MUD, WET AND CHEERS: Hafjell World Cup Downhill Race Slideshow

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<b>Tackling the final turn to the finish, the Hafjell crowd welcomes soon-to-be two-time winner, Stevie Smith across the line. With no rear timing board, it was just down to crowd reaction and the commentator to let the riders know how they performed. Stevie found out pretty quickly.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>An ecstatic Stevie Smith heads out to the podium from backstage. With one round left and only a 17 point deficit, he might not necessarily have to be on the top step next weekend to take the 2013 World Cup overall.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Danny was just plain comfortable on the terrain and tore down the track in his first run in the wet this morning. 2nd place today for the rider tired of everyone hinting at his last extraordinary performance in the rain.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Andrew Neethling came down in one of the heavier downpours the riders experienced. With the pressure of wanting to perform well at World Champs off his back, he equaled his best previous result today with a 3rd. #megahotseataction</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>The Whistler posse. Carrying on the hi-jinx here in Norway a few weeks later.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>A tribute to Norway and all the death metal. Or is it a tribute to reindeer?</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Manon Carpenter; solid, smooth and fast in the tech. 2nd place today.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>A moment amongst French friends in a bit of a "what can I do?" moment. The overall lead for Rach has become a bit more comfortable coming into Austria.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Where a lot of riders focus on keeping the bike down, Mike Jones opted for the huck-to-flat method. His first split put him back in 5th, but he battled it out to take a confident winning margin.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Innes Graham looking pretty comfortable for World Champs here next year. He is only first-year Junior but still pulls the big moves. 2nd place today in the battle of the groms.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Blenkinsop sliding around on one of the awesome, flat, fire road turns where weather and wear dictates how the race will be run. 4th place on 27.5's.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Greg Minnaar was disappointed in his first race in the rainbow jersey. Fast at times but a run plagued by little errors that all added up. Leogang will be a different story.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Steve Peat was on it today, and all this week. Just missing the podium, but what a champ! He's definitely not slowing down.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Marcelo with his best World Cup finish to date and the entire Giant Factory Off-Road squad within the top 7.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Gee amongst the trees on the wide open. He was, without a doubt, looking fastest all week including this morning in the miserable conditions. A slip off line and face check to a tree put an end to his podium pursuit. He will be back for battle in just a few days where the World Cup overall will be settled.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Life and World Cup racing, at least for the fans and media, just wouldn't be as fun and entertaining if Eddie Masters and crew weren't about with their daily challenges. Today's challenge was longest and fastest drift. Eddie won. </b> -Sven Martin
<b>A fresh build for Stevie Smith at important races like this seems to have paid off.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>The agony of defeat and joys of victory.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Four British riders in the top 10 and two personal bests for Simmonds (pictured) and Kerr. Matt Simmonds proves his World Champs selection was not undeserved. Fit and fast on both the slicks and the spikes.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>This was Bernard Kerr's first proper race on the 650b wheels and he placed 9th. Well done.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Niklas Wallner may not be the most regular World Cup qualifier, but today, in the wet tech conditions, he placed 16th claiming fastest Scanner of the race.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>While sat in the drizzling rain waiting for riders you sometimes spy shots like these when looking for the earliest indication someone might be coming. A quick glimpse between the odd tree leaves you trying to second guess who it could possibly be.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Fastest through the speed trap today and tucked the earliest. Matty Stuttard finding enough grip to get it leant over.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Duncan when he still had a half functioning London high street umbrella. It didn't last much longer with all the gusting.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Early morning practice felt like a lonely affair with just the odd member of media poking out in the mist.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>The visibility and wind was a bigger issue than the rain here today. Tough even on the lower slopes of the track.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Deep in concentration, Innes Graham was feeling the pressure after seeding first. The first-year Junior was close his first World Cup win today and will be in good stead for World Champs here next year.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>While Claudio checks the weather radar, Ben gets the tires ready. It's a close relationship on GSTAAD Scott.</b> @Maddogboris
<b>Where's Mongo?</b> @Maddogboris
<b>Fischbach not really getting his whip back. But it was so sick on the live webcast!</b> @Maddogboris
<b>Emmeline Ragot looked to be the only girl who could challenge Rachel on this track after seeding, however finals proved different.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Morgane Charre, respectable 4th place.</b> @Maddogboris
<b>How to stay dry and warm while shooting a World Cup.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>My hands were cold.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Rachel spares the media for a change and directs her champagne towards the rest of the podium. Given the price of alcohol out here each droplet you see probably cost £1!</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Neko Mulally's consistency this year has been impressive for such a young rider; Four top 20 results this season with his best so far today, 11th.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>No views today. The cloud stretched as far down as the bottom woods, giving the race an autumnal feel while many trees lost leaves in the rain.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>While Sven smashed the data roaming to get CUI live timing, I found a friendly Norwegian with the live stream on an ipad!</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Team Sweden was taking care of noise and cheering duties. Core fans like these always raise the spirit of an event.... and in case you're wondering #banana</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>One member of the crowd tries to replicate Brendan's race kit with the resources available.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>The dirt in Hafjell was half gel.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Wet weather riding essentials - tape and tear-offs.</b> -Duncan Philpott
<b>Steve Smith is not afraid to get loose and mix business with pleasure. MBA pose of the month. </b> -Sven Martin
<b>One more cork for my collection.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>As if it wasn't wet enough in Norway. THANKS FOR TUNING IN TO ANOTHER ACTION-PACKED WEEK OF RACING FROM THE UCI WORLD CUP. Sven, Duncan and Joe...you're true masters of your craft.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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Stevie Smith backs up his 2012 Hafjell World Cup Downhill performance with another Norwegian win in 2013 as the rain came down but the speeds stayed up. Rachel Atherton continued her crushing dominance with victory by a considerable margin, and the Junior Men's battle rumbles on with Mike Jones taking the grom win. Grab some tear-offs and get wet and wild with the UCI World Cup downhill, as racing wraps up from Hafjell, Norway. Sven Martin, Duncan Philpott and Joe Bowman get soaked to the bone so we can relive the action!
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