Val di Sole proved to be yet again a suitably wild and loose World Cup track to round out the 2022 UCI Downhill World Cup season.
Here’s who took the win at a spectacular finale of a World Cup season in Val di Sole.
Junior Women
Gracey Hemstreet takes the win on the day and the overall, capitalising on Gale not racing and Izabela Yankova having issues lower on the track. World Champ Jenna Hastings rounds out the top 3.
Junior Men
Jackson Goldstone mirrored Izabela Yankova’s run, up at all the splits and had issues in the lower slopes, finishing fourth. He’d taken the title in Mont Saint Anne though.
Jordan Williams takes the win over Ryan Pinkerton who finished second some ten seconds back, with Remi Meier-Smith fourteen adrift in third.
Elite Women
Anna Newkirk occupied the hot seat as we went to the live feed as the rain started coming down.
Three and a half weeks after surgery, Camille Balanche takes to the track. She’s eight up at split two but she’s looking scrappy. Ten up though by split three. She extends to almost twelve by split four. Fourteen plus the change over the line but she’s no faster than Hoell’s quali winner.
Myriam Nicole up next. Can she avoid the flat that almost pulled the rug out from under her quali run? 6.5 up on Cami at split 3. Eleven up by split 4. She might be in the hot seat a while today… Ten seconds up on Cami and ten up on Hoell’s quali run.
Eight to go. Nina Hoffman on track. She’s three back on split two but is still good for second. Losing time to Nicole all the way but still good for silver right now. She pulls a second back in the lower slopes. Balanche now needs everyone to go slower than her.
Mille Johnset takes to the track. Will she have shrugged off her scorpion crash in the week? She’s 20 seconds back at split three. The Norwegian won’t bother the front runners today. 7th place, she looked tired in the lower slopes.
Melanie Chappaz took 6th in qualis, what can she do today? The rain seems to have backed off. She’s seventeen back at split three but that’s still good for 5th. Twenty back at split four but gains a place. 21 back at line, fourth for now.
Vero Widmann goes into fourth losing time the whole way down on home turf.
Jess Blewitt on track. Fourth in qualis. She’s almost seven back at split two goes to nine at split three. Holds the time gap two split four. She pulls three back in the lower slopes to bump Balanche into fourth.
Eleonora Farina wants a win here. She hits the deck just before split two. 7th over the line in the end.
European champ Monika Hrastnik does battle with the Black Snake. Ten back a split two. It’s not going to be her day today. Thirteen back at split three. She’s lost another second to split four. Twelve back into fifth.
Vali is the only women who can spoil Balanche’s party. 2.8 back at split two. 3.8 by split three. Almost seven back at split four, still good for third. Six plus the change back over the line.
Myriam Nicole wins in a flawless run. Balanche takes the overall.
Elite Men
Matteo Iniguez in the hotseat as we go into the live feed as the rain comes slamming down. HOw will the bone dry track hold up?
James MacDermid takes a dive on some treacherous roots. Matteo Iniguez may benefit for an early quali here. The lower slopes are bone dry under cover but slick where the rain has penetrated.
Jacob Dickson is doing it for the privateers and is not too far back despite the rain. He’s pulling back time in the lower slopes.
Hugo Frixtalon was half a second up at split one then lost his peak in a hefty crash between splits one and two. Not to be the Frenchman’s day. The rain does seem to be easing though.
Top 25 to go. Roger Vieira takes to the track. 4.2 back at the line. Goes into 8th.
Luca Shaw gets going. He’s losing time to Iniguez all the way down but if you can hold on in the lower sector, then that’s where the time is to be made. Not to be his day though.
Mr. Conistsency Troy Brosnan should go well here but he can’t catch Iniguez. He’s almost four back at split three. He’s pulled almost two back at split four though… Fourth for the Aussie.
Luke Meier-Smith takes on the Black Snake. Can he replicate his 6th place in Andorra? No. No he can’t as he gets buck wild. Foot unclips is the issue.
Reece Wilson returns to downhill in Val di Sole. The roots in the open are greasy AF. He’s ten back at split two, building two eleven… Can anyone bump Iniguez off the hotseat?
The Redcar Rocket gets under way. 2.8 back at split two but he’s taking some funky lines here. Four back at split three. Hart will be happy to head home to see his ladies.
17 to go. Bernard Kerr will be the next on track. He’s 2.3 up at split two. 3.4 up at split three. He’s found another three by split four… Kerr goes fastest. Seven up with a 3.44 but three outside Kolb’s qualifying win.
Lucas Cruz is six back but it’s good enough for second right now. Plenty of fast cats to come though.
Can Henry Kerr back up his Worlds performance? He’s 0.05 up at spit three after being almost two up at split one. He only loses half a second in the key section. 0.26 back at split three. He goes 0.8 up at split four. He goes down a la Sam Hill.
Oli Zwar is up. Three and a half up at split two but it’s good enough for second. 5.7 back at the line puts him second.
Dylan Levesque is back at all bar the the first splits but is still good for second right now. Third place now with 12 to go. Five back.
Remi Thirion takes to the track. He’s almost four back at split two. Times are creeping closer to Kerr’s time. Second, 5.4 back…
Here we go… Amaury Pierron… He goes down before split one… No matter, the title is his anyway. He can’t match Gwin’s five wins in one season.
Here come the top 10 qualifiers.
David Trummer on track. The Austrian can’t do much and is losing time the whole way down. He pulls a second back to split four. He flats coming into the finish arena so it’s game over for Trummer.
Here comes Laurie Greenland. He’s been down off camera though, 33 back at split two. Time to go get that foot healed up. 8 to go.
Charlie Hatton takes on the Black Snake. He’s a second back at split. He’s only 0.9 back at split three. 1.2 back at split four… Hatton shows that Kerr’s time can be beaten. 2.2 back for second place.
Rainbow Stripes on course. 0.9 back at split two and can’t find the magic that took SuperBruni to World glory… Third for the World Champ. Six to go.
Thibaut Daprela will be on the podium or in the hedge… 0.8 up at split one but 1.5 back at split two… He loses another second by split three. He’s lost all the wind from his rear wheel though…
Aaron Gwin on track. 0.9 up at split two. He trades a few seconds with Kerr but goes half a second up on the Brit. Could this be the winning run today?
Benoit Coulanges builds into a heater but goes 0.8 back after gaining time from split three back.
Can Dakotah Norton piss on his team mate’s chips? Yes, yes he can. 1.3 across the line and the guy is visibly stoked. Two to go.
Loris Vergier takes on the Black Snake and gets it in a headlock the whole way down. The Trek Factory Racing pinner takes three seconds out of Norton at the finish. What a run. What can Kolb do? He’s back the whole way down but does good enough for second.
Loris Vergier puts his injured shoulder behind him to take his 7th World Cup win, matching Bruni’s World Cup tally.
