October 16/20 10:11 am - French Dominate DH World Cup #1 - Report & Results
Posted by Editoress on 10/16/20
The first Downhill World Cup of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season finally took place on Friday in Maribor, Slovenia. Held under a confusing hodge-podge of COVID rules imposed by the organizer and Slovenian authorities, a small field (approximately half of last year's entries in Elite men) raced in muddy, slippery conditions. French riders won three out of four categories, including both Elite women and men, with Marine Cabirou (Scott DH) the women's winner and Loris Vergier (Santa Cruz Syndicate) the men's. Leona Pierrini also won the Junior women for France, while newly crowned world champion Oisin O'Callaghan (The YT Mob) of Ireland took the Junior men's. Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory), racing in Junior men, was the top Canadian of the day, in 13th, while in Elite men, Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity) was 28th and Mark Wallace (Canyon Collective) 34th.
The top 300 metres of the course proved to be the most critical portion of the track; a muddy grass off-camber right corner dashed the hopes of many riders as they either slid sideways, crashed or rode gingerly through it, losing time. Those who managed to cut to the inside and maintain speed (almost all choosing mud tires with spikes) held a time advantage that made the difference at the end.
Caribou finished over six seconds ahead of fellow French rider Myriam Nicole (Commencal/MUC-Off/Riding Addiction), with Tracey Hannah (Polygon UR) a further second back.
In the Elite men's competition, enduro rider Martin Maes (GT Factory) was the early leader, until two Santa Cruz Syndicate riders - Luca Shaw and Greg Minnaar - back-to-back knocked down the leading time. Minnaar's time was holding up into the top-10 final riders, and he looked like he might get a record-breaking (his own record) 22nd World Cup win, until four riders in the final five pushed him down to fifth. Remi Thirion (Commencal/MUC-Off/Riding Addiction) took the lead from Minnaar by over two seconds, only to see Vergier knock another 2.6 seconds off the top time. A third Frenchman, Thibaut Daprela (Commencal/MUC-Off/Riding Addiction) slotted into the third spot on the podium.
"The thing was, I knew that Loic [Bruni] and Danny [Hart] crashed on the first corner," explained Vergier, "so I focussed on not crashing there. Then, I just made my way down by having a smooth ride. But it was tough out there; the Frenchies killed it, so I am stoked. I tried dry [tires] yesterday and I didn't feel comfortable so I went back to mud tires, and all the podium boys were on mud tires. There were so many sections where you could crash easily with dry tires, so we avoided that with mud tires. It's been two years, so I'm really happy to be back on the podium."
Results from DH World Cup #1 in Maribor, Slovenia
| Junior Women | Time |
Gap |
| 1 Leona Pierrini (Fra) | 4:23.088 | 0:00 |
| 2 Siel Van Der Velden (Bel) | 4:26.199 | 3.111 |
| 3 Anastasia Thiele (Ger) | 4:27.731 | 4.643 |
| 4 Ella Erickson (USA) | 4:46.514 | 23.426 |
| Junior Men | ||
| 1 Oisin O'Callaghan (Irl) The YT Mob | 3:20.292 | 0:00 |
