Downhill highlights @UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2012

The Gravity series for the RockyRoads UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano returned on Sunday with round two in Val di Sole, Italy, and both the men's and women's competitions saw dominating performances by the winners. Rachel Atherton (GT Factory) beat the rest of the women's field by nearly five seconds, while 2011 World Cup Champion Aaron Gwin (Trek World Racing) was almost eight seconds ahead of his nearest competitor in the men's race.

Val di Sole is known for its highly technical, rough and dusty track, and this year was no different, with new sections of the course buried under soft, loamy dirt that was nearly 30 centimeters deep in places.

Sabrina Jonnier (Labyrinth Shimano) was the first woman to spend an extended time in the Hot Seat, but she was then bumped out of contention by a pair of Austrian riders - Anita Molcik (Four Elements) and Petra Bernhard (Alpine Commencal Austria) - before a trio of French riders took the top spot in quick succession, with Myriam Nicole (Commencal/Riding Addiction) the first to break the four minute barrier.

However, Nicole's reign at the top was brief, with Atherton the next rider on course. Atherton, the World Champion here in Val di Sole in 2008, and coming back from a shoulder injury that derailed most of last season and saw her missed the opening round this year, was noticeably faster than any other woman, finishing 4.485 seconds ahead of Nicole. The only rider remaining was the world champion, Emmeline Ragot (MS Mondraker), who had qualified first, but she was no match for Atherton, finishing over eight seconds back in third.

"I still can't quite believe it," commented Atherton. "The track here is so insane, it's so long and physical and wild. I knew that if I was going to win it I had to put everything on the line. I had a pretty good run and nearly crashed a few times, but you've just got to risk it, and I wanted to win."

Ragot takes the World Cup lead, since Atherton did not compete in the first round, with 370 points, followed by round one winner Tracey Hannah (Hutchinson United Ride) at 322, Nicole at 261 points and Atherton with 240.

The men's race saw Gwin throw down a tremendous challenge to the rest of the field by finishing over seven seconds ahead of second place Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate). Minnaar, the winner of round one and World Cup leader, had beaten Gwin just a week earlier at a warm up event in Austria, but this was clearly a different Gwin.

Times were dropping steadily through the 82 rider strong field until Junior-aged Loic Bruni (Lapierre International) threw down the first sub-3:25 time with 30 riders to go. Bruni held the lead for ten riders before Steve Smith (Devinci Global Racing) took half a second off, and Smith lasted for 13 riders until Sam Blenkinsop (Lapierre International) bumped him out by a second. The lead continued to drop by fractions of a second until Minnaar, the second fastest qualifier, held the Hot Seat.

However, despite going nearly six seconds faster than he had in qualifying, Minnaar was still almost two seconds slower than Gwin's qualifying time and, barring a crash, Gwin was the odds-on favorite as he began his run. The American champion did not disappoint; fastest at both intermediate splits by huge margins, he knocked more than six seconds off his qualifying time to win by 7.85 seconds, a staggering margin when Minnaar had beaten him by a mere 6.32 tenths of a second in the first round. Gee Atherton (GT Factory) finished third, followed by team mate Marc Beaumont, with Cameron Cole (Lapierre International) in fifth.

"Ive been looking for a run like that for some time now," said Gwin. "I couldn't be happier. I was pretty sure my quali time would hold, and even though the course here is super rough and dusty, I managed an almost clean run. Greg rode amazingly well on this track and is going to be tough competition for the remainder of the season."

Gwin and Minnaar are tied at 450 points in the World Cup standings, each with a win and a second, however, Gwin takes over the Series' lead by virtue of the more recent victory. Atherton is third with 315 points, followed by Beaumont at 228 and Smith with 215.