Sabrina Jonnier doesn't like to finish fourth – especially on a track she's won on five times previous. But the defending UCI World Cup Champion describes her latest Downhill World Cup result at Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, Canada, this weekend as a "small victory".

"Today I finished fourth, but it is a small victory against myself. I have been fighting against myself lately and so I am happy with my result today," admits the Maxxis-Rocky Mountain rider.

"I never knew I would say that about a fourth place!"

Jonnier, of Hyéres, France, first won at Mont Sainte Anne in 2001, and a win today would have been a nice way to celebrate her long career at the top of downhill.

"It's disappointing to finish fourth here, because it is one of my favourite tracks and I was hoping the track would help me to get back to the top. But I will take a fourth place for today and I will wait for the victory."

Jonnier said she did not qualify well at Mont Sainte Anne.

"I was maybe not focused enough for qualifying, but I could feel I was getting faster yesterday and then this morning I felt really, really good on my bike. I was having a good feeling and I knew my speed was good. That gave me a bit more confidence coming into the race," Jonnier explains.

But it was line selection that cost Jonnier the most time this weekend.

"I made a very big mistake right near the top of the course. There is a long pedalling section and I was feeling very strong and feeling good. I took a line I had used the whole weekend, but this time there was a big mud hole there and that line wasn't fast anymore. I didn't crash, but I went into my bars and went sideways. I was facing the tape and not the track anymore," she recalls.

"It was a bit of a surprise for me and I lost so much time because it was in a flat, pedalling part of the track. I tried to catch up for my mistake by trying to ride harder in the berms, but I was just messing up and making more mistakes. Then I relaxed and told myself just to go easy and have fun and that is what I did for the rest of the run."

Jonnier clocked the fastest time through the speed trap with a 55.494kmh and shaved more than seven seconds off the previous fastest time, but her time of 5:21.474 would not keep her in the hotseat for long.

"I knew it was a good time, but my goal was to do a 5:10 for the winning time," she confesses.

"I made a mistake and it's my fault for using the wrong line, but I feel that it is me on the bike again and I haven't felt that in the past few weeks. That is a very big thing for me."

Tracy Moseley, of Great Britain, crossed the line in a winning time of 5:12.980, extending her lead in the World Cup title race.

"She is so strong right now – it's crazy. I went on a cross-country ride with my mechanic, my manager and Tracy after the race today and there was this big uphill and she just smoked all of us after her race run. My legs were burning from pedalling today and she was just going up and talking," Jonnier reveals.

She jokes that Moseley is having too many World Cup wins.

"I need to fix that!" she laughs.

Her next chance to do that will be at Windham, USA, next weekend.

Click here to read Sabrina's full story from Mont Sainte Anne ...

Finishing second to Anne-Caroline Chausson at the first round of the 2011 French Enduro Cup held at Les Gets at the weekend was considered a good result by UCI World Cup Champion Sabrina Jonnier, of Hyéres, France.

"Yesterday, on the more downhill-oriented track, Anne-Caroline was beating me by 30 seconds on the first run and then by 20 seconds on the next few runs," explains Jonnier.

"It was a 10-minute track so I was pretty happy with the way I was riding and happy to finish so close to the best woman in the world."

"It was an awesome race – it was really wet and muddy," she laughs.

Dubbed the Les Gets Alpine Battle, this endurance downhill race was more of a training ride for Maxxis-Rocky Mountain rider Jonnier, who was determined to make fun the priority.

"I rode my Rocky Mountain Slayer – it was brand new and the first time I sat on it was Friday night when we checked the set-up, but that bike is just awesome and rode so well," she shares.

The rain started on Friday afternoon at Les Gets and it continued non-stop until Sunday morning, making conditions even tougher for competitors.

"I just put my wet weather pants on and mud clothing and I was dry all the time. I just had a massive smile on my face all the way down. I don't like wet weather and muddy tracks usually, but I just loved this race," she recalls.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she adds with a laugh.

Plummeting temperatures conspired to make Sunday even tougher for all, with the women's field dwindling to half of Saturday's numbers.

"Today was difficult – we took one lift and then we had to hike to the start. It was like a half-hour walk and at the start it was freezing and snowing. I couldn't feel my fingers or my feet," offers Jonnier.

"The track was really physical – it was like a 15-16-minute ride for the women and maybe 12 or 13 minutes for the guys. The top part of the course had a lot of pedalling and the ground was so wet so it was hard to ride," concedes Jonnier.

