Gee Atherton is the new UCI World Cup DH Champion for 2010. In an absolutely thrilling finale to the season, Atherton came in just 0.37 seconds ahead of Greg Minnaar to win the event, and with it the season’s title. It was a great weekend for the Atherton’s with Rachel winning the Women’s DH.

After Friday’s qualifying run, Atherton led Minnaar by just 4 points and there was lots of talk about someone other than these two winning the event. Steve Peat almost did, having been fastest in qualifying he was 1.5 secs up at the split, but crashed just before the finishing area. Peaty’s had a rough season, but looks to be in good form to defend his World Championship crown in Mont St Anne next weekend. Anyway, massive congratulations to Gee Atherton … highlights courtesy of DirtTV at Mpora.

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Final round of the UCI World Cup is on this weekend from Windham in upstate New York. All eyes will be focused on Gee Atherton and Greg Minnaar in one of the tightest finishes to the season in years. From the clip below, courtesy of MTBCuts, Gee is looking pretty relaxed.

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Gee Atherton (GBR) hammered down the steep rock faces and notoriously technical Canadian Open DH course to take first place in the pro divisions in the race presented by Kona.

Kokanee Crankworx Day 8 Canadian Open Downhill presented by Kona from Crankworx on Vimeo.

Gee is moving on from dominating downhill events at Kokanee Crankworx to the Downhill World Championships taking place in Mont-Saint-Anne, starting September 2, 2010. The demanding slopes of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park are an ideal setting to train and prepare worldclass athletes for the demands of the Downhill World Championships.

Atherton, who also won the Dual Slalom at Kokanee Crankworx, had a solid run in the Candian Open DH presented by Kona and swept in at 3:04.14, second place went to pinner Lewis Buchanan (SCO) with a time of 3:09.16 while Justin Leov (NZL) maintained a pace almost exactly the same as Buchanan’s to come in at 3:09.20.

“This was a real tough course to ride today,” says Atherton. “It has been a long season and I am excited to go from here onto the World Championships in Mont-Saint-Anne.”

The biggest names in mountain biking reveal the secrets of their success in a new MTB skills book out next week. Mountain Biking The Manual is a skills and technique guide drawing insight from over a dozen of the world’s best mountain bikers, including world champions Steve Peat, Greg Minnaar and Gee Atherton.

The book has been written by professional MTB coach Chris Ball, a former Scottish champion, who competed in over 30 world cup events. The Edinburgh-born 28 year old owns and runs Dirt School, a dedicated training school for mountain bikers, and also works with the UCI as technical delegate for Word Cup downhill and 4X events.

Chris’s work on the World Cup circuit has given him access to an inspiring pool of contributors and their insight on what it takes to make it at the highest level. The result is a book which can inspire developing riders and give recreational mountain bikers skills and tips to try out on their next rides.

Steve Peat, regarded by many within the MTB world as a living legend, gave his endorsement by writing the foreword to the book.

Peat said, “From the first timer on a mountain bike to a fully-fledged racing snake, there is knowledge here for all. The Manual will show you the fundamentals, the in-between bits and the moves to make your family proud of you. You will all be better riders for it.”

Editor Huw Williams believes that hearing the lessons from the mouths of the professionals sets Mountain Biking The Manual apart from others. Williams said, “Chris Ball has drawn together an amazing team of top riders. It’s their insight, their enthusiasm to teach, and their generosity to share their hard-earned knowledge that gives the book its edge. But this is not simply a collection of quotes hung together with pretty pictures. It’s a good, strong read in its own right. The lessons here are delivered through the clear, intelligent voice of one of the best coaches in the business.”

We agree! Mountain Biking The Manual is available now and here’s our little launch video:

The first weekend at Crankworx Kokanee is over. Chris Kovarik won the Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill and Gee Atherton won the Dual Slalom.

Kovarik maintained a blistering pace in the DH to take home first with a time of 13:22.99, knocking last year’s winner Justin Leov (NZL) into second place with a time of 13:29.85. Dry course conditions for the first time in the event’s history allowed Kovarik to shave off over 22 seconds from Leov’s 2009 winning time.

“I got second place last year and this year I wanted to go for number one,” says Kovarik. “You have to stand up, man up and pedal.”

In the Dual Slalom it was Gee Atherton versus 18 year-old American Mitch Ropelato in the finals and things were looking to go Ropelato’s way with a holeshot in the first run. After gaining that short lead, they were side by side when Ropelato lost his head and crashed, letting Atherton gain the advantage going into the second run of the finals.

“I was playing calm, cool and collected,” says Atherton, after his win. “It is quite unexpected, but I am feeling really stoked.  You have to stay calm and have fun. I really enjoyed that.”

Here’s some enthusiastic coverage of Day 1 at Crankworx Kokanee:

2010 Crankworx Day 1 coverage from Crankworx on Vimeo.

Every event at Kokanee Crankworx will be webcast live, the full schedule can be found at www.crankworx.com/webcast. Daily on-demand video highlights will also ensure everyone stays up to date with all the happenings at the biggest freeride mountain bike festival in the world.

Well, the riders got the weather they were looking for out at Val di Sole over the weekend and that resulted in a fast, dry track. Marc Beaumont won the main race event with Greg Minnaar coming second and Gee Atherton third. The fact that Atherton qualified in first place combined with his third place finish in the race means that he scrapes past Minnaar in the overall rankings and now leads by the slim margin of just 7 points. Which all makes for a sensationally exciting finish to the season later this month in Windham, NY.

In the meantime, here’s a wrap up of the action:

Val Di Sole: Race Day >>

In Champery this weekend, Gee Atherton won for the second time this season to close to within just 13 points of Greg Minnaar, who finished second.

The 1,500m course was deluged with rain during qualifying but slowly started drying during the race. However, this only seemed to make things worse with the mud thickening and clinging to the bikes.

“It was really tough,” said Atherton. “You know, some races you really enjoy, and others it’s a battle the whole time. This I was just fighting the whole way, the run was hard work; it was like a battle from top to bottom. It was a matter of just finding that line, hanging it out and having it pinned, and not pushing too hard and crashing. I guess I was right on that line and right on the limit the whole time. I was half crashing all the way down the hill, just holding on, and luckily I got it dialed.”

Greg Minnaar continues to lead the World Cup standings with 830 points but Gee is only 13 points back with two races to go. Highlights after the ad:

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Episode Five of The Atherton Project kicks off in Vernon, New Jersey for the US Open. It’s a constantly changing, notoriously challenging track … and then it’s off to Fort William, where Gee blitzed the trail and won Round 2 of the UCI DH.