Steve Peat again had to settle for second place at last weekend’s World Championships in a competition that saw the best British performances in the downhill events, as expected.

In both the men’s and women’s DH, British and French riders dominated but it was the French who had the edge. BBC coverage showed the blood draining from Peat’s face as he realized Nicolas Vouilloz had come through just over half a second faster than he had and whisked away the gold medal from under his nose, leaving Peat to pick up silver. It was one time too many for Peat, who according to his website is “gutted”. Fion Griffiths’ response to her silver medal finish in the women’s event was probably a bit more exuberant. Griffiths came in 6.6 seconds behind winner Anne Caroline Chausson (France) and four seconds faster third-place finisher Missy Giove. Team-mate Tracey Moseley was also a strong finisher in fourth.

In the Cross-Country, Roland Green took his second consecutive title with a 19 second margin over silver-placed Filip Meirhaeghe. Heavy rain had turned the XC course into a mud bath, treacherous and even unrideable in some places, making a big part of the race trying to avoid breaking anything. It was not until the last lap of the five-lap race that Green pulled clear, finally managing to shake off the persistent Meirhaeghe. Finishing in third place, Thomas Frischknecht collected his sixth cross-country world championship medal and set a new record in the process. The first British finisher was Nick Craig in 23rd place, Barrie Clark finished 53rd ahead of Zak Toogood in 59th while Oli Beckinsale didn’t manage to finish.

The women’s race saw Gunn-Rita Dahle (Norway) make up for last year’s punctured lead by adding the World Championship title to the European Championship she won last month. In an odd twist, defending champion Alison Dunlap suffered a fate similar to that of Dahle last year when her derailleur broke and she went out of the race. She had been in a good position but not leading. After the form she’s showed recently, Brit Caroline Alexander will probably be a bit disappointed with her 13th place finish, 14 minutes of the pace of the lead.

RESULTS

MEN’S DH

1. VOUILLOZ Nicolas, FRA 5:08.53

2. PEAT Steve, GBR +0.54
3. KOVARIK Chris, AUS +5.35
4. GRACIA Cédric, FRA +5.97
5. WADDELL John, AUS +8.69
6. PASCAL Mickael,FRA +8.88
7. SAIZ CASTANE Oscar, ESP +9.31
8. RENNIE Nathan, AUS +9.40
9. MISSER VILASECA Tomas, ESP +9.76
10. HANNAH Mick, AUS +9.81

WOMEN’S DH

1. CHAUSSON Anne Caroline, FRA
2. GRIFFITHS Fionn, GBR +6.60
3. GIOVE Missy, USA + 10.56
4. MOSELEY Tracy, GBR + 14.61
5. JONNIER Sabrina,FRA + 14.77
6. SANER Marielle, SUI + 15.68
7. LE CAER Nolvenn, FRA + 22.47
8. MUXLOW Tai Lee, AUS + 23.49
9. QUIN Vanessa NZL + 23.86
10. STIEGER Sarah, SUI + 25.34

MEN’S XC
1. Roland GREEN, CAN, 2:19:02.00
2. Filip MEIRHAEGHE, BEL, 2:19:21.00
3. Thomas FRISCHKNECHT, SUI, 2:20:47.00
4. Lado FUMIC, GER, 2:25:12.00
5. Thomas KALBERER, SUI, 2:25:35.00
6. Roel PAULISSEN, BEL, 2:27:29.00
7. Hubert PALLHUBER, ITA, 2:27:38.00
8. Seamus MCGRATH, CAN, 2:27:45.00
9. Marek GALINSKI, POL, 2:27:47.00
10. Christophe DUPOUEY, FRA, 2:28:56.00
11. Bas VAN DOOREN, NED, 2:29:27.00
12. Jose Antonio HERMIDA RAMOS, ESP, 2:29:58.00
13. Marco BUI, ITA, 2:30:45.00
14. Silvio BUNDI, SUI, 2:31:06.00
15. Kashi LEUCHS, NZL, 2:31:18.00

WOMEN’s XC
1. Gunn-Rita DAHLE, NOR, 2:14:05.00
2. Anna SZAFRANIEC, POL, 2:15:28.00
3. Sabine SPITZ, GER, 2:16:53.00
4. Alison SYDOR, CAN, 2:17:41.00
5. Petra HENZI, SUI, 2:22:26.00
6. Maroussia RUSCA, SUI, 2:22:42.00
7. Chrissy REDDEN, CAN, 2:24:02.00
8. Kiara BISARO, CAN, 2:24:44.00
9. Nina GOEHL, GER, 2:25:30.00
10. Alla EPIFANOVA, RUS, 2:25:30.00
11. Mary GRIGSON, AUS, 2:27:36.00
12. Katrin SCHWING, GER, 2:27:37.00
13. Caroline ALEXANDER, GBR, 2:28:02.00
14. Helene MARCOUYRE, FRA, 2:28:12.00
15. Petra SCHOERKMAYER, AUT, 2:28:31.00