World Cup # 4 – Mont Ste Anne – Canada

I am always excited to race at Mont Ste Anne as it is the venue of my first ever world cup race back in 1997 and has been one of my favourite race tracks ever since. It’s long, fast and technical and feels like a real test of all the skills you need as a downhill racer. As in previous years we were greeted at Montreal airport by rain, but the difference this year to previous years, is that this year it was not going to stop ! It rained so heavily at times during the week and when I walked the track it was obvious it has been raining here for months ! Apparently it has been one of the worst summers for weather having record rainfall. To make it worse there were quite a few new sections of track that had only been dug 2 weeks ago and had not had chance to dry out, so we were riding a pretty muddy track from top to bottom !

It was great fun to ride in practice, just carrying your speed through some of the sections was a real challenge as the mud was so deep it was up to the bottom bracket of the bike ! I really enjoyed it and was feeling good on the bike and really happy to be in my new race kit for the year. It was just a shame it got so muddy no one could see it ! Fortunately the rain stopped about midday the day before the race, we had a dry night and were able to put dry tyres on the bike for race day. The track dried out surprisingly quickly in a few places, but other places it was still muddy. It turned the track into one of the hardest Mont Ste Anne tracks I have ever ridden as the mud had made the track rough which when it dried out it became even rougher. My practice definitely took its toll on me, along with a couple of big crashes in practice, I was left feeling a bit fatigued going into the race.

I qualified in 2nd spot knowing I would have to go faster in the final. By the final the track was even drier and I did manage to go 5 seconds faster, but it was still not my best run of the weekend which was frustrating. However I ended up in 3rd spot and claimed some valuable points for the overall standings.

I now head to Bromont for the next round of the World Cup next weekend.

Action photos are courtesey of Keith Valentine @ phunkt.com