Austrians rule Leogang Downhill World Cup

The second round of the UCI Downhill World Cup rolled into Saalfelden Leogang in the Salzburger Land, Austria, with Elite finals taking place on 17 June 2023. This is the first combined World Cup weekend with Enduro on Thursday, and Short Track on Thursday/Friday, with Downhill Finals on Saturday and Cross-Country on Sunday. There's a bit on. 

Downhill practice and the Juniors racing were heavily impacted by rain and wind – but here's how things played out for the Elite racing.

Valentina Höll takes a clean sweep on home turf

After the wet and wild practice, riders needed to negotiate a rapidly drying course after the rain that disrupted both Junior finals and Elite qualifying. Euro mud has a strange habit of forming quickly and drying quickly, but it was the bike park sections that returned to their high pace of earlier in the week. The lower woods would take longer to dry and offered a treacherous ride for those heading down early, with each set of tyres adding more mud to the roots they crossed.

Reigning World Champion Valentina Höll made good on her qualifying win by backing it up with a five second win in the semi-final. German National Champion Nina Hoffmann finished second in the semi, with a small crash towards the end of her run. Switzerland’s Camille Balanche was just 0.025 of a second behind.

With the new format starting with qualifying, then semi-finals, there was little time before the finals were calling. The sun was out and things continued to dry.

Nina Hoffmann went off track in the woods, throwing away nearly a second advantage at split three. It was World Champion Valentina Höll who won Leogang with four seconds back to Switzerland’s Camille Balanche who would have to settle for second but would take the leader’s jersey from Atherton. Rachel Atherton finished 3rd, she'll have to wait for another chance for a 41st World Cup win.

“Leogang is such a hard race for me," said Valentina Höll. "Last year was a disaster. I’ve never been so down or doubted myself more. The years before I had an injury, then a crash in the last turn. Every time I was so close… After Lenzerheide I was lost, I didn't know what to do. It all just clicked this week. All my friends are here, everyone I love is here, so I am so stoked that they are all with me. I have massive expectations of myself to do it here finally, it feels so good. My bike was going so much faster in the finals, my mechanic did a really good job making my bike much firmer but that helped me go faster and carry the speed to the finish.”

Camille Balanche spoke after her run, saying: “Vali was faster everywhere today. It was a hard track for me as it's shorter and easier than it used to be. I struggled to find time in the woods. I'm super happy that I had three good, consistent runs. I was in the top two so I can't complain. I just want to keep being consistent and keep pushing, eventually the win will come.”

“It's such a hard track here in Leogang. I really struggled with the track," said Atherton. "The rain didn't help either. This morning I cried, I wasn't having a good time. It's a hard track so I'm stoked to have a good run. The sun's come out, the crowd was so amazing cheering the whole way down. I only planned to do these two World Cups, then I don't think I'll do any more. Think I'll go home and have a rest.”

Sian A'Hern crashed in qualifying so missed the semi-finals, and Ellie Smith sat Leogang out to let an injury have time to recover. Full results are online.

Results Downhill Elite Women Top 5:

Vali Höll (AUT | ROCKSHOX TREK RACE TEAM) 3:23:222
Camille Balanche (SUI | DORVAL AM COMMENCAL) 3:27:525
Rachel Atherton (GBR | CONTINENTAL ATHERTON) 3:30:556
Monika Hrastnik (SLO | DORVAL AM COMMENCAL) 3:30:825
Phoebe Gale (GBR (CANYON CLLCTV FMD) 3:31:074

Overall World Cup Standings Top 5:

Camille Balanche (SUI | DORVAL AM COMMENCAL) 680 Points
Rachel Atherton (GBR | CONTINENTAL ATHERTON) 616 Points
Vali Höll (AUT | ROCKSHOX TREK RACE TEAM) 592 Points
Nina Hoffmann (GER | SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 430 Points
Monika Hrastnik (SLO | DORVAL AM COMMENCAL) 380 Points

Andi Kolb makes it an historic Austrian double

The Elite Men’s semi-final saw the same drying conditions with the rider who’s always first on track Ronan Dunne, Ireland’s National Champion keeping the hot seat warm with half the qualifying field gone. It would be a long wait for the early starters who had to wait to see if they’d make the finals cut as the fastest riders started their runs. Fastest qualifier Davide Palazzari crashed out on the first straight and would not make the semi-finals cut as a result.

