September 7/19 19:10 pm - Cruz Finishes Third in World Cup DH Final

Posted by Editoress on 09/7/19
 

The 2019 Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup concluded on Saturday with the seventh and final round in Snowshoe, West Virginia, where the overall titles were awarded.  One Canadian made the overall podium - Lucas Cruz (SRAM TLD) - who finished third overall in the Junior men's series.

In the Elite women, Marine Cabirou (Scott DH) won the final round ahead of new world champion Myriam Nicole (Commencal/Vallnord), with Tracey Hannah (Polygon UR) finishing fifth, but still managing to win the overall title.  There were no Canadian women competing.  In Junior women, world champion Valentina Holl (SRAM TLD) won the final round and took the overall title.

For Elite men, the overall title came down the last rider and the final time split to decide the winner.  Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Vallnord) was leading, with overall leading rider Loic Bruni (Specialized DH) sitting in third, which could vault Pierron into the World Cup title.  Danny Hart (Madison Saracen) was the final rider and, for the first three splits, was behind Pierron but ahead of Bruni.  Then, at the final split before the finish, Hart moved into the lead and held on to win the race, bumping Pierron to second and Bruni to fourth, but allowing Bruni to hold onto the overall lead by a slim 40 points.

Mark Wallace (Canyon Factory) was the top Canadian finisher, in 21st place, followed by Kirk McDowall (Unior/Devinci) in 23rd, Hugo Langevin in 37th and Samuel Thibault in 60th.  In theoverall standings, Wallace finished eighth and Finn Iles (Specialized DH), who did not contest the final round after crashing in training, was 21st.  McDowall was 47th and Forrest Riesco 50th.

In Junior men, Canadians had their strongest results, with Cruze finishing third for the day, Elliot Jamieson (Norco Factory) sixth, Patrick Laffey tenth and Seth Sherlock struggling but finishing 19th.  Cruz, Sherlock and Laffey finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the overall standings, and Jamieson 11th.

Snowshoe World Cup: DH Finals results