It’s years since the UCI World Cup’s been this exciting. With Steve Peat, Gee Atherton, Tracy Moseley, Helen Gaskell, Liam Killeen et al all capable of podium performances, the anticipation of finding out which Brits have done well is almost too much. Almost.

The news from Mont Sainte Anne in Canada is that Steve Peat is this week’s British Podium Topper, beating Sam Hill by just under a second. The Mont Sainte Anne course is short (1.06miles) and technical, with riders aiming for sub-three minute times. In the semi-final only Peat, Hill and Greg Minnaar could make that mark, with Peat’s 2:54.53 a healthy 4.5seconds clear. Cedric Gracia, Jared Rando and last week’s winner Gee Atherton were just outside the three-minute mark. Gee’s success has clearly got his brother fired up too – Dan was 9th in the semis and there were three other Brits in the top 20 riders going in to the final – Marc Beaumont (14th), Neil Donoghue (17th) and Will Longden (18th).

Come the finals and, as is traditional, all the riders found an extra bit of pace. With six riders to come down it was Nathan Rennie in the hot seat with 2:57.29, a second and a half ahead of Mickael Pascal (2:58.86). Try as he might (and he tried hard, knocking six seconds off his semi-final time) Gee couldn’t match them, slotting in to third place. He held off Jared Rando, Cedric Gracia and even Greg Minnaar, who had a nightmare run and ended up down in 29th place. The Sam Hill stormed down the course in 2:51.48, nearly six seconds faster than Rennie and three quicker than Steve Peat’s semi-final time. But Peat had pace to spare, clocking 2:50.62 to take top spot. Gee was pushed down to fifth, but that’s still on the podium. His brother Dan was the next highest Brit in 13th.

Overall, with just one round to go, that gives leader Steve Peat a comfortable 140 point buffer ahead of Sam Hill, with Gracia, Gee Atherton and Mickael Pascal completing the top five. It’s looking good for Peat…

After the women’s semi-finals it was looking like being a superb day for the Brits with three in the top five, and the “Atherton effect” was in play here too. Helen Gaskell was in fifth, Tracy Moseley in third and a flying Rachel Atherton on top spot with 3:35.91, giving her that high-pressure last run down in the final.

Going in to the last five runs Kathy Pruitt was atop the leaderboard with 3:33.46. Too fast for Helen Gaskell, too fast for Celine Gros and too fast for Tracy Moseley. Not, however, too fast for Sabrina Jonnier who hacked a massive thirteen seconds off her semi-final time to post a 3:23.71, nearly ten seconds clear of Pruitt. That just left Rachel Atherton to go. A run as good as her semi would be good enough for third, so hopes were high. Alas things didn’t quite go according to plan, but here 3:46.79 was good enough for ninth, and top ten placings certainly aren’t to be sniffed at. Her time will come. So Jonnier won it ahead of Kathy Pruitt and Celine Gros, with the British duo of Helen Gaskell and Tracy Moseley occupying fourth and fifth spots.

In the overall standings it’s Jonnier in front on 797, a sizable 192 points ahead of Tracy Moseley. Michelle Saner is third, Celine Gros fourth and Helen Gaskell fifth.

XC

It’s tight at the top of the men’s XC leaderboard and no mistake. With the same few people generally occupying the top spots but in a different order each time, overall margins are pretty small. In Mont Sainte Anne it was Filip Meirhaeghe who took the win nearly a minute clear of Christoph Sauser. Jose Antonio Hermida was third, Jean-Christophe Peraud fourth, Roel Paulissen fifth. Liam Killeen couldn’t quite make it on to the podium in Canada but his sixth place (and first under-23) was still a strong performance. Meirhaeghe’s win puts him into the overall lead with 915 points, but with Paulissen on 870 and Sauser on 865 there’s no room for complacency. For Killeen (running ninth) the main challenge will be holding on to top under-23 spot – Manuel Fumic is only 69 points down.

Over in the women’s XC the Gunn-Rita Dahle Roadshow rumbles on. The home-country advantage helped Marie-Helene Premont up the field but even cheering Canadians couldn’t get her ahead of the Norwegian. She was only 41 seconds down, though, with a big three-minute gap behind to third-placed Willow Koerber. Local support couldn’t quite eke that last bit of speed that Alison Sydor needed to overhaul Barbara Blatter, with Blatter fourth and Sydor fifth.

Overall Dahle is on an enormous 1,000 points, 349 ahead of Irina Kalientieva. Annabella Stropparo, Premont and Sydor round off the top five.

After some multi-discipline rounds the World Cup now goes its separate ways with DH and 4X going to Calgary, Canada this weekend before meeting up with the XCers again for the World Cup Finals in Livigno, Italy on September 18/19.