Steve Peat isn't afraid to admit that he likes a beer or two and there he was Sunday night, a full day after winning the World Cup finals and overall title, wearing a Brit flag jester's hat, smoking three cigarettes and having perhaps his 30th beer of the day as he partied with the cross-country racers. (You should have seen him Saturday night - just hours after his win).

There may be no other rider with such talent for both partying and racing. Peat has it all, and a sense of humor as well, sewing "God Save the Queen" onto the back of his racing pants instead of his name. The crowds love him, and as well they should, for Peaty is the people's champion. And Saturday he was second fiddle no more.

After many years of trying, and one week after the self-described "bitter disappointment" of finishing 2nd at the World Championships, England's Steve Peat (Team Orange England) found redemption in a brilliant double-win in France. By winning the final round, Peat secured the season's overall title and goes into next season ranked #1 in the World Cup.

"Number one, it's a worthy title," said a happy Peat from the Tissot hotseat, wrapped in the red and white flag of England and surrounded by a throng of photographers and cheering fans. "I'm happy. It's been a long time and I like beating the French in France."

Conditions were ideal for racing Saturday in the small mountain resort town of Les Gets, in the Haute Savoie region of France and thousands of spectators lined the course as it wound through the trees and open grassy fields. The course, which all week during training had been muddy and slippery, finally dried out enough for riders to switch their spike mud tires to normal tread.

Peat had qualified fastest in the semi-final run, looking to earn as many points as possible to nail down the championship. His title was not assured as he began his final run, but he only needed to finish in the top-20 to beat #2-ranked Chris Kovarik (AUS, Intense Cycles), who had an off day and finished 8th with a time of 3:43, compared to Peat's winning time of 3:38.03.

Fabien Barel (FRA, Maxxis-MSC) finished 2nd today, just .58 of a second slower than Peat. Barel had qualified 9th fastest after crashing twice in his semi-final, and then crashed again in his final after the intermediate time check. He therefore didn't know whether his time would stand up to the competition until the riders actually crossed the finish.

"When I saw my time at the finish I thought maybe I could do something today," said Barel afterward. "Then when more and more riders didn't beat my time, I got motivated and thought it might be possible to finish well." Barel had to wait as all the top riders came down the hill, capped by #2-seeded Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA, Vouilloz Racing Team) - who was .72 behind Barel at the intermediate split.

"When I saw Nico's split time I thought for sure he would beat me in the lower section, but at the finish he was slower than me. So I'm really happy with today, especially after the disappointment of not being allowed to race in my seeding run last week at Worlds."

Vouilloz had qualified second-fastest in the semi-final, but was unable to beat either Barel or Peat, settling for 3rd place, just .65 from the winning time.

"It was a good race, but I was not on time today," said Vouilloz after what is believed to be his final World Cup race. "Yesterday in training I knew I would have to work hard and today I pushed hard. But when I saw my time, it was not great."

Vouilloz was out of World Cup contention, having missed both North American events due to injury, which dropped him to 6th overall for the season. "I made such a good race last week [at Worlds] and it was hard to stay focused," continued Vouilloz. "At the bottom of the track I braked too much on the last turn, but it's OK - I'm on the podium."

While Peat knew Barel's time before he left the start house, he wasn't aware of Vouilloz's progress. "I knew Fabien's time was fast, so I just rode as fast as I could," said Peat. "I lost a pedal a bit, but it was a good run."

Peat's only scare came during his qualifier run, where he hit the tape just meters before the finish, nearly crashing. UCI officials reviewed the tape to determine whether Peat went off the track (grounds for disqualification), but it was determined that he did remain on course.

With his 5th place finish, Cedric Gracia (FRA, Volvo-Cannondale) ends the season ranked #2, while Kovarik remains #3. Mickael Pascal (FRA, Be-One Team) is ranked 3rd overall, and Barel ends his season ranked #5.

— Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Correspondent