Round 2 of the 2023 UCI Downhill MTB World Cup season took place over the weekend in Leogang, Austria. Austrian riders reigned dominant as Vali Höll and Andreas Kolb claimed victory in the Elite Women’s and Men’s races.
Andreas Kolb
Vali Höll
In the Elite Men’s race Andreas Kolb set the pace as he became the first rider to go under three minutes with six riders still to go. Neither Thibaut Daprela or Luca Shaw were able to threaten the Austrian’s time.
Jackson Goldstone threatened to take the lead as he expertly conquered the first few sections of his run, but he lost some time in the final corner that would ultimately put him into 3rd place. Loic Bruni was the second to last rider out of the gate and made a fast start before also falling back in the final sector and having to settle for 2nd place. Finn Iles knew he would have to push hard to gain the win but a few small errors cost him finishing in 4th place.
Vali Höll produced a sensational performance in the Elite Women’s race, winning the qualifying, semi-finals and finals.
When the finals got underway it was Gracey Hemstreet who laid down an early marker as she set the time to beat. Phoebe Gale then went even faster before the vastly experienced Rachel Atherton claimed the lead.
With just three riders remaining, Atherton was still in the lead but Camille Balanche produced an incredible run to finish three seconds ahead. Nina Hoffmann looked as though she would take the lead as she stormed down the challenging track, but a mistake in the woods ended her chances. Vali Höll then went out last and was full of aggression as she produced a dominant display to claim victory by more than four seconds.
Men’s Results (Top 10)
1st Andreas Kolb 2:59.335
2nd Loïc Bruni 3:00.015
3rd Jackson Goldstone 3:00.246
4th Finn Iles 3:00.786
5th Luca Shaw 3:01.048
6th Thibaut Daprela 3:01.060
7th Loris Vergier 3:01.546
8th Ronan Dunne 3:01.548
9th Laurie Greenland 3:01.681
10th Benoit Coulanges 3:01.743
Women’s Results (Top 10)
1st Vali Höll 3:23.222
2nd Camille Balanche 3:27.525
3rd Rachel Atherton 3:30.556
4th Monika Hrastnik 3:30.825
5th Phoebe Gale 3:31.074
6th Marine Cabirou 3:31.638
7th Grasey Hemstreet 3:31.958
8th Nina Hoffmann 3:32.868
9th Jess Blewitt 3:36.303
10th Veronika Widmann 3:41.549
Photos by Stefan Voitl and M Ablinger.