Rachel Atherton is back! Rachel has won the Val di Sole World Cup by over 4 seconds, a good sign that she is past her injury and back into top form. Myriam Nicole in second and Emmeline Ragot in third.
Early leaders included Miranda Miller and Sabrina Jonnier, but things changed fairly quickly as first Anita Molcik and then Petra Bernhardt came down the course. Tracey Hannah, winner of the first round in Pietermaritzburg, was one of the early favorites here, but she started after Anita and never managed to take the hot seat. Then Morgan Charre took her turn and she stepped it up a bit, she started out 2 seconds back at the first split, but crossed the line 3.5 seconds up over Petra.Then it was Emilie Siegenthaler turn but she couldn't beat Morgane's time and moved into second spot. Floriane Pugin after a series of injuries in the past few races started her run at 4 seconds up at the first split and then continued to put it on, finishing 4 seconds ahead of Morgane and ending up in the hot seat. It's good to see her back. Myriam Nicole has only won one World Cup in her life, and she looked like she was on her way to winning here, 10 seconds up at the first split and riding incredibly fast she finished almost 11 seconds up on Floriane to take the lead. But next up was Rachel Atherton. Rachel became the 2008 World Champion on this course, and she was looking incredibly quick all the way down. Over 2 seconds up on Myriam's time at the first split she absolutely tore up the course to finish 4.485 seconds up on Myriam. She looked to be in a lot of pain at the finish holding her right shoulder, but she was in the hot seat. Still up though was Emmeline Ragot, fastest in qualifying, and always a threat. Last years World Champ looked insanely quick on the top part of the course, but she was 4 seconds back of Rachel at the first split. She put on a lot of speed at the bottom and had the fastest time through the speed trap, but she couldn't beat Rachel's time and ended up in third spot.
After missing out the first round in South Africa Rachel's win puts her into 4th place overall behind Emmeline Ragot, Tracey Hannah, and Myriam Nicole. Complete standings after Val di Sole are
here42220 DHI WE Results
