Rachel Atherton storms to eighth victory
Rachel Atherton stormed to her eighth consecutive Downhill World Cup victory by over seven seconds.
The high-riding Llanrhaeadr mountain bike ace produced another blistering performance as the UCI MTB World Cup series moved to Cairns in Australia.
Riding for the Trek Factory Racing team, Atherton enjoyed her 28th World Cup success to date, to enhance her claim to become the most awarded UK mountain biker in the history of the sport.
Atherton extended her lead in the UCI Womens Downhill standings with 490 points and is now 135 points clear of fellow Brits Tahnee Seagrave (355) and Manon Carpenter (350).
The track was running fast but the "rock garden" – a huge obstacle near the top of the course – was catching out several riders, including fourth seed Emmeline Siegenthaler.
However, local rider Tracy Hannah had no such problems as she sailed through to take the hot seat by six seconds in 3:55.664.
Only UK's Manon Carpenter and Atherton were left on course, but Carpenter was unable make up the time as she crossed the line in 3.58.37 for an eventual third position.
Atherton won her previous visit to the Cairns World Cup and, as the last woman on course, carried good speed throughout with a powerful display that saw her cross the line in 3.48.56 – over seven seconds clear of the field.
She said: "I'm ecstatic to win, but at the same time there's a part of me that's gutted for Tracey – I know how emotional it is to win on your home turf and she rode a great race."
