The Downhill World Cup is back!
The Downhil World Cup is back - and it was worth the wait.
After what feels like a year, the UCI Downhill World Cup returned to our screens and social media channels at Lenzerheide, Switzerland this week. The Swiss town puts on a great event, and the course is known for taking some scalps in practice – including Vali Hoell who had a heavy crash, and Aaron Gwin who crashed hard enough to be out of the race.
British duo Rachel Atherton and Jordan Williams put on a downhill masterclass at the opening 2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup stop in Lenzerheide to grab unlikely victories. But here is how it played out.
The women's Downhill World Cup in Lenzerheide
Rachel Atherton has already won five mountain bike downhill world titles and six World Cup titles in her career, and after starting a family she is back on the circuit. The 35-year-old was not sure whether she would ever return to the elite ranks, but decided to travel to Switzerland to give it a shot again and managed to come through the qualification format to ride in the final.
Atherton has only raced once since 2019 in Lenzerheide, but wrapped up her 40th UCI MTB World Cup win in brilliant fashion thanks to a lightning quick run of 3:07.514 to triumph.
France's Marine Cabirou set the early pace with 3:11.118 – world champion Vali Höll topping that with a 3:09.270 after recovering from a nasty flip over her handlebars in the semi-finals. German Nina Hoffmann then posted 3:08.301 before Atherton turned back the clock with a vintage first two sectors leaving Balanche to post an impressive time just shy of Atherton after a superb end to her run.
"I just actually can't believe it." Atherton said in the finish. "Coming into this I didn't know if I would qualify and this new format is so hard, doing semi-finals, you've got to save some energy. I want to cry! People said, 'leave her (daughter Arna) at home and come out and focus on yourself' but having her here helps me relax and takes your mind off it."
Second place Camille Balanche spoke after the race, saying: "I had three consistently good runs. It was really great. Of course, I would have preferred to win, but Rachel was faster today. I did what I could do and three minutes eight seconds is a time I'm happy with. I'm proud of that. It was close. It came down to zero point five. To be on the podium is great. I was already second last year, so it's a bit of a thrill. We're going to train even harder to win this one.”
Sian A'Hern was 15th in the Semi-Final – coming into form as the World Cup gets cracking.
UCI MTB World Cup women's Lenzerheide downhill result
1. Rachel Atherton GBR 3:07.514
2. Camille Balanche SUI +0.534
3. Nina Hoffman GER +0.787
4. Valentina Höll AUT +1.756
5. Marine Cabirou FRA +3.604
Men's Downhill action at the Lenzerheide World Cup
British teenager Williams marked his elite debut with an amazing victory thanks to an electric ride of 2:39.222 that saw several of the world's best fail to top him late on down the course.
After winning the semi, five-time world champion and two-time World Cup champion Loïc Bruni was the final man and went green in the first three sectors, only to fade down the course as he ended third behind elite rookie Williams and fellow Frenchman Loris Vergier at the season opener.
Williams, 18, said: "This is just insane. Lenzerheide isn't one of my favourite tracks and I just rode as good as I could. Coming from juniors to elites having fast riders in juniors to push me has helped me a lot. I didn't focus on trying to win or send it super hard, just put down the best run I could. I really thought he (Loïc) beat me."
Troy Brosnan finished 7th – a storming ride as usual. He was the only Australian to make the semi finals, and finals.
UCI MTB World Cup men's Lenzerheide downhill result
1. Jordan Williams GBR 2:39.222
2. Loris Vergier FRA +0.495
3. Loïc Bruni FRA +0.685
4. Laurie Greenland GBR +0.836
5. Finn Iles CAN +1.010
