Round four of the DH World Cup finds us in Val Di Sole on mildly sanitized, updated version of the lethal track. Some rain made for nice, tacky dirt, but bomb holes, braking bumps and forearm sized roots remain poised. To little surprise, Amaury Pierron continues on his killing spree with serious momentum, besting Finn Iles by over 3 seconds. By the way, 2nd place in qualifying is mighty impressive considering it’s Finn’s first year in Elites. Hats off for that effort! Frenchman Hugo Frixalton landed in 3rd, about 5 seconds back from Finn, followed by Danny Hart and Luca Shaw, rounding out the top 5 with times that weren’t quite as tight as usual on the World Cup circuit.
In the Women’s, Solvenian Monika Hrastnik was way ahead of the rest of the field, with Tahnee Seagrave nearly 10 seconds back and Rachel Atherton sitting uncharacteristically far back in 6th. We’ll see if she pulls out all of the stops tomorrow, but one thing is for sure – this year has seen more shake ups in the women’s field.
Thibaut Daprela continues to have solid results in Junior men’s, qualifying first. Italian native Giacomo Masiero may have used some local knowledge to slide into second, while American Joey Foresta landed in third, 4 seconds back.
In Women’s juniors, Vali Holl continues to dominate, nearly 15 seconds up on the field. She’ll have some eyes on her over the coming years for sure…
Men’s Qualifying – Full Results
Women’s Qualifying – Full Results
Junior Men’s Qualifying – Full Results
Junior Women’s Qualifying – Full Results
In July I attended the launch of a new bike which I've given very high…
Virgin, Utah (September 10, 2024) – In one month’s time, the first riders will drop in for…
Virgin, Utah (August 21, 2024) – Eighteen of the top male freeride athletes have been invited to…
Those who follow the mag assiduously will have noticed that one of the mountain bikes…
Late this Fall and throughout an unusually warm Winter I've been spending time aboard my…
Specialized presents the new Epic 8, and with it the Evo version, i.e., the one…