France’s Emiline Ragot, the 2009 downhill World Champion and Great Britain’s Danny Hart overcame a very slippery track and bad visibility to set the fastest times of the day while nearly all the top guns suffered spectacular crashes or made big mistakes which prevented them to get close to them.
Ragot, who has not won a race for a long time, beat by 15 seconds Great Britain Rachel Atherton and by 28 seconds Canada’s Claire Buchar while Tracy Moseley finished a distant 9th . France’s Nicole Pugin didn’t start at all.
Hart, who wore bib 6, smashed by eleven seconds the leading time of France’s Damien Spagnolo while New Zealand’s Samuel Blenkinsop came in 3rd at nearly thirteen seconds.
The defending champion Sam Hill was a far 7th while World Cup champion Aaron Gwin, unprecedented winner of five races this year, ended in 12th place after a time consuming crash halfway down the course.
Heavy rain showers definitely influenced the issue of the race and luck was as important as a consistent line to lose as little time as possible down the damaged course.
Twenty-year-old Hart was delighted by his first ever major victory on the top level while Ragot very happy to make it back after a series of bad injuries and other problems.
“I think I hit the course just perfectly, it was tough but also fun, I can’t believe I made it down so fast, I was very impressed to have been able to improve Spagnolo’s time by more than ten seconds,” he said. “I have been riding since my youngest age, I love the sport so much, it’s pretty exciting. Now I’ll be aiming for my first win on the World Cup tour.”
Ragot choose another tactic as she knows the ‘Derup’ course very well after winning the race last year. “I knew it would be really tough and that the best way to get a top finish was to achieve a very controlled and consistent run,” she explained at the Press Conference. “I think I did a good job, I had no major problems. It’s wonderful to get back at the top here after my hard time earlier this season. I injured myself badly in the first two World Cup races and was disqualified in the third one…Now I hope for a much better season next year.”
PkL |
Danny Hart and Emiline Ragot clinch downhill Elite titles. 
