Events - 09/12/06 UCI finals

Hill, Jonnier Wins; Peat, Moseley Takes Overall Title in Schladming

Heading into the UCI world cup finals on September 10 in the Austrian village of Schladming, Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Steve Peat led the points race by 178 points over Team G Cross Honda rider Greg Minnaar. Peat was assured a top-two finish in the world cup standings, but had no intentions of finishing in second place.

The four-minute course featured many high-speed sections linked by more than 60 turns, with the grassy, off-camber section at the bottom proving to be the most troublesome for the riders.

Nathan Rennie was the top qualifier in Schladming, finishing in 3:55.61 and besting Sam Hill’s second-place qualifying run. Greg Minnaar, Mickael Pascal and Gee Atherton qualified in third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Peat was conservative during qualifying and qualified in eighth place.

In the finals, Sam Hill smoked the field by almost six seconds and took the win. Rennie went over a berm in his run and came to a dead stop, but was still able to finish in second place. Greg Minnaar, who had been struggling with a nagging leg injury, was fast enough for third place, finishing only four hundredths of a second behind Rennie. Minnaar’s teammate Matti Lehikoinen finished in fourth, and young British up-and-comer Brendan Fairclough rounded out the podium in fifth.

Although Steve Peat finished the race in thirteenth place, he still maintained his lead in the points race, earning the title of 2006 World Cup champion. Sam Hill’s first-place finish in Schladming boosted him into second place in the points standings, while Minnaar took third, Rennie took fourth and Gee Atherton finished in fifth.

In the women’s field, Sabrina Jonnier took the win with a time of 4:33.43, while Emmeline Ragot, Tracy Moseley, Helen Gaskell and Rachel Atherton took second through fifth, respectively. Moseley’s third-place finish in Schladming was enough to secure the World Cup title, and Jonnier’s podium-topping performance earned her second place in the points race. Atherton finished the season in third place overall, Emmeline Ragot finished fourth and Helen Gaskell ended the season in fifth.