With the women, Rachel Atherton continued her bout of good form qualifying first and it wasn't until the top riders started coming down the hill that the times got close to the standard that was to be expected. Miriam Nicole once again showed what a threat she is taking the hot seat a full 9 seconds up on the then leader, Morgane, and stayed in the 1st place until Siegenthaler, the only remaining Scott11 rider competiting at the weekend, posted a very quick time shaving an extra 1.2 seconds off the time.

It was then time for the drama to begin. Tracey Hannah, after winning in Pietermaritzburg showed what she could do and stormed down the track, taking the hot seat and most importantly clearing the final big jump, which only a couple of the girls took on.

One of the ladies to do this was the penultimate rider, Ragot. At the first split she was up on Hannah by 3.2 seconds and as she entered the bottom section of the course, she was looking very fast. With only the final double to do, Ragot sprinted towards the finish line, launching herself off the kicker only to catch the knuckle and on compression, was thrown to off the bike. She scrabbled to her feet, dragging herself and bike over the last few feet to the line, but she was 0.4 seconds down on Hannah and went into second place.

This however wasn't the end of the drama. With Atherton setting off last down the mountain and her closest rival in the standings just crashing on the final jump, Atherton had an opportunity to take some valuable leaders points and everything was going to plan as she was up on Hannah at the first split, but then, after a awkward landing off the hip before Peaty's Plunge, she left the course and went outside a post. She rejoined the course, battled hard and crossed the line 0.2 seconds up on Hannah. But, did she win? In the past, riders have been disqualified fro leaving the track, going around posts and then rejoining, but this time it was decided that she gained no advantage on her detour and Atherton was confirmed as the winner!

The men's event was slightly less dramatic, but no less tense.

Firstly, a few contenders were out of the running from the off; Justin Leov was riding with a suspected broken finger and Fariclough was out with a broken thumb, but this did little to upset the order of play.

It was Mitchell Delfs who set the standard to beat and he saw off many of the top 30 qualifiers including Bryceland before current World Champ Danny Hart managed to bumped him down to second, beating his time by 1.1 seconds. Hart's place at the top looked pretty solid as the next wave of riders failed to make an impression - Pekoll didn't challenge, Cam Cole crashed in the rocks and the promise of Lorenzo could be seen, but didn't equate to a podium position. Peaty also continued to be dogged by bad luck as his rear tyre blew out in the rocks.

A slow qualification for Minnaar saw the Syndicate rider out of sorts and only taking second on the podium, but only briefly as Beer bumped him to third. The fast track and small time differences saw Mick Hannah slot into 3rd, and Blenky could only manage 10th, just 1.9 seconds behind the leader.

As the top ten qualifiers dropped, it was Gee Atherton who upped the standard coming in 1.3 seconds up on Hart with a tight looking run on course that looked to slowing down. His team mate Beaumont was next out the start gate and was another victim to the rock garden with a big crash, followed shortly after by MacDonald too.

Hill was looking fast, but a pedal slip in the rocks saw him lose a bit of time and end up in 5th, Netherling wasn't on winning pace though looked as smooth as always and Spagnolo was another to suffer a puncture.

And so the final two men are left to race and on Canada Day, it was Steve Smith who looked determined to get the win. The big Canadian looked fast and smooth and as he charged the mountain as he crossed the line, he was 0.7 up on Gee and was now in the lead. And then it was time for Gwin.

This is his home race and the American was fastest in qualification, he had won the last 3 rounds and was seemingly unstoppable, but a big crash in practice had shown that he was in fact human, so could he cope with the pressure.

Of course he could. He was up at the first split and never looked back, though the extended time differences we've seen this season weren't as prevelant this time, he still crossed the line 1 second up on Smith and the crowd went mental.

Watch the whole replay right here and see for yourself.

Windham DHI Men's Results

Windham DHI Men's Standings

Windham DHI Women's Results