It was a weekend of ups and downs for the Atherton siblings as they contested their home World Cup in Fort William, Scotland...
The event marked the second of the seven race UCI World Cup series and the first one in just under a year for the eldest Atherton, Dan.
In June 2010, a broken neck threatened to put an end to his career, but Dan made a solid comeback proving he hasn't lost his touch. Recording times just outside the top-50, Dan finally slipped back to 69th place due to a puncture on the lower section of the course.
The home crowd made it clear how happy they were to see him back on a bike as he took the biggest applause of the whole weekend as he entered the finish arena.
Also in the mens event, reigning UCI World Cup champion, Gee Atherton, looked to be on a winning run, with his first split a clear second ahead of the rest of the field, until disaster struck halfway down the course when a rock flicked up into his wheel damaging a number of spokes.
With the wheel flexing from side to side, Gee nursed the bike down to take a solid fourth place and some valuable points behind the new series leader and event winner South Africa's Greg Minnaar.
Fort William was also the first World Cup of the year for Rachel Atherton, who has also been on the mend from injury. Rachel put this firmly behind her as she followed her first place in qualifying by a agonisingly close second place to fellow Brit, Tracey Moseley.
Rachel was delighted with her first event back and now looks forward to tackling some of her favourite tracks that are coming up in the next few rounds of the World Cup series.
The tour and the team now move on to the third round in the Austrian town of Leogang, where they will look to step it up a notch and record that first World Cup win of the year.
Want more?
- Visit the Atherton Racing official site
- Read more at our bike sports page
- Gee Atherton's profile on redbull.com
- Follow Gee on Twitter: @gee_atherton
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