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The 2021 UCI Downhill MTB World Championships took place in Val di Sole, Italy over the weekend. South Africa’s Greg Minnaar claimed his fourth World Championship title, while Myriam Nicole won the Women’s title.
In the Men’s race Danny Hart went fastest at every split to take the hotseat. Remi Thirion and David Trummer, the silver and bronze medallists from Leogang last year, failed to go faster. Benoit Coulanges then claimed the lead after nailing his run and nervously watched on as Troy Brosnan came within 0.214 seconds of his lead.
Troy Brosnan – 3rd Place
Next up was Greg Minnaar and things got tense. The South African was up at split one but red at two and three. Minnaar began to claw back time further down the track, as he flew through the final berms to snatch the lead and send the crowd wild.
Benoit Coulanges – 2nd Place
Loïc Bruni failed to threaten the leaders, as did World Cup leader Thibaut Daprela when a crash ended his chances. Loris Vergier was fastest through the first two splits but dropped back to 4th, leading to huge celebrations as Minnaar realised he had become a four-time champion.
Greg Minnaar – 1st Place
In the Women’s race, the first of the big names to tackle the course was the fastest qualifier, Vali Holl. The Austrian once again fell foul to race day demons with a crash ending her bid for glory. Despite putting together a smooth run Tahnée Seagrave sensed others would go faster. Eleanora Farina was pushing hard and on pace but just missed out on the hot seat, finishing 0.188 down on Seagrave’s time.
Camille Balanche – 3rd Place
Marine Cabirou was 1.179 down at the first split but her aggressive style saw her throw everything at the course and she crossed the line a staggering 5.454 seconds ahead of Seagrave. Defending World Champion Camille Balanche was quick all the way down and absolutely sent the final jump to finish just 1.272 seconds off the pace in second place.
Marine Cabirou – 2nd Place
Myriam Nicole was the final competitor to tackle the course. Dropping into the final turn Nicole was absolutely flying as she crossed the line a huge 4.827 seconds ahead of Cabirou to claim the rainbow jersey.
Myriam Nicole – 1st Place
Men’s Results
1st Greg Minnaar 3:28.963
2nd Benoit Coulanges 3:29.190
3rd Troy Brosnan 3:29.404
4th Loris Vergier 3:30.129
5th Danny Hart 3:30.813
6th Loic Bruni 3:31.934
7th Matt Walker 3:32.122
8th David Trummer 3:32.123
9th Finn Iles 3:33.352
10th Luca Shaw 3:33.897
36th Theo Erlangsen 3:42.131
61st Johann Potgieter 3:56.496
Women’s Results
1st Myriam Nicole 4:06.243
2nd Marine Cabirou 4:11.070
3rd Camille Balanche 4:12.342
4th Monika Hrastnik 4:15.328
5th Tahnee Seagrave 4:16.024
6th Eleonora Farina 4:16.212
7th Mille Johnset 4:16.307
8th Jessica Blewitt 4:17.916
9th Veronika Widmann 4:19.693
10th Emilie Siegenthaler 4:25.714
26th Beani Thies 5:16.237
Greg Minnaar and Myriam Nicole
Photos by Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool.
