This first round of racing achieved two major things: first, it proved that Britain has at least one tall mountain - one that can punish riders with brutal jumps, mud and rocks as well as anything in the Dolomites, Alps or Sierras; second, it showed that, when it comes right down to it, downhill racing is about more than a little bit of luck.

With flat tires, a multitude of crashes and good ol' fashioned rockin' and rollin', round one of the World Cup kept the dream alive...for some.

Tracy Moseley (GBR, Team Kona) was on the short list of many to do well here this weekend. After all, she's been coming up in the ranks the past season or two, is British and finished 2nd on this very track when they tested it out last season for a British national race.

But when she qualified 11th slowest, things didn't look so sure. There was another Brit, Helen Gaskell, with the second-fastest qualifying time, and the woman who won here in that British race, Fionn Griffiths (GBR, Ancillotti), was 5th seeded. Besides, Missy Giove (USA, Global Racing Team) turned in a smoking #1 qualifier. But then Anne-Caroline Chausson, who had crashed in practice Saturday, was only sixth fastest, so anything could happen.

And it did. Moseley took the hotseat early in the runnings, and then Chausson took her run to try and crack the time. But Chausson crashed near the top and then, further down the track, had to get off the bike again losing more than a minute in her run. She had admitted to MountainZone.com, "I'm scared to crash" just minutes before her run as she was still stiff and sore from the day before. And it wound up costing her plenty. So much so that she posted her second-worst finish since 1996.

Vanessa Quin (NZL, Intense) came two riders after Chausson as the 4th seed, and turned in a career's best run to finish 2nd for the day. She had been in England visiting none other than Moseley recently, even racing in a British National last week to prepare for this event. "I thought Scotland's conditions would be like this, so I think racing in Britain definitely helped," said Quin afterward. "I was hoping for a good clean run and a top-5 finish, and was surprised with my finish result today. It's about time!"

Third place went to the consistently fast Sabrina Jonnier (FRA, Intense Cycles), whom you might remember won the previous season's-ending World Cup round in Quebec. She was only seeded 8th fastest, but turned it on in the final to make the top-3. She told MountainZone.com, "I had good speed, but then was stopped by the mud and had to push my bike and lost too much time in two parts of the course."

Pre-race favorite Griffiths finished 4th, and top-seeded Giove just made the podium with 5th place after flatting her Michelin "system" just seconds after the start. Chausson finished a distant 19th and said she was looking forward to some rest this week.

— Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Correspondent