Britain’s Rachel Atherton has won the elite women’s downhill world championship in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in a time of 4:28.043, beating France’s Emmeline Ragot into silver (on +08.632) and Australia’s Tracey Hannah into bronze with +12.395. GB’s Fionn Griffiths and Manon Carpenter managed 12th and 17th respectively, the latter having crashed, with Atherton’s achievement marking her second downhill world title following her 2008 win in Val di Sole, Italy. 25-year-old tweeted: ‘Hasn’t sunk in that I’m finally world champion again. All I can say is THANK YOU to everyone in the whole world.’ SA rider and reigning world champion Greg Minnaar retained his title in the elite men’s downhill final, with Matt Simmonds delivering the best GB ride finishing fifth on +3.939 – two places higher than Atherton’s brother Gee +04.303.
For further details on both Athertons see athertonracing.co.uk and follow them on Twitter @rachelatherton and @gee_atherton
