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With three World Cup rounds to go (Bromont, Canberra and Schladming), the fight has never been so close. One month after the Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole (Ita) where the Atherton family won two downhill titles, the World Cup continued on the famous and highly respected track in Mont-Sainte-Anne (Can). After his win in Fort William in early June, Greg Minnaar clocked up his second victory of the season (his first ever in Mont-Sainte-Anne). He is in a strong position to take his third World Cup title after 2001 and 2005. The Pietermaritzburg (RSA) rider beat Australia’s Sam Hill, new World Champion Gee Atherton and recent British Champion Steve Peat to take the World Cup leader jersey. At this point it is going to be very hard to snatch the new jersey off his back...

Rachel Atherton had never before won in Mont-Sainte-Anne. Until this year. The British rider, who was recently crowned 2008 World Champion, took the lead in the World Cup overall after a narrow one-and-a-half second win over her closest rival Sabrina Jonnier. Tracy Moseley finished third, 10 seconds behind Atherton. Only 38 points now separate Atherton and Jonnier. This season will be closely fought to the end.

WORLD CUP 4-CROSS
Before this season, Spanish rider Rafael Alvarez had never won a World Cup round. Fifth place at the World Championships in Fort William last year was his best achievement. But 2008 has seen the Spaniard reach the very top level. A surprise winner at the Maribor World Cup, he later outclassed all of the favorites in Val di Sole last month to become World Champion. It seems that nothing can stop him and he continued his dominance with a win in the 4th round of the World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne. His victory has also put him at the top of the points table to take the World Cup Leader's Jersey. Romain Saladini reached his first final this season and finished second ahead of Guido Tschugg and Cedric Gracia.

Wearing her new rainbow jersey, fresh World Champion Melissa Buhl took the top spot on the podium. The American rider beat Mio Suemasa and Fionn Griffiths. Despite a crash in the final, Anneke Beerten is still leading the World Cup.

DOWNHILL RESULTS
1. Greg Minnaar (RSA)...Santa Cruz Syn...4.30.57
2. Samuel Hill (Aus)...Monster-Iron Horse...+0.01.73
3. Gee Atherton (GBr)...Animal Commencal...0.02.23
4. Steve Peat (GBr)...Santa Cruz Syn...0.02.93
5. Fabien Barel (Fra)...Subaru...0.06.73
6. Samuel Blenkinsop (NZl)...Yeti-Fox Shox...0.07.73
7. Nathan Rennie (Aus)...Santa Cruz Syn...0.09.53
8. Julien Camellini (Fra)...Chain Reaction-Intense...0.11.13
9. Justin Leov (NZl)...Yeti-Fox Shox...0.11.83
10. Aaron Holmes Gwin (USA)...Yeti-Fox Shox...0.12.13
29. Duncan Riffle (USA)...Cannondale...0.23.03
32. Ryan Condrashoff (USA)...X-Fusion/Santa Cruz...0.24.33
33. Luke Strobel (USA)...Maxxis...0.24.43
39. Cody Warren (USA)...Specialized-Redline...0.25.05
51. Kyle Strait (USA)...Oakley-Specialized...0.29.93
64. Jason Memmelaar (USA)...Scott USA-Diablo...0.34.73
69. Bradley Benedict (USA)...X-Fusion...0.37.63
71. Geritt Beytagh (USA)...Morewood...0.42.13
72. Derrick Nobman (USA)...Ninety Degrees...0.43.63
77. John Swanguen (USA)...Ms-Intense...+1.38.83
WOMEN
1. Rachel Atherton (GBr)...Animal Commencal...5.12.36
2. Sabrina Jonnier (Fra)...Maxxis...+0.01.44
3. Tracy Moseley (GBr)...Kona...0.09.54
4. Mio Suemasa (Jpn)...Ms-Intense...0.23.14
5. Fionn Griffiths (GBr)...Norco...0.24.84
6. Claire Buchar (Can)...0.27.04
7. Helen Gaskell (GBr)...0.31.24
8. Anita Molcik (Aut)...4 Elements Yeti-Hotec-Rsp...0.34.84
9. Scarlett Hagen (NZl)...0.35.04
10. Micayla Gatto (Can)...0.35.34

4-CROSS RESULTS
1. Rafael Alvarez (Spa) 
2. Romain Saladini (Fra)...Team Sunn     
3. Guido Tschugg (Ger)                
4. Gracia Cedric (Fra)...Commencal-Furious-Oakley
5. Kamil Tatarkovic (Cze)...Suzuki-RB
6. Dan Atherton (GBr)...Animal Commencal
7. Filip Polc (Svk)...Kenda-Tomac
8. Tomas Slavik (Cze)         
9. Sascha Meyenborg (Ger)    
10. Fabien Cousinie (Fra)   
11. Thomas Tokarczyk (USA)...Jamis
21. Michael Haderer (USA)...Fox-Yeti
23. Heikki Hall (USA)...E13-Hayes-Michelin-Smith-SDG
27. Erik Nelson (USA)...Thor-Michelin    
28. George Stephenson (USA)...Sobe-Cannondale-Fasttimes
WOMEN
1. Melissa Buhl (USA)...KHS
2. Mio Suemasa (Jpn)...MS-Intense           
3. Fionn Griffiths (GBr)...Norco                
4. Anneke Beerten (Ned)...MS-Intense        
5. Anita Molcik (Aut)...4 Elements Yeti-Hotec-RSP          
6. Caroline Buchanan (Aus)                               
7. Eva Fernandez (Spa)
8. Neven Steinmetz (USA)...Totally Wired