"My first run was a bit difficult, but then I got into it and it was fun – even if it was still challenging conditions."

"You had to be a warrior to survive these conditions."

Click here to read Sabrina's full story from Les Gets ...

The battle between the French and British women in UCI World Cup Downhill racing intensified today at Fort William with British riders Tracy Moseley and Rachel Atherton taking the top two spots on the podium ahead of a trio of French elite including Defending UCI Downhill World Cup champion Sabrina Jonnier, of Hyéres, France.
Jonnier finished fifth with fellow French racers Floriane Pugin and Myriam Nicole in third and fourth respectively.
Maxxis-Rocky Mountain rider Jonnier said the rivalry was not a new one, but the French still had the upper hand.
"There is definitely a friendly rivalry between the French and the British, but there are always more French girls than English. On the podium it is always two English and three French girls, or four French girls and one English," she asserts.
"I like seeing Floriane and Myriam on the podium today. I was a bit upset with myself because they are young girls and they should be behind me on the pdoum not in front," she jokes.
"But it is very good for them because they are getting faster – I am happy for them."
For Jonnier, the weekend was a bit of an acid test – she had not been on the bike for the past month, sidelined with a hematoma on her coccyx – a small bone at the base of her spine.
"I had a really hard weekend after coming back from not riding for a month and straight into Fort William. Friday was very hard for me – I did all the big jumps, but I couldn't do the tiny ones," admits Jonnier.
"I was fine for endurance but I just couldn't pick up my speed – I was okay at the very top, but slow through the middle. I was not aggressive enough on my bike," she explains.
Jonnier finished the race in a time of 5:31.970, 10 seconds back from Moseley's winning time of 5:21.898.
Click here to read Sabrina's full story from Fort William...

Coming second to anyone is not something that Sabrina Jonnier enjoys, but the likable downhill racer and recently crowned World Cup Champion admits that she is "very happy" to see her friend Tracy Moseley, of Great Britain, win her first World Championship. Just over seven seconds back in second-place, the Maxxis-Rocky Mountain rider said it was "nice to share the podium with her today". And it certainly looked it with third-placed Emmeline Ragot, also of France, joining in the champagne-soaked celebrations with Moseley. "I prefer to be number one, but it was not to be today," offers Jonnier with a smile. After dry conditions through the week the Mont-Sainte-Anne venue was hit with rain through Saturday. The rain became intermittent through the night and on race day making conditions very challenging. "My race run was very hard. The long first flat was really boggy and all the berms were destroyed by all the riders in the mud," recalls Jonnier. "I gave it everything I had today. I wanted to win so badly today, but Tracy was definitely stronger than me – she has been very strong all week. I knew she would be hard to beat today, so I am still happy," she laughs. Jonnier and Moseley have been racing each other for their entire careers. "Tracy has been one of my main competitors for so many years. She is two years older than me, so we kind of started together. I have two elite World Champ titles and she has not had one, but she has always been second or third and has just had bad luck on the day, so I was very happy for Tracy today," explains Jonnier. "Tracy does not like the Champery track location for the 2011 UCI Mountain ... and so she knew she had to win this year at Mont-Sainte-Anne if she was to win a World Championship and so she made that happen this year." Jonnier described the 2010 World Championship track as the best she had ever ridden at Mont-Sainte-Anne. "It was better in the dry – I really enjoyed myself during the week in the practice. They had done a lot of work and it was a fast track. On Thursday in the speed trap I was 61kmh and the boys were 62kmh," Jonnier laughs. With her former teammate Sam Hill, of Australia, taking out the Men's downhill title, Jonnier was disappointed she hadn't been able to emulate the feat. "I was a bit disappointed in myself because Sam and I won our first two World Championships together in 2006 and 2007, so with him winning today and not me I was a bit disappointed – it would have bee so awesome to have also won today. He did so well – he came back from an injury and hasn't ridden much at all, but today he just had an amazing run as usual," she smiles. Jonnier also expressed gratitude to a few other riders who had helped her World Championship campaign. "My mate, Steve Smith, who I rode with a lot in practice, finished second today, which was great. I had been riding with Troy Brosnan in practice as well and he had been helping me a lot this week showing me some good lines and speed, so it was good to see him win the Junior Men's. I would like to thank Troy and Stevie for helping me out this weekend," she shares. Jonnier also attributed her speed to the work the French team had put into its build-up, and was not surprised to see France win the Nations title. The UCI Mountain Bike World Championship is the final race of the 2010 season for most racers. Jonnier reflects on her year. "I am proud of myself. I didn't start the season very well in Maribor. I was kind of struggling with myself and my head, but I won two World Cups, I won the overall, I am national champion and I am second in the world today, so I can say that I have had another great season," she smiles. Jonnier will now enjoy a break before she turns her attention to the 2011 season when her training resumes in November. "It is holiday time now and I am going to meet my best friend from Australia in America tomorrow. Next week we are going to go to Utah for a scrapbooking show, so I am just going to focus on being artistic now," she shares. "I just want to enjoy my World Cup overall and my second in the world today."