| 2 Dan Slack (GBr) | 3:20.383 | 0.091 |
| 3 Nuno Reis (Por) Miranda Factory Team | 3:23.211 | 2.919 |
| 4 Ethan Craik (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 3:23.512 | 3.220 |
| 5 Luke Williamson (GBr) Propain Factory Racing | 3:23.566 | 3.274 |
| 6 Christopher Grice (USA) Specialized Gravity | 3:25.513 | 5.221 |
| 7 Guy Johnston (NZl) The YT Mob | 3:26.199 | 5.907 |
| 8 Louis Gaillet (Fra) Scott Downhill Factory | 3:26.958 | 6.666 |
| 9 Johan Garcin (Fra) | 3:28.145 | 7.853 |
| 10 Christopher Cumming (Irl) FS Racing | 3:28.370 | 8.078 |
| 11 Dennis Luffman (GBr) Canyon Collective FMD | 3:29.165 | 8.873 |
| 12 Goncalo Bandeira (Por) Miranda Factory Team | 3:29.430 | 9.138 |
| 13 Seth Sherlock (Can) Intense Factory Racing | 3:30.051 | 9.759 |
| 14 Dante Silva (USA) | 3:30.753 | 10.461 |
| 15 Tyler Ervin (USA) | 3:30.935 | 10.643 |
| 16 Austin Dooley (USA) | 3:31.503 | 11.211 |
| 17 Filippo Rossi (Ita) Gravitalia Squadra Corse | 3:32.427 | 12.135 |
| 18 Matheo Grandjean (Fra) | 3:34.377 | 14.085 |
| 19 Luke Mumford (GBr) | 3:34.763 | 14.471 |
| 20 Robert Johanson (Est) | 3:37.492 | 17.200 |
| 21 Luis Kiefer (Ger) | 3:37.718 | 17.426 |
| 22 Tom Guillo (Fra) | 3:40.645 | 20.353 |
| 23 Pau Menoyo Busquets (Esp) | 3:55.586 | 35.294 |
| 24 Antoine Rogge (Fra) | 4:59.391 | 1:39.099 |
| DNF Pablo Andres Aguilar Omodeo (Crc) | ||
| DNS Eliot Rossignol (Fra) | ||
| Elite Women | ||
| 1 Marine Cabirou (Fra) Scott Downhill Factory | 3:43.595 | 0:00 |
| 2 Myriam Nicole (Fra) Commencal / MUC - Off by Riding Addiction | 3:49.710 | 6.115 |
| 3 Tracey Hannah (Aus) Polygon UR | 3:50.774 | 7.179 |
| 4 Eleonora Farina (Ita) MS Mondraker Team | 3:53.516 | 9.921 |
| 5 Monika Hrastnik (Slo) Dorval Am Pro Race Team | 3:55.144 | 11.549 |
| 6 Nina Hoffmann (Ger) Nina Hoffmann Racing - Stif | 3:55.344 | 11.749 |
| 7 Tahnee Seagrave (GBr) Canyon Collective FMD | 3:56.753 | 13.158 |
| 8 Camille Balanche (Sui) Dorval Am Pro Race Team | 4:04.720 | 21.125 |
| 9 Mikayla Parton (GBr) | 4:10.103 | 26.508 |
| 10 Spela Horvat (Slo) | 4:22.124 | 38.529 |
| 11 Stacey Fisher (GBr) | 4:27.545 | 43.950 |
| 12 Mille Johnset (Nor) Continental Atherton | 4:30.016 | 46.421 |
| 13 Sandra Rubesam (Ger) Assault Racing | 4:31.588 | 47.993 |
| Elite Men | ||
| 1 Loris Vergier (Fra) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 3:07.903 | 0:00 |
| 2 Remi Thirion (Fra) Commencal / MUC - Off by Riding Addiction | 3:10.555 | 2.652 |
| 3 Thibaut Daprela (Fra) Commencal / MUC - Off by Riding Addiction | 3:10.902 | 2.999 |
| 4 Matt Walker (GBr) Madison Saracen Factory Team | 3:12.002 | 4.099 |
| 5 Greg Minnaar (RSA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 3:12.852 | 4.949 |
| 6 Luca Shaw (USA) Santa Cruz Syndicate | 3:13.365 | 5.462 |
| 7 Jack Moir (Aus) Canyon Collective Factory Team | 3:16.041 | 8.138 |
| 8 Troy Brosnan (Aus) Canyon Collective Factory Team | 3:16.079 | 8.176 |
| 9 Martin Maes (Bel) GT Factory Racing | 3:16.990 | 9.087 |
| 10 Baptiste Pierron (Fra) Dorval Am Pro Race Team | 3:17.610 | 9.707 |
| 11 Angel Suarez Alonso (Esp) The YT Mob | 3:17.677 | 9.774 |
| 12 Dakotah Norton (USA) Unior Devinci Factory Racing | 3:17.778 | 9.875 |
