October 5/24 21:45 pm - Hemstreet Second in MSA World Cup Downhill

Posted by Editoress on 10/5/24
 

The final round of the Downhill World Cup saw no changes to overall lead in any categories on Saturday, at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec. Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Factory) had the top Canadian result, with a second place in the Elite women's race. It was also the final professional race for Greg Minnaar (Norco Factory), considered to be the greatest male downhill rider in history; he finished 19th.

After the race, Greg spoke to the crowd: "I couldn't be more grateful for the crowd coming out today, it's not the best weather but they supported me the whole way down. I had not a great start, I stalled in the first corner and tried to catch that rhythm back up, but it was a little greasier than I thought. But that crowd was going nuts, as I lost my footing in the rocks, I could just hear my name being shouted, they were cheering all the way. I can't thank them enough; I feel very at home here."







After intermittent rain during the night, riders faced a wet course, with the top half wreathed in thick fog. While the ground was drying through the Junior Women and Men, and the Elite Women, it began to rain again during the Elite Men's final. However, the course had slick sections all day, and numerous riders went down.

Erice van Leuven (Commencal Les Orres) led a 1-2 Kiwi sweep of the Junior women's race, to cement her hold on the overall title, finishing ahead of Sacha Earnest (Trek Factory) and Kale Cushman (The Gravity Collective). Canadians Charlie Bernard and Isla O'Connor finished seventh and ninth, respectively.

In the Junior men's competition, Max Alran (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding) won his fourth race in seven rounds to maintain his lead in the overall standings. Luke Wayman (The Gravity Cartel - Rogue Racing) was second and Asa Vermette (Frameworks) was third. Canada's Dane Jewett (Pivot Factory) was two spots off the podium in fifth, and eight points back of third in the overall standings, in fourth. Michael Delesalle (Gwin Racing) was sixth, and Ryan Griffith (Pivot Factory) finished eighth on the day and sixth overall.

In the Elite women, Hemstreet set the early fast time, which was only beaten by one rider - Marine Cabirou (Scott Downhill Factory). World champion and World Cup leader Valentina Höll (YT Mob) was third, to lock up the overall title. Hemstreet, who has missed much of the season due to injury, improved to 16th in the standings from 22nd.





Laurie Greenland (Santa Cruz Syndicate), only the seventh rider off in Elite men, set the first sub-3:55 time, which would hold up for over half of the remaining 23 riders before Lachlan Stevens-MacNab (Union - Forged by Steel City Media) finally topped it by less than half a second. The rain began to cause the riders in the final ten to either have to slow or crash, including World Cup leader Loic Bruni (Specialized Gravity) finishing 26th and world champion Loris Vergier (Trek Factory) in 13th. With only fastest qualifier Troy Brosnan (Canyon Collective) left to race, it was starting to look like there might be an upset. However, Brosnan was both fast and smooth through the sections that gave everyone else grief, to pull out the win by 62-hundredths of a second. Bruni had already locked up the overall title, but Brosnan jumped from sixth to second, knocking Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding) down to third, by 15 points. Kirk McDowall (Norco Factory) was the top Canadian in 16th, with Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity), the fifth fastest in qualifying, crashing and finishing 29th. Iles managed to just make the overall podium in fifth, having dropped from fourth.

Mont-Ste-Anne World Cup: DH Finals results


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