Jonnier will return to the Maxxis-Rocky Mountain team for 2011.

The current UCI World Cup downhill women's leader, Sabrina Jonnier, of Hyères, France, said the revised course at Champéry was "awesome" – at least it was until the rain poured down and put everyone into survival mode.

The muddy conditions made the track very challenging and forced Jonnier to change her strategy.

"It was so hard to race today – it rained all Friday, Friday night and until 10am on Saturday. It was really steep with big mud and it was really tough," the Maxxis-Rocky Mountain rider explains.

"I decided to stay on my bike – once you crash on this track it's pretty much over. If you get mud on your gloves you won't be able to hold onto the bars anymore and if you lose your bike at the wrong place it can disappear into the bush – there would be no way to get back to where you should start from – it's so steep in places. So I decided to go for a safe run – I went really slow – it was not fun at all. I would even say it was the worse run of my life."

Jonnier finished in a time of 5:32.12 – 4.87 seconds behind current Downhill World Champion Emmeline Ragot, but second was enough for her to be able to extend her lead in the series.

"My qualifier went okay – I just tried to stay on my bike and I got second, but I was pretty far back behind Myriam Nicole – she had an amazing qualifier. I was a bit pissed off, but it was good to get some points for the overall."

Jonnier crashed on a run on Saturday and hit her leg on "the one rock on the ground" so was glad the course did not have too much pedalling in it.

"I had a dead leg for a few days, so I couldn't really pedal," she laughs.

Taking the safe option in the final is out of character for Jonnier, but she admits the series win is on her mind.

"It is frustrating to go for a safe run and not try to go faster in the mud," Jonnier offers.

Ragot, the current World Champion, became only the second rider (after Rachel Atherton won the opening round) to knock Jonnier from the top spot so far this World Cup season.

"I guess she had nothing to lose. She just went wild and she put everything together and it was good enough to be the fastest today. At the first split she was about 10 seconds ahead of me, but I must have made less mistakes after that point," Jonnier explains.

"It was hard to stay on – I didn't have any crashes today, but I had a few moments," she laughs.

Jonnier said the team at Champéry had worked very hard to prepare an awesome track.

"At Thursday's practice it was dry and it was fast and a lot of fun, it is a shame the rain came. Hopefully it will be dry for next year's World Championships as it will be awesome to watch – it can be a real fast track," she states.

Champéry is the first World Cup round that also features cross-country racing and so the Maxxis-Rocky Mountain team swells in size.

"Since the start of the season it had just been Cam Cole and I, and now we have the full team together. I will be up there tomorrow to support the cross-country riders."

Jonnier was not sure how her rival Rachel Atherton, of Great Britain, was recovering, but expected to meet with her again at the final World Cup round at Windham, USA and then the World Championships at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada.

"Hopefully she recovers well – I am sure she will be back and even stronger again," she offers.

July 11, 2010 Competing in her first ever Mega Avalanche downhill endurance race Sabrina Jonnier battled rotten glacier snow and the affect of altitude to finish eighth in what she described as a wildly fun event. For current UCI World Cup downhill women's leader and defending champion Sabrina Jonnier, of Hyères, France, the Mega Avalanche was about having fun and some great riding in a beautiful place, but she admits that being on the podium was on her mind, too.

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"I know I said I was going here for fun and that I had no goal, but I am always looking for the top of the podium. I was a bit disappointed with my race, even though I had a lot of fun," she explains.