| 13 Bernard Kerr (GBr) Pivot Factory Racing | 3:17.968 | 10.065 |
| 14 David Trummer (Aut) The YT Mob | 3:18.124 | 10.221 |
| 15 Jure Zabjek (Slo) Unior Devinci Factory Racing | 3:18.334 | 10.431 |
| 16 Benoit Coulanges (Fra) Dorval Am Pro Race Team | 3:18.546 | 10.643 |
| 17 Max Hartenstern (Ger) Cube Global Squad Protected By Bliss | 3:18.708 | 10.805 |
| 18 Michael Jones (GBr) MS Mondraker Team | 3:19.429 | 11.526 |
| 19 Charlie Hatton (GBr) Continental Atherton | 3:19.493 | 11.590 |
| 20 Loic Bruni (Fra) Specialized Gravity | 3:19.543 | 11.640 |
| 21 Aaron Gwin (USA) Intense Factory Racing | 3:19.573 | 11.670 |
| 22 Andreas Kolb (Aut) Gamux Factory Racing | 3:19.682 | 11.779 |
| 23 Edward Masters (NZl) Pivot Factory Racing | 3:20.280 | 12.377 |
| 24 Hugo Frixtalon (Fra) Commencal / 100% | 3:20.899 | 12.996 |
| 25 Danny Hart (GBr) Madison Saracen Factory Team | 3:21.364 | 13.461 |
| 26 Gaetan Vige (Fra) Cube Global Squad Protected By Bliss | 3:21.554 | 13.651 |
| 27 Neko Mulally (USA) Intense Factory Racing | 3:21.678 | 13.775 |
| 28 Finn Iles (Can) Specialized Gravity | 3:21.690 | 13.787 |
| 29 Jamie Edmondson (GBr) | 3:22.490 | 14.587 |
| 30 Philip Atwill (GBr) Cube Global Squad Protected By Bliss | 3:22.755 | 14.852 |
| 31 Stanislav Sehnal (Cze) Kellys Factory Team | 3:23.781 | 15.878 |
| 32 Joe Breeden (GBr) Polygon UR | 3:23.982 | 16.079 |
| 33 Jack Reading (GBr) | 3:24.362 | 16.459 |
| 34 Mark Wallace (Can) Canyon Collective Factory Team | 3:24.644 | 16.741 |
| 35 Kye A'hern (Aus) Canyon Collective Factory Team | 3:24.945 | 17.042 |
| 36 Thibaut Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / MUC - Off by Riding Addiction | 3:25.404 | 17.501 |
| 37 Michael Hannah (Aus) Polygon UR | 3:25.875 | 17.972 |
| 38 Greg Williamson (GBr) Commencal / 100% | 3:26.313 | 18.410 |
| 39 Brook Macdonald (NZl) MS Mondraker Team | 3:26.392 | 18.489 |
| 40 Luka Berginc (Slo) | 3:26.722 | 18.819 |
| 41 Wyn Masters (GBr) GT Factory Racing | 3:26.785 | 18.882 |
| 42 Simon Maurer (Ger) Assault Racing | 3:27.033 | 19.130 |
| 43 Johannes Fischbach (Ger) | 3:27.231 | 19.328 |
| 44 Charles Murray (NZl) | 3:27.263 | 19.360 |
| 45 Adam Brayton (GBr) Hope Technology | 3:28.170 | 20.267 |
| 46 Lutz Weber (Sui) Teamproject.Ch | 3:28.429 | 20.526 |
| 47 Harry Molloy (GBr) FS Racing | 3:28.695 | 20.792 |
| 48 Gaetan Ruffin (Fra) Commencal / MUC - Off by Riding Addiction | 3:29.118 | 21.215 |
| 49 Gee Atherton (GBr) Continental Atherton | 3:29.807 | 21.904 |
| 50 Thomas Estaque (Fra) Commencal / 100% | 3:29.948 | 22.045 |
| 51 Benjamin Zwar Kvist (Swe) Lusty Hyperformance Racing | 3:31.018 | 23.115 |
| 52 Rastislav Baranek (Svk) Kellys Factory Team | 3:31.685 | 23.782 |
| 53 Pedro Jorge Panizo Cerdera (Esp) | 3:32.076 | 24.173 |
| 54 Emile Rilat (Fra) Dorval Am Pro Race Team | 3:32.623 | 24.720 |
| 55 Roger Vieira (Bra) | 3:33.040 | 25.137 |
| 56 Kilian Schnoller (Aut) | 3:33.713 | 25.810 |
| 57 Kade Edwards (GBr) Trek Factory Racing DH | 3:35.459 | 27.556 |
| 58 Douglas Vieira (Bra) | 3:41.548 | 33.645 |
| 59 Loris Revelli (Ita) | 3:44.298 | 36.395 |
| DNF Adam Rojcek (Svk) Banshee Racing Brigade | ||
| DNS Reece Wilson (GBr) Trek Factory Racing DH |
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