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The sixth stop of the 2019 UCI Downhill MTB World Cup took place in Val Di Sole,Italy over the weekend. The weekend proved to be a brutal one with riders having to deal with a tough and technical track known as The Black Snake. It begins with fast, flowing turns before heading for a tree line. Once it enters the woods, the racers plummet their way down a staircase of roots.
Competitors got to grips with the track during practice only to be hit with huge storm as the Elite Men took to course for qualifying the following day, resulting in a crazy qualifying session and results. The rain had stopped for finals day and the track dried as the day went on, leaving prime conditions as the elites raced for their times.
In the Men’s race Loris Vergier forged ultra-fast straight lines where others couldn’t, his time of 3:42.701 was good enough for the hot seat at the time but would end up in 3rd overall. Greg Minnaar was on a stellar run turning splits green, until a small mistake saw him run off course. Minnaar got back on course quickly and managed to salvage 7th place with a time of 3:44.989 – what could have been?!
Loïc Bruni then took to the hot seat with his time of 3:40.673 but shrugged and hinted that he didn’t think that he’d done enough, he ended the day in 2nd place.
Laurie Greenland was on the limit and tamed the Black Skane with an incredible run to scoop his first ever UCI World Cup win with a time of 3:37.818, almost three seconds ahead of Bruni.
Loic Bruni
In the Women’s race it was Camille Balanche who first scythed her way convincingly through the woods with a time of 4:44.114 to take 3rd place. Marine Cabirou attacked the most, from top to bottom, and crossed the line with a time of 4:25.790 to take her first win. Tracey Hannah was last to drop and played it safe, with a few mistakes held onto 2nd place with a time of 4:37.566.
Marine Cabirou
Men’s Results
1st Laurie Greenland 3:37.818
2nd Loïc Bruni 3:40.673
3rd Loris Vergier 3:42.701
4th Amaury Pierron 3:42.986
5th Danny Hart 3:44.668
6th David Trummer 3:44.742
7th Greg Minnaar 3:44.989
8th Remi Thirion 3:45.137
9th Baptiste Pierron 3:45.470
10th Troy Brosnan 3:45.840
Women’s Results
1st Marine Cabirou 4:25.790
2nd Tracey Hannah 4:37.566
3rd Camille Balanche 4:44.114
4th Veronika Widmann 4:46.312
5th Emilie Siegenthaler 4:52.383
Photos by Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool.
