“God Save the Queen” received plenty of airtime on Saturday at the 2008 UCI world mountain-bike championships in Val di Sole, Italy, as British riders took three of the four downhill races. Brother-sister duo Gee and Rachel Atherton (Animal-Commençal) dethroned the once teammates Sam Hill (Monster-Ironhorse) and Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis) to take the elite crowns. Youngster Josh Bryceland (Monster-Ironhorse) also took the junior men’s title.

Steve Peat (Santa Cruz-Syndicate), the reigning patriarch of British downhill racing, finished a close second, a mere 2.62 seconds in arrears. It’s his fourth silver medal at worlds.

“We’ve watched the French and the Aussies do it up properly for a while now,” said Peat, who celebrated his 40th birthday three days before the race. “Finally [Great Britain] has the experience and a really deep field for us to come through.”

Both Athertons boasted the fastest qualifying times, and were the last riders to tackle the 1.40-mile course, which featured a constant steep gradient, a twisting network of roots and plenty of rocky drops. Rachel Atherton’s 3:49.92 was a true home-run of a time — she bested two-time defending champion Jonnier by a whopping 11.99 seconds.

“I was really nervous all day about my run, but on the chairlift ride up the weight was off my shoulders,” said the youngest Atherton. Rachel Atherton said the nerves arose after her eldest brother Dan, who was favored in the four cross, fell and broke his collarbone during practice on Monday.

The men’s race featured a much tighter finish. Frenchman Fabien Barel, the 2004-’05 champ, spent the majority of the day in the hot seat until Peat’s blistering 2:35.35 set the fastest time of the day with only a handful of riders remaining. The Brit knew the fastest bullet he needed to dodge was Hill, the two-time defending champ.

Hill, who dominated downhill racing in 2006 and ’07, appeared to have another winning run in his legs. The Aussie effortlessly floated through the course’s twisting, steep upper slopes, and sped onto the sandy final section with a whopping seven-second advantage on Peat.

That’s when disaster struck. As the blazing Aussie cornered a wide turn his rear wheel slid out. Hill tried to right his rig, but the Aussie was flung off his bike, landing awkwardly on his chest and slamming his head into the ground.

Amazingly, Hill didn’t stay on the ground long, but instead scurried back to his bike and continued. A missed pedal stroke while remounting cost Hill, but nonetheless he finished a mere .53 down on Peat.

“I was really excited to get out in the open. It was the easiest part of the whole course, and I wasn’t going any faster than I had been doing in practice, but before I knew it I was on the ground,” said a disappointed Hill. “I was right on it and riding how I know I can, but just lost it at the end.”

It looked as though Peat had weathered the storm, and many believed the Brit was on his way to winning his first-ever world title. A 15-time World Cup champ, Peat had never taken downhill racing’s biggest single-day race. Even the Brit thought this could be the year.

“When I first came down I didn’t think my time would stick, and when [Sam] crashed I thought ‘Finally, this is my year,’” Peat said. “Of course I’m happy for Gee, but I wish it was the other way around. I wish he was in second.”

The win was a monumental step-up for Gee Atherton, who has regularly finished in the top-five at World Cup and world championship races, but had never grabbed the sport’s biggest prize. And with Hill having dominated the sport for two years, Atherton acknowledged that his victory had brought new blood to the top of the sport.

“I’m glad a few people have been able to kick his ass this year,” Atherton said. “Every now and then you get a guy who gets onto a higher level than everyone else, and it forces the others to catch back up. Sam’s that guy, and I’m sure he’s going to be there to raise the bar again.”

Indeed Hill has only one victory this year, the World Cup opener in Maribor, Slovenia. And three riders — Atherton, Hill and Greg Minnaar — have all taken wins so far this year. But had he not crashed at Val di Sole, Hill would have undoubtedly taken his second win of the year.

After leaving the press conference, Hill countered Atherton’s statement with an explanation of his own.

“These other guys say they’re kicking my ass, but really I’m just not riding how I should be,” Hill said. “I haven’t been happy with the last races, and since Maribor I’ve been struggling to ride how I know I can ride.”

