RESULTS: DOWNHILL - 2018 MTB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Mountain Bike News Story

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Abeautiful, sunny day in the Swiss Alps set the stage for a dramatic season-ending Mountain Bike World Championships with thousands of spectators lining the course. Riders represented their countries in the one-day, winner-take-all downhill race over the coveted rainbow stripes jersey. Dig into the results and report below.

Greg Minnaar, multiple World Championships winner, with a #68 plate dropped in early for the Elite Men's race. Prior to Greg's run, Jackson Frew was the fastest rider in the ever-drying conditions. Greg had a solid run, breaking the 3-minute barrier, but had that look on his face that his performance wouldn't hold with so many riders remaining. An interview with Gee Atherton confirmed those were Greg's thoughts, and he was right.

Martin Maes, winner of the last World Cup Downhill in Labresse and also winner of the last Enduro World Series in Whistler, set down a time that was 2.4 seconds faster than Minnaar's. Maes has been in the limelight because of his double-duty performances in DH and Enduro. He qualified 4th in the wet even though he lost his chain halfway down the course. Martin's performances have proven he's more than just a phenomenal pedaler, he's a savage bike handler, too. A message from Sven Martin revealed that Martin was in the hospital this morning as he woke up with flu-like symptoms. Not the way one wants to start their World Champs race day. With the Top 10 riders remaining, Martin was still convincingly in the hot seat and Aaron Gwin dropped in.

Gwin, flawless through the rocks at the top looked poised and focused. A slight rear-end spit may have made the difference mentally for Aaron. From being green by .4 seconds to being red by .6, Gwin finished 1.1 seconds behind Martin Maes and sat in 2nd place with 9 riders remaining. Another year without the rainbow stripes has passed for the American downhiller.

Luca Shaw had a very steady-looking run, but he could not beat Maes or Gwin. He bumped his teammate, Greg Minnaar out of medal position, landing in 3rd at the time.

Brook Macdonald, fastest qualifier and fan-favorite was off pace at the top and eventually washed out, dashing any hopes of challenging for a medal.

Laurie Greenland lost time through the bottom half of the course and could not contend for a medal.

Blenki was well off the pace, but we don't care. Watching him ride makes us the winners.

Loic Bruni, defending World Champ, is a master of smooth riding skill and bike prep. It's safe to say that the course looks smoother beneath him than any other rider. Fast, greasy, clean, he was up at all splits during his run and instead of losing time through the countless bottom corners, Bruni gained time. Superbruni took down Martin Maes by just .2 seconds, grabs the hot seat and waits to see if he will run the stripes for another year thanks to a beautiful performance and the motivation of staying strong for Specialized teammate, Jared Graves, who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Loris Vergier, up at the first split, looked unphased and ready to pounce on fellow Frenchman, Loic Bruni. A bobble in a turn near the bottom sucked away any advantage and gold medal hopes were gone but only by .4 seconds when everything was over.

Danny Hart with a yo-yo of split times. Down at 1, up at 2, down at 3, clawing back a little and finally finishing just .3 behind Loic but also less than .1 behind Maes. The Top 3 were separated by just .305 seconds with some of the best remaining.

Troy Brosnan rode with an injured hand and despite a valiant effort, could not compete for a medal position. Amaury Pierron remained and a French winner guaranteed with Loic in the hot seat.

Amaury Pierron tried too hard, down at splits, eventually going down. Regardless, his 2018 season is more than impressive and proves he has a solid DH career ahead. Amaury's crash meant that Loic Bruni had secured his 3rd World Championships DH victory The Top 3 of Loic, Maes and Hart were all within the same 2:55 second. Incredible!!!

Loic Bruni post-race interview 1

(to be continued LOL)

Martin Maes post-race interview

Danny Hart post-race interview

Aaron Gwin post-race interview

Rachel Atherton decimates the Elite Women's class at World Champs with nearly a 10-second victory. The Elite Women's racing has been incredible this year with the top athletes battling for milliseconds at each race and today in Switzerland, the battle continued with a healthy roster. While Rachel felt had a good run going, she had to double-check the time after she crossed the line before it could sink in. Gold for Rachel after winning her 6th World Cup downhill title this year as well. Her brother, Gee Atherton, who's been on a tear toward the end of this season, missed out on a World Champs performance because of the timing of British team selection. Gee has been trackside as support for Rachel and the support showed through with the victory margin. The fight for silver and bronze was where the action was with Tahnee Seagrave earning silver not even one second over Myriam Nicole who takes the bronze.

Rachel Atherton post-race interview

Gee Atherton interview

Kade Edwards (UK) takes a convincing Junior victory and earns gold by 4.4 seconds. His qualifier was a heater, but qualifying this week wasn't a huge indicator of race day performance for top riders as qualifying didn't carry points and the Junior field, sadly, only had 8 total riders cut from the show. Kade backed up his qualifier in the wet with a pounding in the dry. Australia's, Kye A'hern has earned World Cup wins this season but missed some later-season racing due to injury. He's found his way back and earns silver. Canadian, Elliot Jamieson, hasn't shown his face at all the big races this year, but sure showed it today at World Champs. Bronze for the young ripper is an indicator that he's focused and working hard toward a downhill career. He earned 6th at Mont-Sainte-Anne and made his mark today. One of the race favorites due to a stellar World Cup season, Thibault Daprella, missed medal status with a 4th place result by less than half a second.

Vali Holl, no surprise as the Junior Women's winner. The pressure on her shoulder, however, must have been fairly significant because the entire mountain bike community was expecting a win from the holder of a now completely perfect season. She won every World Cup DH race and now has a gold medal and rainbow stripes from World Champs. Handling that pressure and putting together a perfect season is an incredible achievement. Well done, Vali! The USA gets a silver medal with up-and-coming shredder, Anna Newkirk. Anna has been charging and putting in the work all season and it has paid off at World Champs. Props to Samantha Soriano and Kaytlin Melvin racing for the U.S. The Juniors are breathing new life into women's downhill for America as we had no Elite Women present in Lenzerheide. Go get 'em girls!! Mille Johnset, pupil of Rachel Atherton rounds out the medals with a bronze performance as she continues upward momentum.