THE END OF THE BATTLE - Val di Sole World Cup Finals

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An entire season, seven races across Europe and North America, all came down to a few seconds in Val di Sole today. The 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup DH season is complete. We'll let the incredible photos and stories from Sven Martin, @maddogboris and Dan Hearn do the talking. A big thank you from Vital goes out to the hardest working and most passionate photographers in the game! YEW!!!

It was green all the way for Aaron Gwin who once again showed how he can dominate a course like this. He also took the overall for the season from Minnaar, which has been a close battle for several races now. -Dan Hearn
Number one. There must have been some sleepless nights for Aaron coming into this round knowing the overall was all to play for. Finally, some well-earned rest tonight and another trophy for the cabinet. -Dan Hearn
Heartbreaking end to a great season for Greg Minnaar. We wish it could have been a proper battle to the end but as they say, "that's racing" -Sven Martin
Caption not needed. @maddogboris
Yes, Tahnee Seagrave! Three wins this season and second place in the overall. @maddogboris
The moment she realized she did it again! @maddogboris
Attacking style from Pom Pon during finals, whose 2nd place secured her the World Cup overall. Bravo! -Dan Hearn
Tears of happiness from Pom Pon with the overall series win. -Sven Martin
Man, we can´t wait to see Finn Iles next year in the Elite Category. This Kid is on fire! @maddogboris
Amaury Pierron with an amazing 2nd place on the hardest track of the year. I'm sure there are going to be a couple of team managers scrambling to get in line for a "chat" with him. -Sven Martin
Amaury Pierron, as he said yesterday, the harder the track, the faster he goes. @maddogboris
A third place for Loic Bruni saw him climb 2 places in the overall to 4th. @maddogboris
The French took so many podium spots in the Men's, Women's and Juniors today. The most dominant nation in today's racing by far. Hopefully this trio sobers up before Cairns. Salut! Loic in audio. -Sven Martin
Melanie Chappaz takes the double win just like Gwin and Finn. - #MCsven
All good things in 3's! The youngest Pierron, Antoine with the 5th fastest time today in Juniors. @maddogboris
It was more than obvious that Troy wanted to win this race. World Champs in Cairns will be unreal! @maddogboris
Paula Zibasa second on the day and second overall in Junior Women. -Sven Martin
HECK YEAH, Dakotah Norton. 14th place for the #USDH pinner! @maddogboris
Sylvain Cougoureux has fought hard all year in the Juniors and ends here with a third on the day and a second in the series. -Sven Martin
The packed finish area is a testament to the size of the sport of mountain biking in Europe. So many excited fans created a deafening welcome for Loris Vergier as he powered down to 4th place. -Dan Hearn
Loris Vergier a few seconds earlier. He hit a tree hard today in his last training run. Dusted himself off and ended up on the podium. He also had the two fastest top splits. -Sven Martin
A small cycling club were taking some initiative and were out selling beers trackside to raise funds. "What for," we asked. "To buy more beer," they responded. Vital donated to the cause! -Sven Martin<br />
Eleonora Farina had a dream ending to her weekend by landing on the podium in front of a very loud and appreciative home crowd. -Sven Martin
We salute you Markus Pekoll! Final left turn ever taken at a World Cup! -Sven Martin<br />
Luca Shaw laying it out on the final big step down into eighth place, getting faster the whole way down. -Sven Martin
Same rider, same jump! -Dan Hearn
Tracey Hannah had a big crash in training this morning but got back up for her race. Hard to push for the win when you also want to go to Australia healthy. -Sven Martin
What could have been... Riding like a beast all week and one of the few juniors who managed to tame the black snake, Kade Edwards luck ran out in his race run. -Sven Martin
Matt Walker will be battling with the Elites next year and his steady progression should see him slotting right into the top twenties. -Sven Martin
Danny Hart has had some wild rides this year with some big saves. He couldn't hold it together in his race run and unfortunately for him also dropped off the overall series podium. -Sven Martin
Rachel Atherton will be relieved to get this season over with. A long, steep, rough track like this was just too much for her rehabbing shoulder. First at the first split then slowly fading towards the bottom of the track. -Sven Martin
Tahnee ending the season with an emphatic win. -Sven Martin
Charlie Harrison ends the year in the top twenty which means he starts in Croatia next year as a protected rider, which will come as a relief if you have seen all those rocks. #USDH -Sven Martin
Mark Wallace seventh today and finishes the year in eighth overall. -Sven Martin
Payet with a close call landing super deep and only just inside of the poles. Only just! Top 15 finish and nearly 70 feet for all you yanks. -Sven Martin
Gwin doing it right. Capping the series win off with a race win in the final. -Sven Martin
Podium montage. @maddogboris
What a season it's been for Britain's Charlie Hatton. Today, his best ever result of 11th as a first year elite put him 26th in the overall. -Dan Hearn
Tracey Hannah with some #lightbro in the morning. 3rd place in Val di Sole and also 3rd place in the overall. @maddogboris
Kaos Seagrave was really serious about studying the depths of certain lines. @maddogboris
The relationship between Finn Iles and his mechanic Kevin is something special. It's a friendship! @maddogboris
Troys mechanic Aaron Pelttari with his German baby! @maddogboris
Maybe Emilie Siegenthaler didn't finish the last race like she wanted, but she can be more than stoked about her 5th overall position. @maddogboris
Cecile Ravanel mentioned on Instagram that her first World Cup was an interesting, different and amazing experience. Don't forget that Aaron Gwin was also tenth at his first World Cup. @maddogboris
7th place for Miranda Miller today. @maddogboris
His own words (FB comment) "once a ball head, always a ball head." @maddogboris
Eddie the Eagle coming in to land! -Dan Hearn
Brook Macdonald blurring into the end of a season he'll choose to forget. Onward for the Bulldog! @maddogboris
Adam Brayton aka GasToFlat showed where his name comes from. The most gnarly jump of the weekend? Oh, and an amazing 9th place for him. @maddogboris
One of the fastest families in MTB history, the Pierrons. @maddogboris
We knew Laurie Greenland could perform on this track after coming 2nd last year at World Champs. 6th place today with some tight competition shows he is still delivering the goods. -Dan Hearn
Gwin, Pierron, Bruni. Your top three from today, posing for the world's press. -Dan Hearn
The end of season party kicks off from here: these girls know how to spray champagne but there's always some left for drinking! -Dan Hearn
Aaron's signature Onza tire won the last round in the torrential rain and now here in the loose dust. A tire that you know and are confident on often proves faster than constantly changing to the conditions. Another testament to Gwin's skills. -Dan Hearn
There is good hope for the future of Austrian downhill after Pekoll's retirement with the likes of Moritz Ribarich on the radar. His 4th place today shows he means business. -Dan Hearn
Jack Moir blasting the boom-boom-huck-jam in practice. A solid end to a great season for him with a 10th place. -Dan Hearn
The end to a difficult season for Gee Atherton, perhaps not running the number plate he'd like. A 24th place to confirm he's on the rise back through the ranks once again and with plenty of work to be done in the coming weeks. -Dan Hearn
Some serious rain was lingering in the clouds at the end of the valley. We were really hoping there want a repeat of Lourdes and MSA here on the ground, and luckily the weather held out until just before podiums. -Dan Hearn
This never gets old for these guys or for us watching it all go down. Thank you to the riders and thanks to Sven, Boris and Dan for the epic coverage all season long! It's been an unforgettable season! -gordo || photo by Sven Martin
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