Mont Sainte Anne in Canada is the only venue to have featured in the World Cup calendar for every year that the series has been running. Like Fort William, it was a triple-header, with racers competing in DH, XC and 4X.

XC

118 men started the seven-lap XC race, but lots of them wouldn’t finish – the tough course took its toll on bikes, and temperatures reached 31°C, making the race even harder work than it ordinarily would be.

Nothing was standing in the way of the Specialized duo of Christoph Sauser and Liam Killeen, though. Going into this race, defending World Champion Sauser had yet to win a race for his new team, and Killeen had had some mildly disappointing performances so both had a point to prove. And prove it they did, establishing a healthy gap in the first two laps and letting the rest of the field fight over the scraps. Series leader Julien Absalon came closest, but he was nearly three minutes down at the end, just ahead of Jose Antonio Hermida.

The support of a home crowd helped Seamus McGrath to his first World Cup podium in fifth place. And the local supporters had an even more profound effect in the women’s race, helping Marie-Helene Premont to her first World Cup win of the season as she overhauled series leader Gunn-Rita Dahle on the last lap of the race. Sabine Spitz was third. Dahle’s second place was more than enough to maintain her considerable series lead, while Premont is now in second place.

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Women

Overall standings after five rounds

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Women

DH

It’s close at the top of the men’s DH pack. There are a bunch of riders who can pull a winning run out of the bag, and you’d be lucky to call the right one beforehand. Seeing Steve Peat in the hot seat was no great surprise, but then Sam Hill displacing him wasn’t a huge shock either. But Hill didn’t even manage to sit down before Chris Kovarik took top spot. And there he stayed, with fastest qualifier Greg Minnaar missing the mark by 0.32s.

It was a pretty good day for the Brits, with Steve Peat hanging on to fifth spot and Marc Beaumont overhauling his mentor for fourth. Peat’s still on top of the overall standings, although with a diminished margin – just forty points separate him and Minnaar.

There were two Brits on the podium in the women’s race too, but neither of them were at the top of it. That honour went to Sabrina Jonnier, two seconds clear of Tracy Moseley and ending the Kona rider’s winning streak. Moseley’s still in the lead overall, though, while Rachel Atherton’s fourth place at Mont Sainte Anne keeps her in third in the overall standings.

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Women

DH standings after four rounds

Men

Women

4X

Men

Women