Brook MacDonald Wins The Val d' Isere World Cup

It’s hard to find words for was has happened today. After the last race we needed to focus on the words “that’s racing” as the competition was clouded by some bad luck. But we knew that our luck will be back some when, but we didn’t expect it that quick . Brook won his first worldcup race here in Val d’ Isere/ France and Emmeline got 2nd again.

The race week started with a course walk, where no one seems to be too happy about the track. It’s a bit short and the village of Val d’ Isere is on a sea level of 1821 meters, which means almost no trees and no roots at all. After a few runs, most of the riders get used to it and the MS Mondraker Team had some good fun during the training days.

The qualification was a tough one as the weather changed a few times and quiet a lot of top 20 riders came down with flat tires such as Steve Smith or Sam Hill. Markus had solid run and ended up in 22nd place, Damien came in promising 7th place and Brook stand out with a 3rd place. Emmeline showed her strength again and finished in 2nd place just behind all-time competitor Rachel Atherton. Like in Windham everything seems to perfect for race day, but with outcome of this past worldcup race in mind we were a bit more nervous than at other races.

The girl’s finals were again a competition between Emmeline and Rachel Atherton. Emmeline had a couple of mistakes right after the start and a little bit of headwind. In the end Emmeline was 1,8 seconds off Rachel, which was the 2nd place of the day.

In the men’s race Markus was the first rider to come down of the MS Mondraker Team. He had again a solid run and finished in 19th position. Damien came down with a decent run, which might have brought him on the podium. He was around 0.7 seconds off the current lead as he went over his bars and crashed hard.
Last men to come down of the MS Mondraker Team was Brook and we knew that he was hungry for a podium. He came crossed the finish line and got in lead ahead of Greg Minaar and Gee Atherton, but there were 2 riders still to come, which was Josh Bryceland and Cameron Cole. Both weren’t able to beat Brooks time and Brook won his first worldcup race.

The whole MS MONDRAKER TEAM is now pretty proud and happy about this win, as it is the first men’s victory for MS RACING since Chris Kovarik in 2006. Furthermore it’s the last win on flat pedals since the world championships in 2010.
“Thank you Brook for making this happen and congrats to your first worldcup win- there are more to come!”

With this strong performance the MS Mondraker Team became 2nd best team of the day, which brought us back in 3rd position of the teams overall.

A big “thank you” to all our supporters and people who are helping us out in the background- you guys are awesome and you are a part of this victory!

2012 Val d'Isere UCI World Cup Wrap Up

Round Six of the DHI UCI World Cup saw big wins for Rachel Atherton and Brook MacDonald

A bouyant Rachel Atherton extended her lead at the top of the Downhill standings today with victory in the penultimate round of the UCI MTB World Cup.

The British rider was 1.4 seconds faster than reigning world champion Emmeline Ragot and 3.1 seconds quicker than Floriane Pugin, who was riding on home soil. Atherton's fellow Briton, Manon Carpenter, also put in a fine performance and came home fifth quickest.

In one post-race interview, Atherton had this to say: “I had a good run, tried to keep up the momentum but not mess things up. The track is very dry and fast and pretty sketchy, with hard turns, so it's easy to make a mistake. I like it, I didn’t think it would be that good here.”

Atherton is now on 1,200 points – 80 ahead of her closest rival Ragot.

In the men's finals, Aaron Gwin missed out on the top three but still managed to claim the overall Downhill World Cup title, which more than made up for crashing badly in qualifying.

Gwin was quickest for much of the afternoon, until Greg Minnaar and Gee Atherton took to the track. The latter notched a lightning quick 2:19.973 to take the lead from South Africa's Minnaar and it looked like the Brit might win his first Downhill World Cup since 2010.

It wasn't to be, though. New Zealand's Brook MacDonald put in a brilliantly controlled yet aggressive performance in one of the afternoon's final rides to take the victory. He came off the final jump 0.4 seconds quicker than Gee Atherton and 0.6 seconds faster than Minnaar's British team-mate Josh Bryceland.

“I can’t even explain it in words," said MacDonald after the race. "I had a solid run, no mistakes. It was just one of those runs were you come down strong, I’m over the moon."

