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The sixth and final Round of the 2021 UCI Downhill MTB World Cup season took place in Snowshoe, West Virginia, USA. The double-header round saw the championship deciders come down to the wire in the last finals of the season.
In the Men’s race, Angel Suarez laid down a scorching race run to post 3:14.010 and set what would be a longstanding benchmark time. Amaury Pierron, after a crash in practice on Monday, had been fighting pain all week but he still delivered a brilliant run which got him 4th. Luca Shaw backed up two strong qualification runs in Snowshoe to grab 5th and his first World Cup podium in three years.
With Thibaut Daprela out after breaking his thumb and surgery on an open fracture to his fibula following a big crash in qualification, Loris Vergier was the most likely candidate to take the overall title however he lost his line and went off track putting an end to his championship hopes. Troy Brosnan went fastest with just two riders to go, and with Finn Iles crashing in his run, it was left to Loïc Bruni to put it all together under pressure. Bruni put down a run for the ages to take the win by 0.421 seconds and his second overall UCI MTB World Cup title.
Loic Bruni
In the Women’s race Emilie Siegenthaler signed off her professional career with a quick early time before Tahnée Seagrave laid down her marker, which would be enough to land her in 4th spot at the end of the day. Nina Hoffman was able to lay down a race run good enough for 5th.
Vali Höll was quick through the top jumps en-route to the 3:39.679 fastest time of the day with Camille Balanche capping her best World Cup season after another solid run. Marine Cabirou was up by 0.849 seconds at the fourth split, but could not carry that advantage through to the finish. Fastest qualifier, Myriam Nicole looked to have done enough for the title until just after the final split where she washed out on the open pedal section to lose time and hand Höll her maiden title.
Vali Holl
Men’s Results
1st Loïc Bruni 3:13.379
2nd Troy Brosnan 3:13.800
3rd Angel Suarez 3:14.010
4th Amaury Pierron 3:14.154
5th Luca Shaw 3:14.707
6th Danny Hart 3:15.319
7th Reece Wilson 3:15.343
8th Remi Thirion 3:15.748
9th Benoit Coulanges 3:16.084
10th David Trummer 3:16.383
2021 Downhill World Cup Overall Results – Men (Top 5)
1st Loic Bruni 877 Points
2nd Thibaut Daprela 752 Points
3rd Loris Vergier 713 Points
4th Troy Brosnan 666 Points
5th Reece Wilson 637 Points
Loic Bruni
Women’s Results
1st Vali Höll 3:39.679
2nd Marine Cabirou 3:39.935
3rd Camille Balanche 3:45.100
4th Tahnée Seagrave 3:46.236
5th Nina Hoffmann 3:46.948
6th Mille Johnset 3:49.055
7th Myriam Nicole 3:52.045
8th Eleonora Farina 3:53.036
9th Emilie Siegenthaler 4:03.020
10th Anna Newkirk 4:04.906
2021 Downhill World Cup Overall Results – Women (Top 5)
1st Vali Holl 1125 Points
2nd Myriam Nicole 1079 Points
3rd Camille Balanche 1065 Points
4th Tahnée Seagrave 936 Points
5th Marine Cabirou 691 Points
Vali Holl
Photos by Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool.