Race Notes

● Bryceland’s victory in the junior category came just months after the young man from Manchester thought his season was done for good. Bryceland suffered a spectacular crash in Maribor, and doctors initially thought he had ripped his quadriceps off of the bone. In reality Bryceland had dislocated his patella, which slammed into his femur badly bruising both bones. But his season was not over, and Bryceland was only off the bike for three weeks.

“The most painful thing was the rehab — loads of physio exercises and workouts,” Bryceland said. “I thought man, I’m not going to be at worlds. Fortunately I’m back here.”

● Britain’s downhill future looks secure, as the Brits put four riders in the top-11, with Sam Dale in second, Danny Hard in sixth and Joseph Smith in 11th place.

● The future also looks bright for France, which pulled a sweep in the junior women’s downhill. Anais Pajot, Myriam Nicole and Melanie Pugin finished 1-2-3.

● American Cole Bangert was the top North American finisher in the elite men’s DH, rolling across the line in 24th position, 20.50 down. Kathy Pruitt scored the top women’s DH finish in seventh position. The American, a former junior world champ, crossed the line 22.38 behind Atherton.

2008 UCI world mountain bike championships
Val di Sole, Italy

Downhill
Men elite
1. George Atherton (GB), 3:12.12
2. Steve Peat (GB), 3:14.74
3. Sam Hill (Aus), 3:15.27
4. Greg Minnaar (SA), 3:17.34
5. Fabien Barel (F), 3:17.92
6. Justin Leov (NZ), 3:17.96
7. Mickael Pascal (F), 3:20.12
8. Julien Camellini (F), 3:21.31
9. Fabien Pedemanaud (F), 3:21.46
10. Ivan Olego (Sp), 3:26.86

North Americans
24. Cole Bangert (USA), 3:32.62
32. Duncan Riffle (USA), 3:36.83
33. JD Swanguen (USA), 3:36.98
36. Andrew Mitchell (Can), 3:37.22
53. Cody Warren (USA), 3:47.22
65. Kain Leonard (USA), 3:52.87
69. Lars Sternberg (USA), 3:56.40
72. Kyle Strait (USA), 3:58.83


Women elite
1. Rachel Atherton (GB), 3:49.92
2. Sabrina Jonnier (F), 4:01.91
3. Emmeline Ragot (F), 4:07.91
4. Floriane Pugin (F), 4:10.25
5. Mio Suemasa (Jpn), 4:11.68
6. Tracy Moseley (GB), 4:12.30
7. Kathy Pruitt (USA), 4:19.66
8. Fionn Griffiths (GB), 4:20.10
9. Scarlett Hagen (NZ), 4:20.14
10. Melissa Buhl (USA), 4:20.38

North Americans
12. Micayla Gatto (Can), 4:36.08
14. Claire Buchar (Can), 4:37.42
15. Danice Uyesugi (Can), 4:37.71
20. Kim Huard (Can), 4:51.74

Men junior
1. Josh Bryceland (GB), 3:23.55
2. Sam Dale (GB), 3:31.06
3. Remi Thirion (F), 3:32.13
4. Aari Barrett (NZ), 3:32.47
5. Brook MacDonald (NZ), 3:32.77

North Americans
16. Simon Garstin (Can), 3:47.63
19. Alex Prochazka (Can), 3:50.94
23. Yann Gauvin (Can), 3:52.74
25. Phil Cyrenne (Can), 3:56.65
27. Joey Schusler (USA), 3:58.32
29. Trenton Zoobkoff (Can), 3:59.08
32. Naish Ulmer (USA), 4:01.49
34. Kevin Aiello (USA), 4:03.41

Women junior
1. Anais Pajot (F), 4:17.71
2. Myriam Nicole (F), 4:23.44
3. Melanie Pugin (F), 4:46.46
4. Miranda Miller (Can), 4:56.38
5. Caroline Buchanan (Aus), 4:56.51

North Americans
7. Diana Dromundo (Mex), 5:55.91