The French riders delivered masterpiece on the challenging Val di Sole track, whilst fellow Frenchman Amaury Pierron and Swiss Camille Balanche earned overall World Cup honors. Tomorrow, Sunday, the program comes to a close with the Cross Country Olympic finals.
Flags from all over the world, the roar of the chainsaws, the cheering underlining each rider’s entrance on the final kick: that was the atmosphere that surrounded the UCI World Cup Finals’s day 2 in Val di Sole, the one dedicated to Downhill competitions. On Saturday, September 3rd, the arena in Daolasa di Commezzadura was on fire since the morning in anticipation of the Downhill stars, called up to the final act of the season.
The Les Gets World Championships had further established the French team atop the World Downhill movement, and the Black Snake did little but confirm such status. Celebrating this time were Loris Vergier and Myriam Nicole, by far the most effective in drawing fast lines on the unforgiving terrain of the most feared downhill track in the World, which showed its grimmest face to the riders throughout the whole weekend.
As per tradition, a big crowd public greeted the appointment with the Black Snake, sounding their appreciation of a great show on a day that, despite forecasts, reserved just a few short and light rain showers.
After the night dedicated to the 4X Pro Tour, tomorrow, Sunday, the Val di Sole Grand Finale’s program will come to a close with the anticipated XCO finals, reserving the final duels of an intense and entertaining MTB World Cup season.
VERGIER PULLS OFF MAGIC RUN ON THE BLACK SNAKE
As usual, France had many cards to play for the final round of the Downhill World Cup in Val di Sole: on Saturday, September 3rd, it was Loris Vergier’s time to celebrate his fifteenth career success in the World Cup.
Thanks to a bold but flawless run, the 26-year-old Frenchman of the Trek Factory Racing DH Team left behind the European Champion, Austria’s Andreas Kolb (Continental Atherton, +3.008). In great shape from the official qualification round, the Austrian drew very personal trajectories on the Black Snake on the way to a prestigious result. Third place for the surprising Dakotah Norton (Intense Factory Racing +3.129), who enjoyed his best World Cup weekend of his career, right in front of his compatriot and teammate Aaron Gwin (+4.491) who rediscovered his personal feeling for the Black Snake, where he has won four times in his career.
Brit Bernard Kerr (Pivot Factory Racing +5.032) rounded out the top 5. World Champion Loic Bruni (Specialized Gravity) couldn’t do better than eighth on the day. Fellow Frenchman Amaury Pierron (Commencal) crashed to an anonymous 54th place in the final despite a crash and an anonymous 54th place, was still able to celebrate the second overall World Cup title in his career.
“Honestly, when I don’t do mistakes and I link everything I always manage big margins, but that’s so hard to do”, said Loris Vergier afterwards, “and I am really stoked that I have made it twice this year. Hopefully, I can do it again next year. The track was so hard, we have spent so much time trying to figure out where to put the wheels, and in the end it’s a gamble: that’s why we sometimes crash and sometimes do great runs. This season did wonder in giving me confidence back, now I can’t wait for the next season to start.”
Even the slide on the Black Snake wouldn’t hold new World Cup Champion Amaury Pierron from smiling: “I didn’t actually have a plan coming into this one. I assumed if I felt well I would push and try to go for a win. Today in the morning I had good feelings, so that’s what I have tried to do. Then at the top we had a little bit of rain, I hit some rocks and eventually slid down. That’s not the way I wanted to end the season, but still I have won the overall World Cup so I am happy.”
NICOLE TAMES BLACK SNAKE AGAIN. BALANCHE IS THE 2022 WORLD CUP WINNER
It didn’t take so long for Myriam Nicole to make up for Les Gets’ World Championships disappointment. In Val di Sole, the French rider found the perfect rhythm on her favorite track once again, and after conquering the 2021 World title on the Black Snake, she managed to repeat in the 2022 World Cup finals.
The rider of the Commencal/MucOff Team was clearly above the rest in the first half of the track, taming the most treacherous and technical stints, and managed to hold her own in the finale in spite of unclipping a pedal and losing some pace in the process. Behind her, German Nina Hoffmann (Santa Cruz Syndicate, +4.069) confirmed her progression through the season, notably in the most technical and selective tracks like the Val di Sole’s one, and Austrian World Champion Valentina Höll (Rockshox Trek, +6.235) came in third. Fifth position on the day was enough for Swiss Camille Balanche (Dorval Am Commencal +10.637) to secure the overall World Cup title – an even more remarkable feat when recalling that she had suffered a broken collarbone exactly one month ago.
