Women's downhill world champion Myriam Nicole moved clear at the top of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup standings after victory in Lenzerheide ©Getty Images

France’s Loris Vergier won his second consecutive men’s elite downhill event at the International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Cup, while Myriam Nicole made it a French double in the women’s elite downhill race to give herself breathing space at the top of the overall standings.

In the men’s race, Vergier picked up maximum points by clocking 2min 46.921sec in Lenzerheide in Switzerland.

French riders made up the race’s top four, with Loïc Bruni 0.197 seconds behind in second.

Thibaut Dapréla was third in 2:47.291, while Amaury Pierron came fourth in 2:47.579.

Dapréla still leads the way in the individual World Cup standings on 752 points with only one leg to go in Snowshoe in the United States later this month, while Vergier is second on 566, with Bruni rounding off the podium on 454.

British rider Laurie Greenland finished fifth in Lenzerheide, being left in fourth place in the overall standings on 422 points.

Austria’s Troy Brosnan had begun the day in second, but slumped to a time of 3:00.673 to finish the race 48th, leaving him seventh in the individual standings.  

Loris Vergier led a group of four French riders who finished first in the men's downhill event in Lenzerheide, with Thibaut Dapréla still leading the overall standings ©Getty Images
Loris Vergier led a group of four French riders who finished first in the men's downhill event in Lenzerheide, with Thibaut Dapréla still leading the overall standings ©Getty Images

Newly crowned downhill world champion Greg Minnaar of South Africa was 6.464 seconds off the pace in 19th place and slipped out of the top three.

The women’s world champion Nicole fared better in Lenzerheide, triumphing in 3:10.661.

Nicole now leads the way on 810 points, having started the day tied with Switzerland’s Camille Balanche.

However, she finished fifth on home soil, 8.561 seconds behind Nicole and on 695 points in the individual standings.

Britain’s Tahnee Seagrave moved on to the podium by finishing second in the race with a time of 3:13.323 to move on to 662 points.

The extra 20 points gained at the expense of Valentina Höll proved crucial as the Austrian rider came third in the race in 3:16.776, falling to fourth in the overall standings on 645.

Canada’s Jackson Goldstone won his third successive World Cup event in the men’s junior downhill final to extend his lead over Britain’s Jordan Williams, while Bulgaria’s Izabela Yankova leapfrogged Britain’s Phoebe Gale to the top of the individual standings by winning the women’s junior downhill event.

The Olympic cross-country finals are due to be held in Lenzerheide tomorrow to bring the penultimate leg of this year’s World Cup circuit to a close.