Specialized Gravity had a one-two in the semi-final, with Canada’s Finn Iles getting the better of his teammate Loïc Bruni, the World Champion losing his chain and having to settle for second, almost a full second adrift. Third place went to Troy Brosnan, building on Lenzerheide.

The wind and rain would stay away for the Elite Men’s race after 60 riders were clipped to 30 for the finals run. The woods would no doubt be in perfect form for the fastest men on the planet. 

Oisin O’Callaghan kept the hot seat hot first, before compatriot started the trend with Ronan Dunne taking his place. Dakotah Norton was the first rider to go faster than Finn Iles’ qualifying time. By all accounts the track was speeding up.

After all thirty riders had crossed the line, it would be European Champion Andi Kolb who was fastest down the hill, and hw took his first World Cup win on home soil, as the only rider to go under the three minute mark and first ever Austrian male taking a UCI Downhill World Cup win. Andi wrote mountain bike history! Just 0.6 seconds separating him from second place Loïc Bruni. Jackson Goldstone was on a heater, edging ahead on splits before then dropping back until he overcooked it into the final turn before dropping into the finish chute. Goldstone would still take his first Elite podium, finishing third.

Troy Brosnan finisheds 11th in the finals, and shout out to William Pope who was 8th in the Junior men's DH finals.

Andi Kolb spoke about his winning run, saying: “It's hard to talk to be honest, it's so emotional for me. It's my ninth Elite season, it took me ages to get here, and I will never forget this day, it's unreal. I don't know where I found the time. I made a few mistakes, but I was going so fast and just kept pushing. The bottom woods were insane, the crowd, that's why we go fast. When I saw Vali take the win by four seconds, I just went for it.”

“I'm super happy to finish second to be honest, I rode on the limit and I'm not so proud of some of my sections, but I was happy to make it to the finish," said Loic Bruni. "My run started so well, I hit everything perfectly. Then I was maybe going too fast into sections, and maybe didn't manage that so well. I messed up the sections before the motorway, then flat-landed the big jumps and just tried to go flat out to the bottom. I hit a hole towards the bottom and my rear brake lever rolled on the bars. I struggled from there, I was in survival mode. I'm really happy for Andi, he's been slowly coming to the top. Him winning here is beautiful, you have to give it to him. It's also another solid day for me, so I'm happy.”

Third place Jackson Goldstone said: “This was amazing. I felt good all week from the first lap. It was definitely one of my best race runs I've ever had until that last corner where I slid out. I just overcooked it. I can't be mad at the result; it was an amazing race and I'm stoked for Andi. I need to iron out the small mistakes I guess but I'm so happy to be on the podium.”

Full results are here.

Results Downhill Elite Men Top 5:

Andreas Kolb (AUT | CONTINENTAL ATHERTON) 2:59:335
Loïc Bruni (FRA | SPECIALIZED GRAVITY) 3:00:015
Jackson Goldstone (CAN | SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 3:00:246
Finn Iles (CAN | SPECIALIZED GRAVITY) 3:00:786
Luca Shaw (USA | CANYON CLLCTV FACTORY TEAM) 3:01:048

Overall World Cup Standings Top 5:

Loïc Bruni (FRA | SPECIALIZED GRAVITY) 595 Points
Finn Iles (CAN | SPECIALIZED GRAVITY) 494 Points
Loris Vergier (FRA | TREK FACTORY RACING GRAVITY) 486 Points
Andreas Kolb (AUT | CONTINENTAL ATHERTON) 476 Points
Jackson Goldstone (CAN | SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 441 Points