“This season was a bit of a struggle, with lots of ups and downs, but I see that when I come into an event with little pressure it’s where I perform at my best, so I know what to work on,” said Myriam Nicole. “The track was sketchy, naughty today. I didn’t feel that well coming into this one, I was really demoralized after last week’s World Champs, but to see the teamwork and their effort put me on fire, so I had to do it. I wasn’t sure my performance would be enough as my pedal unclipped in the lower part and couldn’t quite ride the way I wanted, but it panned out well, and I am very happy for Camille as well.”
“I am over the moon, winning the World Cup is a dream come true. I am so tired and excited I can barely speak,” said new World Cup champion Balanche. “It was a perfect season, in spite of the injury and the surgery. Returning to racing so early was painful, but ultimately worth it. Now I feel empty and happy, it will take a while to realize what happened. I knew I was able to get down the slope, but clearly I was a passenger on the bike today, didn’t have the strength to hold the bike. To even have managed to finish on the day’s podium is special.”
DH JUNIOR MEN: JORDAN WILLIAMS RULES IN VAL DI SOLE
In the morning of Saturday, September 3rd, the Downhill program of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup finals in Val di Sole was opened by the Junior Men’s race.
The outcome of the overall World Cup was already known, with the trophy firmly in the hands of Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndacate), though the challenge was still open to take the cherished scalp of the Black Snake.
It was World Champion Jordan Williams (Madison-Saracen) who claimed a beautiful success by cruising on the treacherous terrain and ended his season on a high, clocking in a 3.35.941 time.
Goldstone himself was very much in the discussion and had clocked the best times in several sections until he crashed in the final part due to a bike issue. American Ryan Pinkerton (GT Factory Racing, +9.825) could therefore move up to second place, ahead of Australian Remy Meier-Smith (Propain Factory Racing, +14.364).
DH WOMEN JR: GRACEY HEMSTREET TAKES STAGE WIN AND WORLD CUP GC
Canadian Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Factory Team) lived up to the expectations by taking the stage win and the Junior Women’s World Cup trophy in Val di Sole. Bulgarian Izabela Yankova (GEN-S) was runner-up (+3.634), whilst New Zealander Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory Racing) rounded out the race’s top-3 (+7.567).
CHILDREN’S FEST WITH THE GIANT MINI WORLD CUP
The stars of the present and children who dream of emulating their deeds. After the Downhill races, there were all the ingredients for a fun afternoon in Daolasa di Commezzadura: four years after the last time, the Giant Mini World Cup was back to Val di Sole.
A hundred children, from 2 to 12 years old, had the opportunity to ride on a short Cross Country circuit created right inside the official World Cup track, a stone’s throw from the theater of their idols’ duels.
4X PRO TOUR’S FINAL ROUND ON SATURDAY NIGHT
The racing program of Saturday, September 3rd, will end with the seventh and final stage of the 4X Pro Tour, starting at 8.45 PM CET. On Friday, due to the accident that occurred to Czech Anna Slancova, the sixth stage was first suspended and subsequently neutralized by unanimous decision of the athletes.
In Thursday’s qualifying session, Czech Tomas Slavik and New Zealander Caitlin Flavell had set the best times.
CONCLUSION ON SUNDAY WITH THE XCO RACES
Tomorrow, Sunday September 4th, Val di Sole will stage the final day of the UCI World Cup’s Grand Finale with the Cross Country Olympic competitions.
The schedule will be opened by the Under 23 Women’s race at 8.30 CET, followed bv Under 23 Men (10.15 CET), Elite Women (12.20 CET) and Elite Men (14.50 CET). Among the greatest storylines of the day, Italy will be backing Luca Braidot, currently runner up of the XCO World Cup’s overall standings, in his quest to snatch the lead from Nino Schurter and become the first ever Italian Elite MTB World Cup winner.
Daolasa di Commezzadura (TN), September 3rd, 2022
