Hometown heroes miss out at World Champs

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Defeat is something every racer must come to terms with at some point, but it must have been a bitter pill to swallow for Tracey and Mick Hannah at this year’s Downhill World Championships in Australia. For the brother and sister duo, who grew up within sight of the race track in Cairns, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the coveted rainbow stripes on home soil, but it wasn’t meant to be.

After a blisteringly fast top section, Tracey washed out in an off-camber turn, ending her dreams in a similar way to British medal hope Tahnée Seagrave, who also fell foul of the loose conditions. Canada’s Miranda Miller took the win, with World Cup champ Myriam Nicole, of France, beating Tracey to second.

In the men’s race, ‘Sik’ Mick did an incredible job of managing the pressure and put in a stormer of a run to oust comeback king Sam Hill (Australia) from the hot seat, but it wasn’t quite enough to stop Loïc Bruni (France), who edged in just 0.3 seconds ahead to take his second rainbow jersey. World Cup champ Aaron Gwin (USA) completed the podium.

For the Brits, it was a mixed weekend. Rachel Atherton was out with a broken collarbone and Danny Hart didn’t manage to retain his title, but in the junior men’s race, stellar performances by Matt Walker and Joe Breeden were rewarded with gold and silver medals. There was success for the UK in the XC too, where Yorkshire gal Annie Last backed up her win at the Lenzerheide World Cup with a silver medal in Cairns.