BRITS' MIXED RESULTS AT MTB WORLDS

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Click here to watch selected video highlights of the MTB World Champs

Great Britain came away from the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (September 4-9) held at Fort William, Scotland, with one world champion, two silvers and two bronze medals.

Despite setting the fastest times in qualifying, the British elite downhill contigent couldn't quite replicate that performance in the finals on Sunday. However, Britain still managed to get three riders in the top five of the elite women's downhill, with Rachel Atherton scoring silver. Rachel Atherton's brother Gee also secured bronze in the men's event.

The weekend's glory went to the donwhilling juniors, with Ruaridh Cunningham being crowned Junior Downhill World Champion after a convincing performance on the tough and muddy Fort William course and Katy Curd gaining silver in the junior women's event.

In the cross-country events, David Fletcher came away with bronze for Great Britain in the junior men's event. Oli Beckingsale was Britain's top finisher in the elite men's cross-country in 35th, with Jenny Copnall top Brit in the women's event at 47th.

One thing that was an unreserved success was the event itself. Crowds lined the edge of the racing, with the biggest crowds reserved for Friday night's spectacular floodlit 4x finals, and Sunday's downhill finale.

UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007: FINAL RESULTS
Elite men downhill
1 Samuel Hill (Australia) 4.52.0
2 Fabien Barel (France) 4.52.6
3 Gee Atherton (Great Britain) 4.56.4
10 Dan Atherton (Great Britain) 5.02.0
13 Marc Beaumont (Great Britain) 5.03.4
26 Brendan Fairclough (Great Britain) 5.12.7
67 Steve Peat (Great Britain) 5.39.6
87 Dan Stanbridge (Great Britain) 9.17.6

Elite women downhill
1 Sabrina Jonnier (France) 5.28.35
2 Rachel Atherton (Great Britain) 5.32.36
3 Tracey Hannah (Australia) 5.39.89
4 Tracy Moseley (Great Britain) 5.47.76
5 Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain) 5.48.21
7 Helen Gaskell (Great Britain) 5.50.43
20 Anja Rees Jones (Great Britain) 6.10.69

Junior women downhill
1 Floriane Pugin (France) 5.50.18
2 Katy Curd (Great Britain) 6.17.30
3 Myriam Nicole (France) 6.41.48

Junior men downhill
1 Ruaridh Cunningham (Great Britain) 5.06.82
2 John Swanguen (United States Of America) 5.08.89
3 Matthew Scoles (New Zealand) 5.09.27
9 Chris Hutchens (Great Britain) 5.16.44
21 Scott Mears (Great Britain) 5.26.01
34 Josh Bryceland (Great Britain) 5.40.19

Elite men cross-country
1 Julien Absalon (France) 2.17.06
2 Ralph Näf (Switzerland) 0.25
3 Florian Vogel (Switzerland) 0.54
35 Oliver Beckingsale (Great Britain) 7.26
42 Ian Wilkinson (Great Britain) 8.43
44 Liam Killeen (Great Britain) 9.01
55 Paul Oldham (Great Britain) 11.45
61 Nicholas Craig (Great Britain) 12.59

Elite women's cross-country
1 Irina Kalentieva (Russia) 1.44.08
2 Sabine Spitz (Germany) 0.39
3 Jingjing Wang (China) 1.42
47 Jenny Copnall (Great Britain) 15.25
56 Ruth Mcgavigan (Great Britain) 20.21
62 Elizabeth Scalia (Great Britain)

Under-23 men cross-country
1 Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) 1.54.04
2 Nino Schurter (Switzerland) 1.43
3 Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic) 3.20
23 Ian Bibby (Great Britain) 9.46
30 Ian Field (Great Britain) 11.27

Under-23 women cross-country
1 Liu Ying (People's Republic Of China) 1.45.43
2 Chengyuan Ren (People's Republic Of China) 3.31
3 Elisabeth Osl (Austria) 5.20
14 Amy Hunt (Great Britain) 14.18

Junior men's cross-country
1 Thomas Litscher (Switzerland) 1.37.06
2 Piotr Brzozka (Poland) 0.27
3 David Fletcher (Great Britain) 0.40
17 Alex Paton (Great Britain) 4.15
55 Hamish Creber (Great Britain) 11.42
61 Shaun Hurrell (Great Britain) 13.04

Junior women's cross-country
1 Alla Boyko (Ukraine) 1.25.14
2 Jitka Skarnitzlova (Czech Republic) 0.28
3 Julie Bresset (France) 1.35
16 Annie Last (Great Britain) 8.29
22 Annabel Simpson (Great Britain) 19.23

Men's 4x finals
1 Brian Lopes (United States of America)
2 Romain Saladini (France)
3 Jurg Meijer (Netherlands)
7 Scott Beaumont (Great Britain)
17 Dan Atherton (Great Britain)
21 Will Longden (Great Britain)
31 Nigel Page (Great Britain)

Women's 4x finals
1 Jill Kintner (United States of America)
2 Anneke Beerten (Netherlands)
3 Melissa Buhl (United States of America)
7 Joey Gough (Great Britain)
9 Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain)

Cross-country team relay
1 Switzerland 1.33.36
2 Poland 0.49
3 United States of America 1.09
9 Great Britain 2.54

RELATED LINKS
Click here to watch selected video highlights of the MTB World Champs
Brits set for downhill glory
CW's MTB World Championships 2007 preview

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Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.