But it was Jonnier's friend Anne-Caroline Chausson who would win the 2010 Mega Avalanche at Alpe d'Huez, France, in 1:07:40 with Emmeline Ragot almost five minutes back in second and Meggie Bichard 10 minutes off the leader in third. Jonnier finished in a time of 1:21:38.

Jonnier won Wednesday's downhill race on her Rocky Mountain Flatline DH bike and then qualified third on Friday on her Slayer enduro bike and many expected to see her on the podium, but her inexperience on the glacier and the high altitude took its toll on her in the main race.

"It was really hard on the glacier – we were on it for a good 15 minutes and I think it's normally just five or six minutes. The snow was so soft and there was some uphill and flat, and because we could not ride our bikes we had to run. It felt like a marathon," she smiles.

The glacier is the feature of the Mega Avalanche race, but the conditions were particularly trying this year.

"It's not what I expected. I knew I would have a hard time on the glacier, but I didn't know I would lose so much time on it," Jonnier concedes.

During the run on the glacier Jonnier passed a few of the other women, but said she lost most of her time riding down the glacier.

"I was just going too slowly down the glacier – I was not confident enough to let out the brakes and go for it. I'm not used to riding in the snow and I know the less you brake the better it is, but that's easier to say than to do," she laughs.

"To make my day even harder, once I got off the glacier I came into a technical part of the course and it suited me and I got a little bit of my energy back, then we had some uphill and a long flat section and something happened to me on that long flat section. I know I am not really very good with altitude and I started to feel like I was going to faint. So I slowed down and took it easy – I knew I wasn't going to make it if I kept pushing," she chuckles.

Jonnier was impressed with how fast Anne-Caroline was in the event.

"She smoked it in the snow. I started next to her and I watched her – she was amazing. She went straight for the snow and was just so fast – she's crazy. She definitely dominates this race!"

Despite the long runs of over an hour, Jonnier said there was a good atmosphere along the course with spectators cheering the riders on, making the course fun to ride.

"Even though I nearly fainted and wasn't feeling very good for awhile I still had this massive smile on my face."

Jonnier vows to return to the Mega Avalanche race next year if the UCI World Cup calendar allows.

"It's such a good event and I had a lot of fun riding all my different bikes on the different tracks. Alpe d'Huez is really pretty with beautiful mountains and scenery. It is a great place to ride a bike here," she shares.

"Next year I will set up my bike a little bit differently – lighten it up, because it is really a physical race and there are a lot of uphills. I will also have to train in the snow a little bit," Jonnier smiles.

Next weekend Jonnier will contest the French National Downhill Championships at Val d'Isère, France. Jonnier finished second to Céline Gros at this event in 2009.

"I always mess up this race, but it's supposed to be really steep and fast this year," she explains, hoping the new track will play to her strengths.

The World Cup season resumes at Champèry, Switzerland on July 24 and 25.

June 21, 2010

Leogang World Cup win puts Sabrina Jonnier one step closer 

to history making downhill title

Following on from her win at Fort William, Scotland two weeks ago Sabrina Jonnier, of Hyères, France, won the World Cup at Leogang, Austria yesterday as she closes in on her first back-to-back World Cup title.

Jonnier has been first or second in the World Cup for the past nine years, but has never managed to defend her title. Now, she hopes her 10th season at the top of her sport will let her rewrite history.

Her win at Leogang brought mixed emotions for the elite racer. She was happy to win in such trying conditions, but disappointed her main rival, Rachel Atherton, of Great Britain, was injured and unable to complete the course. 

"Rachel was definitely fast on the course. I watched her in the top part of the course, but I didn't want to watch anymore when I was in the hot seat, so I just buried my head in my legs," Jonnier recalls.

"She looked very strong at the top and she's very fast on this kind of track." 

Atherton's crash meant she was unable to continue her run.

"It was a weird victory for me, because I was happy with a win, but I was not sure what was going on with Rachel because she never crossed the line and at first nobody knew anything. I was worried that she may have been hurt," Jonnier explained later. 

"She was okay – she hurt her shoulder apparently, but I guess we will hear more in the next few days." 

Rain through the end of the week and into the weekend meant the course was very challenging – the exact conditions that Jonnier dislikes.

"It was terrible conditions – it was a track that they had been riding on for years and years and they haven't touched it for the race, then with the rain it just got worse. Every run the track was different with new holes coming through – it was very tricky," Jonnier smiled.

"I managed to stay on my bike and so I am super happy."

