FINAL RESULTS: Val di Sole World Cup Downhill 3

The racers, not the weather, decided the results today in Val di Sole!

The weather held, the track was dry and the downhill racing was phenomenal in Val di Sole, Italy, at the fourth round of the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. Plagued by heavy afternoon rains all week, there was tension all morning about conditions in the finals. Today we're pleased to announce that rider performances, not Mother Nature, determined the results.

Amaury Pierron has done it again. His 3rd World Cup Downhill win in as many races. He was back at the first split but lofted and levitated his way down the bike-eating course with unique lines, style and aggression. His agility, strategy and performance gave him the win today in the dry. He's a diverse and skilled rider, proven by his first-place qualifier in the mud here yesterday. The World Cup heads to Andorra next week, the home of Commencal, Amaury's bike sponsor, and is on pace to go 4 for 4.

ย 

Laurie Greenland and Val di Sole are a match made in heaven. He's had no shortage of solid results at the venue and today he adds another one. Within eyesight of the start hut, Greenland hit a hole, his bike skipped out and he almost went down in the very first corner. He didn't let that faze him with a run that was 100% Laurie-style. Combine the flow and line choice of water with the characteristics of a ping pong ball, bouncing and bucking down the track and you get that perfect balance of excitement and calculation.

Danny Hart, a technician and often a wildman on track, rode with a conservative nature (at least it seemed that way on the webcast). He had a mistake free run, but just narrowly missed out on the win behind Laurie with only Amaury Pierron remaining at the time. He earned his 20th World Cup podium today.

The Top 3 men were separated by a total of only .66 seconds.

Luca Shaw had a very slow first split. His lazy, relaxed riding style made it seem like he was out of content. He nibbled back time the entire way down the course, however and ended up with a solid run and finally a legit finish after a mechanical in Fort William and a crash in Leogang.

Thomas Estaque, the hard-charging, up-and-coming French rider had plenty of fun in the hot seat after a run that kept getting faster as he went down the mountain. Coming in to Val di Sole, he was ranked 39th with his best finish of 2018 a 23rd in Leogang. He climbs in the overall with his 5th-place result today.

Loris went down in the bermed corners at the very top of the course.

Loic Bruni, so smooth, appearing so casual on the bike, was on pace to easily take the hot seat when he washed out after over-steering through a tricky turn.

Incredibly, Aaron Gwin raced today. A healing thumb injury was made worse with a crash in practice yesterday. Gwin's Instagram post after the crash made it seemed unlikely he would race. His commitment to points and challenging for the World Cup overall was made clear with a pain-filled run resulting in a 31st-place finish. Clearly in pain Gwin said, "I'm glad I gave it shot," in his post-race interview on the Red Bull webcast.

The Elite Women had an epic battle today without weather playing a factor. Tahnee Seagrave took the victory, but did so with sheer grit and determination. Rachel was ahead at the first 4 splits but by the time Tahnee crossed the line, her performance in the last section of the track made the up for the deficit, and Tahnee won the race by just .12 seconds! Monika Hrastnik backed up her 1st place qualifying performance, not with a win, but with a 3rd place, just 1.6 seconds off the pace. She has cemented herself in the Elite Women's game.

Tahnee's Post-Race Interview

Thibault Daprela takes back the leader's jersey in the Junior Men's class after his win today. He snatches it from Kye A'hern who was injured during training earlier this week. This is Thibaut's second win of the season after two 2nd-place finishes at the last two rounds. Henry Kerr was only 1.1 off the win in 2nd place with Patrick Butler pulling up to 3rd.

No surprise that Vali Holl took the victory in the Junior Women's class. She's in a league of her own, 17 seconds ahead of her competition. The real battle in the Junior Women's class was between 2nd and 3rd place. #USDH shredder, Anna Newkirk takes home a well-earned silver, edging out Mille Johnset by just .26 seconds! #USDH Samantha Soriano rounded out the Top 5. It's so good to see the Junior Women's class stacking up some quality racers!

Elite Men's Results

Elite Men's Overall

Elite Women's Results

Junior Men's Results

Junior Women's Results


PIT BITS from the Val di Sole World Cup DH

3 comments

View replies to: FINAL RESULTS: Val di Sole World Cup Downhill

Comments

The Latest