Manon on top at the Worlds

WELSH star Manon Carpenter topped the women’s standings after the qualifying round at the International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William, writes Gareth Griffiths.

Carpenter, winner of the world title in 2014, completed the round in a time of 5min 25.41sec in front of a home crowd.

Her time proved to be the fastest of the day in the women’s event, with the 2.8 kilometre course, which saw riders descending 555 metres from the starting position, producing a truly tough challenge for all the riders involved.

Rachel Atherton clocked the second fastest time, behind her team-mate, crossing the line in 5:30.271.

The reigning world champion is hoping to stretch of consecutive World Cup victories to nine, having won the opening two rounds in 2016 after dominating last year’s season.

Australia’s Tracey Hannah was the third fastest qualifier after clocking a time of 5:30.833.

The British team could be poised for success in the men’s competition as Atherton’s brother Gee topped the men’s qualifying standings.

He finished in a time of 4:42.826 to narrowly edge out New Zealand’s Edward Masters, who crossed 2.334 seconds adrift to end as the second quickest man.

The United States’ Aaron Gwin and Australia’s Troy Bronson could also be a threat tomorrow after clocking times of 4:46.753 and 4:45.788 respectively to finish at the third and fourth fastest qualifiers.

Gwin will be vying to replicate his success from the opening round of the World Cup in Loudres, while Bronson will hope to claim a first win of the season after ending as the runnerup in front of a home crowd in Cairns.