallet FRA DNS
57 Mickael Boutemeur FRA DNS
29 Gautier Sallet FRA DNF
59 Sander Boulaabi FRA DNF
63 Ondrej Novak CZE DNF
133 Fabien Sellier * FRA DNF
142 Jérémie Sevrain * FRA DNF