"I’ve had big struggles over the season," he continued, "and I was at the point where I was actually hating riding. But I changed a few things, including the set-up, and it’s paid off. I think I’m going to party for a week now.”

Overall champion Aaron Gwin did well to finish fifth after his crash in qualifying. The Californian put in a still-impressive ride with five stitches in his hand.The Downhill riders return to the UCI World Cup tour on September 14-15 when they reconvene in Hafjell, Norway, for Round Seven.

Women's Val d'Isère DHI results
1. Rachel Atherton, GT FACTORY RACING, 2:38.967
2. Emmeline Ragot, MS MONDRAKER TEAM, +1.487
3. Floriane Pugin, SCOTT11, +3.118
4. Myriam Nicole, COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION, +4.249
5. Manon Carpenter, MADISON SARSUI19860919 SCOTT11, +8.181
7. Petra Bernhard, ALPINE COMMENCAL AUSTRIA, +11.118
8. Sabrina Jonnier, LABYRINTH SHIMANO RACING TEAM, +12.794
9. Mio Suemasa, +13.499
10. Morgane Charre, PASSION VELO.FR, +14.369

Men's Val d’Isere DHI results
1. Brook MacDonald, MS MONDRAKER TEAM, 2:19.478
2. Gee Atherton, GT FACTORY RACING, +0.495
3. Josh Bryceland, SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE, +0.677
4. Greg Minnaar, SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE, +0.867
5. Aaron Gwin, TREK WORLD RACING, +1.366
6. Michael Hannah, HUTCHINSON UNITED RIDE, +1.893
7. Marc Beaumont, GT FACTORY RACING, +2.110
8. Cameron Cole, LAPIERRE INTERNATIONAL, +2.296
9. Rémi Thirion, LABYRINTH SHIMANO RACING TEAM, +2.453
10. Andrew Neethling, GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM, +2.63

2012 Val d'Isere UCI World Cup Final Results

2012 Val d'Isere UCI Men's Final Results

2012 Val d'Isere UCI Women's Final Results

Rank	Name	UCI Code	Team	Result
1	MACDONALD Brook	NZL19911125	MS MONDRAKER TEAM	2:19.478
2	ATHERTON Gee	GBR19850226	GT FACTORY RACING	+0.495
3	BRYCELAND Josh	GBR19900323	SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE	+0.677
4	MINNAAR Greg	RSA19811113	SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE	+0.867
5	GWIN Aaron	USA19871224	TREK WORLD RACING	+1.366
6	HANNAH Michael	AUS19831121	HUTCHINSON UNITED RIDE	+1.893
7	BEAUMONT Marc	GBR19840925	GT FACTORY RACING	+2.110
8	COLE Cameron	NZL19880203	LAPIERRE INTERNATIONAL	+2.296
9	THIRION Rémi	FRA19900423	LABYRINTH SHIMANO RACING TEAM	+2.453
10	NEETHLING Andrew	RSA19840805	GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM	+2.635

Rank	Name	UCI Code	Team	Result
1	ATHERTON Rachel	GBR19871206	GT FACTORY RACING	2:38.967
2	RAGOT Emmeline	FRA19860527	MS MONDRAKER TEAM	+1.487
3	PUGIN Floriane	FRA19890417	SCOTT11	+3.118
4	NICOLE Myriam	FRA19900208	COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION	+4.249
5	CARPENTER Manon	GBR19930311	MADISON SARACEN DOWNHILL TEAM	+4.903
6	SIEGENTHALER Emilie	SUI19860919	SCOTT11	+8.181
7	BERNHARD Petra	AUT19801118	ALPINE COMMENCAL AUSTRIA	+11.118
8	JONNIER Sabrina	FRA19810819	LABYRINTH SHIMANO RACING TEAM	+12.794
9	SUEMASA Mio	JPN19830401		+13.499
10	CHARRE Morgane	FRA19900609	PASSION VELO.FR	+14.369

2012 Val d'Isere UCI WC Qualifying Results

2012 Val d'Isere World Cup Men's Qualifying Results

2012 Val d'Isere World Cup Women's Qualifying Results

2012 Val d'Isere UCI World Cup Timed Training Results

2012 UCI Val d'Isere Men's Timed Training

2012 UCI Val d'Isere Women's Timed Training