Mont Sainte Dan: Finals - Mont-Sainte-Anne DH World Cup 2016
So many years a classic, so many years a jewel in the DH crown... 2016 spurred on the upward curve of MSA expectation still further as we watched Danny Hart roar to victory for the second consecutive round of the summer. The gratuitously rugged hillside, so richly steeped in MTB history, was running drier than we've known it in many years, and although grip levels appeared soothed by overnight rain, the moisture could do little to iron out the ruts crafted by over two decades of racing, and the infamous track upheld its formidable reputation another year.
In the junior category, young Frenchman Gaetan Vige, finally found unstoppable form and ran away with his inaugural win, snatched from the eager jaws of series leader, Finn Iles. In the women's, Rachel Atherton took her unbeaten stretch up to 12 out of 12, winning by over 11 seconds and dashing Tracey Hannah's hopes of her first victory since 2012 against the MSA bedrock. If pictures speak a thousand words, 80 pictures makes for quite some eyeballing, so without further ado, from Mont-Sainte-Dan in the Hart of Quebec, we now present to you our race Summumary. No apologies given.
It rained in the night with high winds wreaking some havoc on the pits, but despite everything the track was running firm and dry in time for racing.
All the lads, all the stories.
Elliot Heap covering up blisters the size of dinner plates.
Just what is the world coming to when it's not safe to leave your whiteboard unattended at the pits overnight? Sik Mik presents the substandard substitute.
/// JUNIOR FINALS
Heavy fog greeted the first riders of the day after heavy rains through the night had everyone guessing what they would find during morning training.
Fifth in the series, Intense's Nikolas Nestoroff, steps up to the gate.
While many struggled with the final sections of rock, Magnus Manson just sailed over it and landed smooth as butter to claim fourth place on home ground.
Finn Iles spins the cranks backwards to keep the legs going in the last seconds before go time.
The wait in the dark ready to do Canada proud.
Iles navigates the moody and foggy woods first thing in the morning. After thunderstorms soaked the track overnight, the juniors had a bit of a greasy start to the day.
Elliot Heap blasting his way through the beam.
Heap hits warp speed out of the famous Mont-Sainte-Anne double-kink.
Commencal's Gaetan Vige poised and ready to stomp his first win of the 2016 season.
Vige had the legs today on one of the longest and arguably, roughest WC stops.
Congrats to Gaetan, Finn and Elliot, your junior victors out here in Quebec.
/// WOMEN'S FINALS
Quebecois views for days.
Rachel Atherton keeps cool while warming up. Temps were a touch better than they were yesterday, but a humid start kept the sweat levels high.
Ex-Canadian national champ, Vaea Verbeeck, storms across the last of the exposed rock for a top ten.
Emilie Siegenthaler had to settle for the loneliest position of them all. 6th place and just one position off the podium.
Taking inspiration for her racing from Stevie, Miranda Miller is back and on the podium taking fifth place today. Hopefully we see a good deal more of her at the World Cups in 2017.
Miller was onto a stormer and a possible 2nd place performance before she slipped a pedal and couldn't fix it through the main rock slab section.
Despite her visit to the hospital after the crash yesterday, Tahnee Seagrave toughed it out to finish third today.
After yesterday's crash, Tahnee Seagrave was happy to make it to the race track.
Manon would come 4th, but is still struggling a bit to find that extra speed that she had her regularly battling with Rachel for the top spot just a season ago.
It just didn't go Manon Carpenter's way today. She couldn't put down the run she had in qualies.
Siegenthaler and Carpenter at the end of a long day at the office.
Whistler local, Georgia Astle, had a great weekend on the East coast, riding to 7th place.
Black eye and all, Tracey Hannah dug deep after taking some pretty hard hits this weekend. She would finish second this afternoon, but inching closer to second in the overall as well.
Pompon hobbled around on crutches today, and is hoping to be all set for the final round in the familiar territory of Andorra.
Another World Cup and another dominant performance from Rachel Atherton... 11 seconds up and change.
Ninja skills for Rachel Atherton en route to her 12th consecutive World Cup win.
