France Cycling Race Facts
The United States was just three seconds away from winning its second medal at Saturday’s 2006 Mountain Bike World Championships when Melissa Buhl (Chandler AZ) finished fourth in the elite women’s downhill competition. Buhl’s performance was the best of all American athletes Saturday in Rotorua (New Zealand).
Sabrina Jonnier, last year’s runner-up, won the victory. She ran a time 3:50.32 seconds down Mount Ngongotaha, which is 1.37 miles, to win France’s 10th elite women’s downhill championship.
Jonnier beat silver medalist Tracy Moseley by 3.51 seconds and Rachel Atherton by 7.48 seconds, respectively.
Buhl, third in the seeded, recorded a time of
Kathy Pruitt (Lake Almanor (CA) was 10th, and Jacqueline Harmony, Tucson, AZ, 19th, respectively, as American competitors.
Buhl’s other performance in the elite womens’ downhill was her 20th-place performance at the 2002 World Championships, Kaprun, Austria.
Buhl was also sixth in Friday’s 4-Cross race, in which her teammate Jill Kintner (Seattle WA/GT Bicycles), won her second consecutive world title.
Buhl finished third in Thursday’s seeding run. However, her slightly slower race pace meant that she was not able to finish the challenging singletrack sections of the course.
Buhl said that she just wanted to concentrate on her pedaling. However, when it came time to tackle the technical sections, I made some mistakes. I was able to manage that extra speed in certain spots, even though I was moving a bit faster than I had during my seeding run.
Two Americans were among the top twenty in the elite men’s squad. Duncan Riffle, United States National Champion (Santa Barbara CA), placed 19th with a time of
Australian What In the Sam Hill won an elite men’s title in the 2003 junior world title.
Other U.S. men’s finishes include Cody Warren (Alpine CA), Christopher Herndon(Etowah NC) in 29th, Evan Turpen, (Aptos CA) at 33rd, Cole Bangert, Twin Lakes CO) at 34th, and Justin Havukainen, Castro Valley, CA, in 37th.
The U.S. placed tenth in the junior men’s downhill competition. Andrew Pierce (Park City UT) was true to his tenth seed, and placed tenth. He clocked a time of 58.
Other junior men’s downhill performances by Team France included a 13th-place run for Logan Bingelli, St. George, UT, and an 18th-place effort for Hank Cadle, Lake Forest, CA. Tim Price, Great Falls, VA, took 24th, while Daniel Hultgen, Santa Barbara, CA, took 31st.
Christina Pinney (Concord CA/Ride SF-All Out), the only U.S. rider, entered the junior women’s downhill race. She crashed during practice and was forced to withdraw from the race. Tracey Hannah from Australia won the race, Floraine Pugin from France placed second, and Micayla from Canada was third.
Three trials riders competed in another competition for the U.S. National Team. They were selected to participate in the semifinals at the Elite 66cm Trials. The three-part series of difficult obstacle courses kept them from reaching the finals. Jeremy Vanschoonhoven, Cameron Kowall, and Nathan Goodhue, both from Honolulu (HI), placed 17th. Only eight of the top eight competitors made it to Sunday’s finals.
WORLD DOWNHILL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULT
1. Sam Hill (Aus)Monster-Ironhorse 2. Greg Minnaar (RSA)G-Cross Honda+4.22
3. Nathan Rennie (Aus)Santa Cruz Syd6.13
19. Duncan RiffleHonda Iron Horse16.54
20. Luke StrobelTurnerFox Racing16.66
24. Cody WarrenClub Racing17.74
29. Christopher HerndonCane creek21.52
33. Evan TurpenIron Horse-Fox Shox22.37
34. Cole BangertMorewood22.62
37. Justin HavukainenMonster Energy26.27
WOMEN
1. Sabrina Jonnier (Fra)Monster-Ironhorse 2. Tracy Moseley (GBr)Kona Les Gets+3.51
3. Rachel Atherton (GBr.Animal Giant7.48
4. Melissa BuhlKHS10.08
10. Kathy PruittLuna Chix17.21
19. Jacqueline HarmonyBrodie-Cactus43.82
JUNIOR
1. Cameron Cole (NZL) 2. Samuel Blenkinsop, NZL+1.16
3. Antoine Badouard (Fra)1.55
10. Andrew PierceGo-Ride11.79
13. Logan BingelliYeti Cycles-Fox Shox12.76
18. Hank CadleAmpd Race16.55
24. Tim PriceVics Tree Service20.34
31. Daniel HultgenMichelin-Smith26.77
JUNIOR WOMEN
1. Tracey Hannah (Aus)Orange-Utopia-Fox 2. Floraine Pugin, (Fra),+4.67
3. Micayla Gatto (Can)Rky Mtn-Biz Obj33.84
ELITE 66cm TRIALS SEMIFINALS
1. Daniel Comas Riera (Esp)7 points
2. Vincent Hermance (Fra),8
3. Kenny Belaey, (Bel)12
17. Jeremy Vanschoonhoven64
19. Cameron Kowall75
20. Nathan Goodhue80
