07.10.11 - STEVE SMITH NARROWLY MISSES PODIUM IN DOWNHILL AT WINDHAM WORLD CUP

Smith fourth in the men’s Elite race; Micayla Gatto ninth in women’s Elite race

(Windham, NY – July 10, 2011) The 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event in Windham, NY continued today with both elite races for the downhill discipline, and Canadian rider Steve Smith of Cassidy, BC raced to a fourth place finish, missing the podium by just 0.2 seconds as he continues his excellent season on the international scene.

Smith, Canada’s top downhiller and silver medallist at the 2010 UCI World Championships, posted a time of 2:27.513 for the fourth place amongst the large field of 82 riders. American Aaron Gwin, the favourite entering the race, took the highest honours on his home soil with a time of 2:24.037, followed by Great Britain’s Steve Peat in second and South African Andrew Neethling in third.

In the finals, Smith had a slow start, but regrouped to regain most of his lost time in the second and third section of the course, posting the fifth fastest time at the second interval. In the last section of the course, Smith jumped one spot of the challenging course to finish with the fourth fastest time of the day.

On Friday, Smith qualified with the seventh fastest time in the qualifying rounds.

In the women’s race, the defending Canadian champion Micayla Gatto of Squamish, BC finished in ninth place as the top Canadian. Gatto raced down the course with a time of 3:00.406, 10.377 seconds off the winning pace set by Rachel Atherton of Great Britain. Miranda Miller, the other Canadian in the race, finished 12th.

The 2011 Canadian DH MTB Championships will be held July 23-24 in Panorama Mountain Resort in British Colombia.

RESULTS – DOWNHILL – 2011 UCI MTB WORLD CUP – WINDHAM, NY, USA

All results can be found on www.uci.ch

MEN ELITE

1. GWIN, Aaron USA [TREK WORLD RACING] 2:24.037

2. PEAT, Steve GBR [SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE] +02.339

3. NEETHLING, Andrew RSA [GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM] +03.207

4. SMITH, Steve CAN [DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING] +03.476

40. SANGERS, Kyle CAN +09.606

58. TENNANT, Dean CAN +12.757

66. LAMBERT, Hans CAN +14.308

69. ZDRILUK Matt, CAN +15.243

75. FRASER Rob, CAN +23.723

WOMEN ELITE

1. ATHERTON, Rachel GBR [COMMENCAL] 2:50.029

2. PUGIN, Floriane FRA [SCOTT 11] +1.348

3. MOSELEY, Tracy GBR [TREK WORLD RACING] +02.671

9. GATTO, Micayla CAN +10.377

12. MILLER, Miranda CAN +13.930