The UCI World Cup turned up in Maribor, Slovenia for the first round of the downhill and second round of the four-cross racing action.

The weather wasn’t great with rain and mud meaning very slippery and wet conditions but try telling that to Rachel Atherton. After sitting out last season because of shoulder surgery she only went and broke her finger in the qualifiers.

That didn’t stop her though as she blitzed the course being fastest at every split and coming home in first position by 10 seconds from Sabrina Jonnier proving that a year away from racing hasn’t affected her. “It hasn’t sunk in yet; I can’t believe it,” exclaimed Atherton after her run. “I never thought I’d win. I came here hoping for a top five, so maybe being relaxed and having fun is the way to have a good run.”

Rachel’s brother Gee also did well in the Men’s downhill coming second being beaten only by a resurgent Greg Minnaar by just one tenth of a second. Following Gee home was fellow countryman Brendan Fairclough who scored an excellent third place.

Other Brits also placed well, including Joseph Smith who finished 8th, Matthew Simmonds in 14th, and Tracey Moseley in 8th.

Rachel and Gee’s brother Dan had a tougher time in the Men’s four-cross only managing ninth but there was British success in the Women’s four-cross with Fionn Griffiths the winner.

Fionn was delighted after her great run: “It could have gone either way so I’m very happy to get this result, my gates are not great, as everyone knows, so I hung back a bit to see how things would work out. She [Buchanan] wobbled on a corner and bumped into me.  I pushed back a bit; she went the other way and went down.  Then I just pedalled as hard as I could.”

Results

Men’s downhill

1. Greg Minnaar (RSA)
2. Gee Atherton (GBR)
3. Brendan Fairclough (GBR)

Women’s downhill

1. Rachel Atherton (GBR)
2. Sabrina Jonnier (FRA)
3. Floriane Pugin (FRA)

Men’s four-cross

1. Michal Marosi (CZE)
2. Jared Graves (AUS)
3. Joost Wichman (NED)

Women’s four-cross

1. Fionn Griffiths (GBR)
2. Sarsha Huntington (AUS)
3. Anneke Beerten (NED)

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