The Junior races will be contested in Les Gets on Saturday morning, with the Elite following in the afternoon.
A reworked course
The downhill (DHI) track at Les Gets was reworked ahead of the 2021 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and with this weekend’s UCI World Championships in mind. Léandre Alegri, one of the directors of the DHI course, described the approach: “We want to offer the riders a modern, well-rounded track, adapted to the demands of downhill mountain biking, which has evolved a lot in recent years. It begins with a fast open start, followed by many technical parts in the forest.”
The changes allow more line choice, and therefore more varied strategies for riders, depending on their style and the conditions.
“This new track is no longer a single track like it was in the 2019 UCI World Cup,” continues Alegri. “There are several possible lines and trajectories to make the difference and allow time gaps and entertainment. Some will choose wider paths, and others will try to take more technical routes.
“We have reworked some of the very committed sections to adapt them to the level of the UCI World Championships,” explains Bertrand Josué, Events Manager at Les Gets. “Apart from that, the ingredients that make this track so successful remain the same: lots of forest passages, roots, dirt, speed and a spectacular table section to finish.”
Stiff competition for reigning Junior UCI World Champions
Izabela Yankova will be the first to attempt to defend her rainbow bands earned in Val di Sole, Italy. The Bulgarian will have stiff competition from Canada’s Gracey Hemstreet who took bronze in Val di Sole and leads the 2022 UCI World Cup overall. Britain’s Phoebe Gale, winner of three 2022 UCI World Cup races, including the last one at Mont-Sainte-Anne in Canada (and winner at Les Gets in 2021), will stake her claim, as will Norway’s Kine Haugom and New Zealand’s Jenna Hastings.
The Men Junior competition looks just as exciting. Jackson Goldstone has been on fire in the UCI World Cup, winning five rounds and never finishing outside the top 3. His chief competition is expected to come from Great Britain’s Jordan Williams; the winner of two races in the 2022 UCI World Cup wants to go one better than his 2nd place in the 2021 UCI World Championships. But New Zealand’s Lachlan Stevens-McNab, Australia’s Remy Meier-Smith and Canada’s Tegan Cruz also see themselves taking home the rainbow bands.
Former Elite winners in Les Gets
Get the new Les Gets course right and it will reward you. Get it wrong and it can spit you out, as the testing conditions at the 2021 UCI World Cup revealed.
In the Women Elite competition, the aggressive styles of Tahnée Seagrave (GBR) and fastest qualifier Myriam Nicole saw the two riders go almost 5-sec clear of the field. Victory finally went to the British rider, with Nicole in second after recovering from an early spill. 2020 UCI World Champion Camille Balanche (SUI) took third step on the podium. Valentina Höll’s all-out style put her on brilliant pace only to be undone by a crash in the final turn… the tough Austrian wants to put that behind her!
The Men Elite UCI World Cup race in Les Gets was won by Thibaut Dapréla, whose scorching run sent him nearly 2.5-sec quicker than Max Hartenstern (GER), while Baptiste Pierron (FRA) made his injured brother proud by taking third. It was Daprela’s first Elite UCI World Cup win after stepping up from the Juniors. Such was his speed out of the start gate only Joe Breeden (GBR) and Greg Minnaar were within 1-sec of the young Frenchman at the first split. A who’s who of downhill slipped, slid and crashed on the slick French mud, with 2020 UCI World Champion Reece Wilson the most dramatic – he was on a hot pace when he took a massive ragdoll crash over the bars.
Amaury Pierron, Tracey Hannah, Dapréla and Vale Höll won the 2019 UCI World Cup races on the older track, which has also seen victories for the likes of Myriam Nicole and Remi Thirion (FRA), Troy Brosnan (AUS) and Rachel Atherton (GBR).
Many more in the mix
But there are many more competitors who think the Elite title could be theirs. Former UCI World Champions Loïc Bruni (FRA), Aaron Gwin (USA), Greg Minnaar and Danny Hart (GBR), and UCI World Cup winners Finn Iles (CAN) and Laurie Greenland (GBR) are amongst them.
In the women’s race Nicole, Balanche and Höll are favourites. Seagrave is set to make a return but 2021 silver medalist Marine Cabirou (FRA) has not recovered in time from her back injury. UCI World Cup winner in Fort William (GBR) Nina Hoffmann, of Germany, and 2022 UCI World Cup fourth-placed overall Eleonora Farina (ITA) are amongst the riders to watch, as are 2020 UCI Worlds bronze medalist and European Champion Monika Hrastnik (SLO) and Norway’s Mille Johnset.