Follow britishcycling.org.uk on 
Curd makes fourcross final at 2010 Worlds
Posted September 4 2010
2010 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Homepage
Result Men | Women
Katy Curd made the fourcross final at the 2010 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships - won by Caroline Buchanan and Thomas Slavik.
On a track that featured a short first straight, two rock gardens and some big jumps Curd was the best of the British riders - but it almost went very wrong in the semi-finals.
Curd lined up in the heat against country woman Fionn Griffiths - but the two came together on the second corner, allowing Anita Molcik and Jana Horakova a seemingly clear run to the line.
Curd didn't give up easily though and took advantage of Molcik's uncertainty on the big jumps to race back into second, taking the last qualification spot for the finals on the last section of track.
In the small final, Griffiths took home seventh position in a busy race, but all eyes were on Curd for the main.
Unfortunately, a bad gate left her with alot of work to do, and realisticly Katy was always battling for the final medal position as Caroline Buchanan pulled out a big lead.
Whereas in previous runs Curd had been able to take the main line in the jump section, something happened off camera and she was forced to bungle through the smaller tabletops, losing track position and ultimately the bronze medal.
However, the performance from Curd - who hasn't raced a World Championships since 2007 - can still be seen as a breakthrough, and she remains a young prospect for the future.
In the men's race, Scott Beaumont - Britain's sole representitive - suffered from a puncture in seeding. This left a big task - not only being drawn against the biggest names, but also having the worst lane choice.
Beaumont made it to the quarter finals, but didn't progress to the semi, in a race won by Tomas Slavik.
