WHAT RAIN? Miracle in Mont-Sainte-Anne

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The rains opened up for the final twenty riders at the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Dowhill in Mont-Sainte-Anne. The result was hampered vision and slick conditions for the entire four-minute track. Spectators and the remaining competitors considered it game over. Then Jack Moir, got the momentum rolling, challenging the time of hot-seat holder, Dean Lucas. That momentum gained steam with riders charging closer and closer to the winning time despite the conditions until finally, Aaron Gwin, last man down the mountain, left nothing on track and took the victory.

Fastest at all splits except one where Ed Masters pipped him. Aaron Gwin had an unbelievable run, taking inside lines that would have been sketchy and lethal in the dry. Definitely an all-weather and all-courses rider, cemented into the history books. (Sorry for audio issues. The weather took a toll on everything!) -Sven Martin

In six years of shooting World Cups, this one was the most exciting for me! Goosebumps, wet balls and still a big grin on my face. @maddogboris

You can tell in this photo Tahnee was all race from start to finish. -Sven Martin

She said this is her first "real" win, and it came on a proper long, difficult and rough track. Although no rain, the women had a very greasy track in both training and race. A tough mental challenge to overcome. -Sven Martin

Finn on his way to his 5th podium. He ended up with the fastest time of the entire day in any class, too! BTW if you have seen Aaron Gwin's race run, this is the corner close to the finish were he went fully inside. @maddogboris

Melanie Chappaz took the win by 17.3 seconds in the Junior Women's category. Great to see the talent at such an early age. -Sven Martin

Wow. Dean Lucas. An unexpected and huge result for the Intense team rider, who laid down a fantastic time that stood until the very end. -Dan Hearn

Dean Lucas' bike got wet but not muddy - a little reminder of how different the conditions were before the rain hit. -Dan Hearn

Myriam Nicole blurring to 2nd. @maddogboris

Ponpom stoked and confident that she can keep the leader's jersey through the last World Cup. @maddogboris

Sylvian Cougoureux with a solid run for second place, 1.6 seconds behind Finn and nearly 3 seconds ahead of Joe Breeden. @maddogboris

He proved again that he is one of the best riders in the world in the worst conditions. Danny Hart super stoked about his second place. Usually you see this kind of celebration after winning a race. How stoked Danny was shows how hard his race run was! @maddogboris

Two of the most memorable race runs in downhill history occurred today. These are the men that rode them. -Dan Hearn

Tracey Hannah during training. Come race time she had a flat here and still did the drop, but had to go around the double losing some valuable time. Still a solid 3rd place. @maddogboris

Jack Moir set the tone in the wet. For a long time, everybody thought that the race was more or less over and no rider would come close to the time of Dean Lucas. Until his teammate, Jack Moir, proved that the impossible is possible and inspired Gwin and the others to try as hard as they could. @maddogboris

Loic pushing until the end. He said he knew he could still go fast in the wet but felt he still played it a bit too safe compared to the others. Nevertheless happy with his run. -Sven Martin

A disappointed Greg Minnaar had a crash in his race run but was unfortunately disqualified for not rejoining the track where he left it. -Dan Hearn

Greg Minnaar was the only rider (apart from team mate Luca Shaw) to huck from a small stump over an entire rock section shown - most wouldn't even think of attempting a move like this. -Dan Hearn

Emilie Siegenthaler is having the best season of her career so far. 4th place for her in 2k17. @maddogboris

Rachel is finding it hard to regain the momentum of her infamous win streak, and struggled with several crashes in practice this morning. Just a second faster and she would have been on the podium, saving herself from carnage during her race run.

