It was always going to be a wild race in Les Gets, and rain made things pretty slick for the fast ladies and gents.
The weather gods didn’t have it all their own way as the Les Gets World Cup track was a beast in its own right, the mix of the two really made for an electric race.
Tracey Hannah and Eliot Jackson’s addition to the Red Bull commentary team continued to be one of the best things about the coverage.
Junior Women
Phoebe Gale would do it for the Brits and the Canyon Collective FMD in Les Gets, making light work of the steeps and put 2.2 seconds into Izabela Yankova. Third place was 14 seconds back, so these two were in a different league come finals day, mirroring their qualifying results.
Junior Men
Jackson Goldstone and Jordan Williams would trade places over the weekend, but it would the young Canadian that would take the win by just over a second when it really mattered. Last year’s World Cup and World Champion Oisin O’Callaghan would continue to struggle to be back at the sharp end.
Elite Women
Tahnee Seagrave put her demons to rest with a clean, solid run that she didn’t think would stand up. A slow final two sectors saw most riders who came down after her clawing back time. Myriam Nicole took a dive in her run and still only lost out by .2 of second despite that crash.
Camille Balanche had an uncharacteristically loose run but slotted into third, and holds onto the leader’s jersey. Will we see her take the overall at the end of the year?
Mille Johnset showed she can turn it on in the steeps with a blistering lower section that saw her finish fourth.
Vali Hoell was on pace but binned it on the final corner, ending 7th. Nina Hoffman would opt to sit out finals.
Elite Men
The rain kept coming for the Elite Men’s final and the track got less predictable in the places you’d expect to be consistent.
Max Hartenstern would lay down a heater in the live feed and would occupy the hot seat for a lot of the afternoon, with Baptiste Pierron hot on his heels. He’d be the first German male rider to get a World Cup podium since Markus Klausman in 1997.
Series leader Troy Brosnan would sadly back up an off colour qualifier by binning it in his run too. His countryman Connor Fearon would prove himself with a fourth place finish. Troy’s team mate Mark Wallace would occupy the final step on the podium in fifth.
Props to Dean Lucas who was at the Canazei EWS last week and took a 6th today.
Good lord Reece Wilson… The World Champ would bite his thumb at the wet weather and was attacking hard before pressing the eject button on the river gap… Thankfully, the Scot would ride his own bike off the hill.
Both Joe Breeden and Kade Edwards would slot neatly into the top ten.
Thibaut Daprela shrugged off knocking himself out, almost biting his tongue off and being helicoptered off the hill in Les Arcs a week ago and put a run in two and a half seconds up on the elder Pierron brother. He showed how much it meant to him in the finish coral. Few would get close, even the steep, wet weather specialists like Thirion. Daprela would occupy the hot seat with two black eyes, looking like he’d been bare-knuckle boxing in the pits.
Rain would keep coming and the track would go from a loamy masterpiece to a skating rink. A large puddle would form in the first sector, causing issues in the opening stint of the higher qualifying riders’ runs.
Thibaut Daprela, take a bow… He’d take an emphatic win on home soil and take the leader’s jersey. He arguably shouldn’t have been on the start line. Madness.
