Double Firsts at Moelfre as Gee and Rachel Atherton smash the British National Champs

Jul 23, 2012

Both delighted with wins on their home track

Moelfre, Wales, UK --  Gee and Rachel Atherton triumphed in the Men’s and Women’s Elite races at Moelfre yesterday in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
 
An exultant Gee said “What a great day, sunshine, fantastic crowd – I’m really stoked to take the win here, just 8 minutes from our home.”
 
The Moelfre track is a super fast, rolling track with many high speed corners, off camber sections and fast straights. It falls from 545m to 238 m over a 2.3 km run.
 
Weather conditions were dusty despite recent downpours and strong winds up top meant that most competitors kept jumps to a minimum.
 
Gee seeded first in the Elite Men’s section less than half a second ahead of Josh Bryceland but in the final Gee extended the gap to 2.2 seconds clocking a final time of 2.25.94.
 
Bryceland took second place with 2.28.14 and Steve Peat third with 2.28.59.
 
In the Women’s Elite seeding run Rachel led by 2 seconds at the first split but lost time on the bottom section to come in second to Manon Carpenter by 0.5 secs.  In the final though Rachel really turned it up to beat Carpenter by 7.4 seconds with a time of 2.39.01 to Carpenter’s 2.46.42.
 
“We love racing here, up at Jac’s place, with all our friends and family here," Rachel said. "I’ve had a brilliant time.”
 
“Farmer Jac” who owns the Moelfre track presented the prizes and paid tribute to organizer Si Paton and to the Atherton family who had started the Moelfre track.
 
Congratulating Gee and Rachel on their win, he also announced that elder brother Dan had taken third in the Megavalanche event in France – a vintage weekend for the Atherton family!
 
All photos: Sven Martin