<b>And there you have it. Sam Hill absolutely slaying those flat, open corners like no other. 3rd fastest for the first two splits, he made up all his time on the high-speed turns. Flat pedal tsunami and another World Cup race win.</b> -Marius Maasewerd
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<b>Sam Hill with his trademark scrub and delicate foot work. Flat pedal advantage?</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>In the end, it all came down to this. All Josh Bryceland had to do was make it down reasonably safe after Gwin and Troy failed to take the hot seat. Riding mature beyond his years (finally) he sealed the deal with a magic 3rd.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Josh riding like Josh. #NFG #notsafe #ballstothewall</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Sam Hill. The happy ending to a fairytale day. Sam has called the win twice this year after walking the tracks of MSA and here. He's been spot on both times.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>There is a lot of respect amongst the riders on the circuit and there are no hard feelings from Josh getting beaten on the day. It's truly incredible how close the racing has become.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Big Bryceland watches on, full of pride, as his son is crowned the quickest kid in the world.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Booze, cameras and cheers for twenty minutes straight. Ratstar. Solid. #abouttime</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Foot out, flat out. Rachel Atherton makes quite the entrance into the finals arena, taking the win just a few feet later.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Rachel Atherton rode a race that she has been capable of all season long. Two wins this tough year, plagued by illness. Onwards to Norway it is...and she wants to keep the rainbow stripes badly.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>You know that trend going on where people dump ice water on their head? Well, Atherton Racing flips the script. Dump Rachel on the ice water's head.</b> @maddogboris
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<b>When in France...</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Simmonds plunges to the finish line with the green light up on the board. Second place is a position most rider would happily settle for on a day like today. Simmonds was brilliant through the 2nd split, making up a lot of time through the tech.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Simmonds, cool and in control. It's great to see him back up his qualifying result.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Manon Carpenter didn't expect to come into the season to win the overall. But her consistent year of pushing hard combined with her hard work and preparation has paid off in spades. World Cup series winner. </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Rule #2, never work with animals. Local radio struggles to interview Manon after she dogs her competition to take the World Cup overall.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Loris Vergier can taste victory and with it, the World Cup series title, too. It's been an awesome battle in the Juniors between him and worthy opponent, Luka Shaw. </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Loic's time will come. 4th place isn't bad by any standards, especially when he was only 1.075-seconds off the win. Off to Hafjell for World Champs with fire in his eye.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Emmiline Ragot second today looking better and better each round. One more big race this year can she re-claim the rainbow stripes. </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>World Cup overall-winning team. Lapierre Gravity Republic.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Gwin finished sixth today which was enough to leapfrog Troy in the overall for second. World Champs are in the crosshairs.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Gee Atherton, 5th today, was 1st and 1st across the top two tech splits. The open corners at the bottom are where he lost the race, just 1.1 off the lead.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Gee man was fastest at the first two splits today, the toughest parts of the track. In that respect he is happy, but also a little disappointed, to let it slip on the least-technical portion of the course. </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>You had to be here to appreciate this huck of Remi Thirion. It's pretty much the gnarliest/best thing I've seen on a mountain bike this year. All other riders were about four feet lower on the roots. </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Luca Shaw's last run in the leader jersey this season. Unfortunately for him he lost it to Loris this race. The season-long battle isn't over until the last rider crosses the line.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>The competition between the British Juniors is strong, TV67 was beaten by a gnat's whisker today by Laurie Greenland.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>The weekend didn't go to plan for Troy Brosnan. A flat in qualifying and a less-than-stellar race day meant the overall victory was out of reach. Now he has the World Championships to look forward to.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Kiwi underdog and your World Cup Privateer Champ of 2014, Rupert Chapman. Turning this green field into a cold, steel rail (obscure Pink Floyd lyric reference).</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>If it's broke, just glue it back together. Unfortunately it would take more than glue for Brook MacDonald to improve on his 15th place finish.</b> @maddogboris
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<b>Brook MacDonald looked liked one of the fastest all week long, riding like only he can. Perhaps too much drifting and not enough forward speed cost him the podium. </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Benoit Cougoureux swapping his way into a rock solid 14th place in the Junior class.</b> -Sven Martin
<b>Greg Minnaar hits the fence in the short finish area while Joe Bowman films on the far left of the shot. What Joe is filming is anyone's guess. I guess the series isn't "This is Minnaar."</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Laurie Greenland, 2nd today, impressing the field on a tough track. Ninja- and cat-like skills helped him onto the podium today.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>A foggy start to the day did not cloud the spirit of the venue as the clouds broke come race time.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Joe Smith continues his consistency from Windham. From 12th in NY to 11th in France.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>GT are on top of things, even down to the arrangement of warm up bikes. TV spinning.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Keep an eye out for Ferran Jorba in the future. This kid has crazy tech skills, but needs to learn how to pedal if he's to succeed on other tracks.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Tracey Hannah. Finding her speed on the toughest track all year should give her confidence going into worlds</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Paris Gore, fresh from the Crankworx Deep Summer Challenge, was struggling to get the moss out of his mind. </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Phil Atwill with a solid ride today to a 14th place finish. </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>5th place today and 5th in the overall, Tahnee Seagrave will be looking to progress up the rankings next season. She has a long career ahead.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Making France proud. Loris Vergier performed in front of the home crowd today and took home the overall win in the process.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Markus Pekoll held the hot seat for the longest today and ended up 8th.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>End of the season and that sensor really needs some TLC. Brendan was in with a chance here but things didn't come together in the final. The canyon gaps of Rampage await.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Manon with precision focus.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Celebrations for the fastest women backstage during the prize giving. The champagne was all finished off while the bottles of water remained untouched #athletes.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Never a dull moment in the Syndicate pits. Ice fight!</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Your World Cup overall champion and crowd favorite. Josh Ratboy Bryceland.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>It was refreshing to see large numbers of the crowd stay around for podiums. The number of Josh Bryceland fans was phenomenal. Troy Brosnan was just 1 single point ahead of Sam Hill to take 3rd overall.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>And with that, we say adieu from France and the 2014 UCI World Cup. What an incredible season of racing.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>The end. @maddogboris pretty much summing it all up. It's been a World Cup season we won't soon forget. Sven, Duncan, Joe, Boris and every contributor who has helped this season is the reason Vital can bring you the best action and stories on the web. THANK YOU! We'll see you at World Champs in just a couple weeks.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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The 2014 UCI World Cup downhill season has come to an end. Roost and rocks were flying through the air as it was one last run for the best mountain bike descenders on the planet. A fresh course at a new venue in Meribel, France, provided the perfect arena for a dramatic wrap-up to the points race. Sam Hill and Rachel Atherton attacked the steep track to take race victories while Josh Bryceland and Manon Carpenter laid down performances that would lock in their World Cup overall victories. The dust is still settling from the celebrations, but the action is here to take you between the tape. Sven Martin, Duncan Philpott, @maddogboris, Joe Bowman, Marius Maasewerd and a list of dedicated contributors are the reason Vital MTB can bring you the incredible stories and mind-blowing photos from the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. Thank you!
- Sam Hill mutherf*%$er
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Meribel World Cup Finals Results
LIVE REPLAY - Meribel World Cup Downhill
- Sam Hill mutherf*%$er
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