Troy Brosnan though the thick crowds that lined the track no matter the weather. A great turnout and vibe. -Sven Martin

Stevie would have approved of the racing that went down today. He would have been in the thick of it too, no doubt! -Sven Martin<br />

Mike Jones on the podium after some injuries and skipped rounds. He raced in the dry but you can't take anything away from his pace today. -Sven Martin

Aftermath. -Andy Vathis

Luca shaw giving Greg Minnaar's monster huck a go. Amazingly he rode it out despite coming up a little short, front-wheel-heavy, just missing the death rock. -Sven Martin

Nik Nesteroff floating into the finish area during the final. 4th place for the Junior American. -Sven Martin

Early opening runs for the juniors with a handful of diehard fans claiming their seats early. -Sven Martin

Canadian Racer, Kirk Mcdowall with a 12th place finish. He was fastest Canadian in Elites as well as fastest through Les Dalles rock section. @maddogboris

When riding bikes feels like moto. Greg Williamson with the step up hip to berm. -Sven Martin

Rupert Chapman with the Bubba Stewart award: peg-drag-scrub up and over the step up. It was as if time stood still burned into the memory banks forever. Steve Peat would approve. -Sven Martin

What came first? Cam Zink sketched and worn around the world on both flesh and cotton. -Sven Martin

The rain fell...hard. During the 20 minute break before the live stream started, the heavens opened. Brook MacDonald shown battling through Mother Nature's fury. -Dan Hearn

If there is a proper jump on the track, you can count of Mick Hannah that he will show us his "suicide" skills. Thanks, Mick. Never stop, please! @maddogboris

It's not just Mick, Kade and Kaos throwing tricks on the hill. Finn Iles early morning practice suicide at the finish line. Luckily he knows when to be serious and bring the win home to Canada. @maddogboris

Baptiste Pierron with an amazing 7th place today in MSA in front of a massive crowd. @maddogboris

Josh Button made his buddy and teammate, Connor Fearon, proud today. 19th place for the Aussie who will be a threat in Cairns! @maddogboris

Great weekend for the Giant Factory Off-Road Team. Two riders in the Top 10. Jacob Dickson in 9th, just .004 ahead of...

...his teammate, Eliot Jackson, with 10th and a pretty sick scrub down the box. @maddogboris

Although Gee is back racing, he is lacking the confidence to push hard with lingering injuries. It won't be long before he is back up to full pace and charging for the win again. -Dan Hearn

Gustavo Vasquez, Top 20 attack! @maddogboris

Front and back views of Tahnee with four green splits. No one came close to her performance. -Sven Martin

Marcelo Gutierrez decided not to race after a crash in training and used his time next to the track help his buddies with some line choices. @maddogboris

Another try to do something different or let's just say, "Duncan would have done it." Henry Kerr from UK in action. @maddogboris

@madBOGboris? -Dan Hearn

Aaron Gwin that had the crowd on the edge of their seats until the very end. What a day. -Dan Hearn

Troy Brosnan settled for 6th place, meaning he drops back to 3rd in the overall. The crowd was almost as determined as the riders to see some proper racing and thankfully it stayed busy right through the day. -Dan Hearn

Eddie Masters and fellow crazy Kiwis taking shelter from the deluge. -Dan Hearn

Magnus Manson demonstrating the ideal scrub off the step down in his race run. -Dan Hearn

Has anyone ever seen Kade Edwards straight in the air? Thought not. -Andy Vathis

Adam Brayton gained two places from his Lenzerheide result, finishing 11th. -Dan Hearn

Mother Nature's moisture. There were just as many camera casualties are there were wheel casualties this weekend. -Sven Martin

Matt Walker was the only junior to be faster than Finn at the first split, but a crash soon after meant today wasn't to be his day. -Dan Hearn

Kade Edwards gapping and styling where most rolled or hucked straight. -Dan Hearn

A sea of umbrellas awaited riders as they crossed the finish line. -Dan Hearn

Tahnee Seagrave is your MSA Winner 2017 followed by Myriam Nicole, Tracey Hannah, Emilie Siegenthaler and Rachel Atherton. @maddogboris

Three of the five podium riders came down in the rain. Quite an achievement. History-making, to be precise. The live feed replay figures are going to go through the roof for this race! -Sven Martin

It wasn't just the most exciting and best race for me, it was also one of the wettest races! Thanks Mont Sainte Anne for this unforgettable event.

Many people will talk about this day for a long time. Where were you when Gwin put down THAT run? Amazingly there were five other wet-weather racers that also performed extraordinarily. -Sven Martin

Like any major storm, the destruction left in its wake is palpable and tangible. Mont-Sainte-Anne tried to ruin the racers all weekend, but in the end the racers did the damage. Bring on World Champs in 2019! -Dan Hearn