Windham, NY (August 29, 2010) – The 2010 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is officially in the books as racing wrapped up on Windham Mountain in New York’s Catskills on Sunday with the men’s and women’s downhill contests.

Reigning U.S. national champ Aaron Gwin (Morongo Valley, Calif./Yeti-Fox Shox) earned a spot on the overall World Cup podium in only his second year racing the World Cup circuit. His fourth place finish in Sunday’s final earned him fourth place overall in the final World Cup standings.

“It was a big goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year,” he explained of his overall ranking before looking on to the World Championships next week. “World champs is kind of a unique race. No one really cares about anything but first. That’s what everyone is aiming for so I’ll do the same and see what happens.”

Finishing first on the day and in the final standings was British rider Gee Atherton while Greg Minnaar (RSA) was second and New Zealand rider Samuel Blenkinsop was third.

In the women’s event, British strong woman Rachel Atherton descended the mountain with a time of 2:49 to take the victory ahead of reigning world champ Tracy Moseley (GBR) and bronze medalist Emmeline Ragot (FRA). After recently deciding to switch her focus to downhill racing, 2008 BMX Olympian Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash./Transition Racing) was the fastest American woman of the day, posting a time of 3:26.10 to grab 16th place. The only other American in the women’s finals, Lauren Daney (Stafford, Va.), made the 17th-place effort. Frenchwoman Sabrina Jonnier claimed the overall World Cup title.

Men’s Downhill
1. Gee Atherton (GBR)
2. Greg Minnaar (RSA)
3. Samuel Blenkinsop (NZL)
4. Aaron Gwin (Morongo Valley, Calif./Yeti-Fox Shox)

Women’s Downhill
1. Rachel Atherton (GBR)
2. Tracy Moseley (GBR)
3. Emmeline Ragot (FRA)
16. Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash./Transition Racing)
17. Lauren Daney (Stafford, Va.)