RESULTS: Val di Sole UCI MTB DH Elite Finals 5

Italy always delivers!

iceman2058

6/15/2024 4:21am

As the afternoon rolled around in Val di Sole, all eyes were on the weather and the track after the juniors left it rougher than ever for the elite races. The rain was in the air, but was still holding off as the elite women got underway. Unfortunately, semi-final winner Jess Blewitt had a crash in training this morning which left her unable to line up in the the start gate for finals. Hopefully Jess is OK and we'll see her challenge for her first ever World Cup win again soon. Monica Hrastnik laid down the early marker with an attacking run, which would hold up until Tahnee managed to take another second off the clock. Tahnee's early splits were way faster though, showing that there was still time to be made on the track today. Vali Höll looked on pace but she once again failed to keep it upright, laying it down mid-run just like she did in the semis yesterday. Vali rode strong towards the bottom to salvage some important points towards the overall standings, but she'll be eager to move on from Italy after a couple of runs that didn't go her way. With Jess not racing, Myriam Nicole was the last woman standing between Tahnee and her first World Cup win since 2021, but it was not to be for the fast Frenchy who crossed the line in 4th after a somewhat conservative run. Congrats to Tahnee on completing a long, long road to recovery and a gradual buildup back to the top of her form - and Happy Birthday!!!

As the elite men got underway, the weather was still moving in, and we were crossing our fingers for a fair race. Richie Rude was one of the first riders out the gate, incredible to see the current Enduro World Cup series leader just hop on his prototype Yeti DH bike and make the finals that 140 DH riders failed to qualify for. Danny Hart made the most sense of it all during the first half of the finals, but we were still some ways away from Amaury's 3:44 winning time from the semis. Dylan Maples set off to a slow start but kept building all the way to the line, nabbing the hotseat with 15 riders to go. His joy would be short-lived however, as Dak Norton was about to put it all together for a 3:43, one second faster than Amaury's semi-final winning time! Talk about making it happen when it counts, and now we waited to find out how long that time would stand? Following a crash in the semis, Loic Bruni was up soon, crossing the line some 3 seconds back of Dak for 2nd place at the line. Not Loic's best weekend but still a good indicator of just how fast Dak was going. Ronan and Oisin charged hard for Ireland but could only manage 3rd and 4th at the line, respectively. Meanwhile, the drizzle was turning into something more akin to rain, and the tires were starting to sound a bit sloppy as they rolled by. Troy was still able to find enough speed and flow to stay in touch, just loosing fractions of a second at each split while giving us hope that the race was still on. Troy would fade a bit at the end but 1.7 seconds back on Dak for 2nd place at the line at the time was impressive in these conditions. Two to go! Finn was green through three splits, looking every bit like he was on track for his next World Cup win, but a small mistake towards the bottom would send him into second place. What could Amaury do? 1 second up at the first split, 2.7 up at the second split! Amaury on another level, impossibly fast in these conditions. 4.1 seconds up at the third!!! Outrageous!!! Look at the time!!! 4.8 up at the line!!! A vintage Amaury masterclass, and the big man is BACK. WOW. Looks like we're on for an EPIC end to the racing season...

Race Day audio from Jack Rick - Caution, adult language

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