When asked how she felt about her qualifying run, Jonnier is quick to respond. 

"I was pissed off actually," she said.

"I don't know what's wrong with me – I am not very good at qualifying. Yesterday was terrible I was slow everywhere and just couldn't go fast."

Luckily, Jonnier's mum came to her daughter's aid. 

"The first thing I did was to call my mum and she kicked a little sense into me. So I owe a special thanks to my mum. I went back to the track and analysed what happened and I felt it in my mind that I would definitely do better today and keep the leader jersey."

Strategy played a big role in conquering the course at Leogang.

"I had decided to ride fast and strong, but to also stay safe and to stay on the bike. I made mistakes – there is no way you can make a perfect run in those conditions, but they were just small ones – I was far from my limits for crashing," tells Jonnier.

Tyre choice also became a key issue with the field split over whether to run mud tyres or something a little faster rolling.

"I ran cut down Maxxis Wet Scream mud tyres. This is the best mud tyre in the world, but I cut them down because there was a long flat section in the middle and it was so boggy," explained Jonnier.

"You had to pedal very hard through it, but because it was between the two technical woods, you couldn't give it everything you had or you would come into the last woods all tired and risk losing your line."

"One part of the track was just slippery tree roots – there was no way to ride on dirt and I was scared every time I passed over them. I prayed that my tyres would hold on while trying to be as light as possible on my bike," she recalled.

Despite having valuable points in her favour Jonnier is not about to rest on her laurels.

"There are three more races to go and a lot can happen. I am not thinking of the title too much yet. But I am proud of myself today – it's a good win for me in these conditions," she offered.

The UCI World Cup season now has a five-week break, but Jonnier intends to be busy racing the Enduro de Nations with Anne Caroline Chausson, the Mega Avalanche and her nationals.

"I have never raced an enduro race before so it will be interesting. And then I am going to do the Mega Avalanche and then we have the national champs before Champèry. So I am going to be busy – every day I have off I am going to be spending at the beach reading a book," she laughs.

The endurance downhill races she has selected can be a high risk game, but she insists she is there to have fun.

"Every time I do anything dangerous I could get hurt, but I am doing these races for fun – to relax and have fun hanging out with friends."

After Maribor we drove across Austria and ended up in Winterberg, Germany where Mike from Maxxis Germany took care so that we could race the IXS German cup. The rain once again welcomed us and we had 3 days of it raining nonstop.... I decided to hide inside and read! I finally ran out of books at the same time the sun decided to show up! Friday, Saturday and Sunday were pretty good with a lot of riding in Winterberg Bike Park. There were a lot of Germans, most of them wearing skinny purple jeans with what look like an annoying fringe in front of their eyes! There was a lot of queuing at the lift and at the start of the course which was probably due to the 600 riders on a 2 min track with a tiny lift!

The race went pretty well for me, I had a lot of fun racing and ended up winning in front of Antje Kramer and Harriet.

My teammate Cam Cole was having an awesome run until he crashed in one of the last turns but he still managed a 7th place!

Thanks to Mike "mad dog" and Bond for taking care of us all week end!

Après Maribor nous avons traversé l'Autriche pour finir notre voyage à Winterberg, Allemagne où Mike de Maxxis Allemagne c'est occupé de nous pour une IXS Coupe d'Allemagne. La pluie nous a une nouvelle fois accueilli; 3 jours de pluie non stop! J'ai alors décidé de rester planquer à l'intérieur et de bouquiner! J'ai épuisé ma réserve de livres en même temps que le soleil à de nouveau fait son apparition! Vendredi, Samedi et Dimanche ont été assez sympa avec la découverte du Bike Park de Winterberg et ses différentes pistes; beaucoup d'allemand la plupart habillé de jean slim violet et une espèce de frange devant les yeux! Beaucoup d'attente au télésiège; 600 descendeurs pour une piste de 2 minutes et un tout petit télésiège! Ma course c'est bien passé, une belle rampe de départ pour s'élancer sur un saut suivi d'une relance à plat avant de partir dans les bois enchaînant virages relevés, racines, sauts. Je gagne devant Antje Kramer et Harriet. Mon coéquipier Cameron Cole réalisait un super run avant de s'étaler dans un des derniers virages mais sauve la 7ème place! Un grand merci à Mike "Mad Dog" et Bond pour s'être occupé de nous tout le week end!