The fastest women in the world celebrate in Mont-Sainte-Anne.
\\\ MEN'S FINALS
Mike Jones has been MIA all weekend and this morning we finally found out why. Although apparently not that serious, his shoulder will definitely need a few weeks off.
Ben Arnott on the morning wheel build for Angel Suarez Alonzo at the YT Mob pit.
AG crashed hard at the start of his final practice run.
If that didn't hurt his pre-race prep routine it certainly didn't help.
Brendan had a rough day, crashing and injuring his knee in the process. He was super bummed after the race, as his season looks a bit in jeopardy, as well as his trip to Whistler for Crankworx.
Gee hearts Pinkbike...
Gee Atherton re-entering orbit from the huge grassy sender before the line.
George Brannigan dropping into the finish on a burner of a run, ignoring a flat tire he sustained on the last rock garden.
After making steady gains all season, the Kiwi smashed out a 7th place run today. Now he's looking to Andorra for another move up in the rankings.
Sporting the GB National Champ's armband for the first time, Cube's Greg Williamson buzzes through the crowd in the finish arena.
Greg Minnaar on the chill before the storm up the hill.
So close, but still so far for Minnaar who finished just off the podium after fumbling the lower rock gardens.
Blenki has had a solid weekend here in MSA and after a season plagued with bad luck, he finally made his return to the top 10.
Florent Payet's brilliant season continues today, rounding out the top ten.
Big brother looks on.
Quintessential Canadian headwear.
After what has been a tough start to the season, the Bulldog has hit his stride. Eighth place for the man that makes rocks tremble.
Brook Mac keeping it rowdy all the way to the line.
Luca has been close to the podium a few times, and today he finally made it happen. Can anyone name the last time two American men stood on a World Cup podium together?
The first American of the day to cross the line at podium speed; Luca Shaw.
Committed and off the brakes through the fastest part of the track: Troy Brosnan.
Troy Brosnan makes himself into a big 'S' as he navigates the big rock garden.
Brosnan, making all the right shapes, well ahead of any Whistler speed and style on the way to 4th.
Loic said he wasn't feeling super confident and that he had lost a bit of his touch for the bike after not riding for many weeks. We would hate to see his style when he gets that touch back.
Once the blood was tasted, one world cup victory was not going to be enough for Mondraker's Danny Hart.
Hart with the perfect run once again, just over a second up as he crossed the line
Aaron Gwin laying it all on the line in pursuit of his third win of the season.
A nervous wait on the hot seat for the Redcar Rocket, but those splits just kept on turning red.
Gwin thundering down to the line and coming up short by less than a second - this time 0.67 seconds behind.
Two in a row for massively stoked Hart, both snatched right out of Gwin's talons by a whisker.
 | I hit everything perfectly on my run and got it all spot on without a doubt in my mind... It's unreal to think all the work that me and everyone else on the team have been putting in, is finally paying off after so long trying... I really didn't have to lift a finger all week, just ride swing my leg over my bike and do what I do best! I can't thank my girlfriend Sophia, team manager Lupo and Christian my mechanic enough... - Danny Hart - MS Mondraker |
It's always a big question mark in a rider's head when coming back to race for the first time after an injury. Today, however, Loic put to bed any doubts and second guessing he may have been having by storming down the MSA track to take 3rd.
Super Bruni super fans.
| When you have time this injured, two months to yourself, you imagine all kinds of scenarios for coming back... good, bad... you know everything and the one thing you hope for is being able to come back to where you belong. I feel like I belong in the top five or top three, so I am super stoked to do it - Loic Bruni - Specialized Gravity Republic |
Headed into Andorra, Gwin still has the choke hold on the series and, although a lot of pride may be at stake, it would require a disastrous race from the YT mob for Danny to take the overall.
Luca Shaw was in a state of shock over his best ever result.
With his father and brother in the audience, Shaw made his first ever WC podium appearance today.
Squads goals MSA.
Just a touch of stars and stripes were seen north of the border.
And so concludes one more Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup... Time to get those high-performance machines packed up. That's a wrap.
Gone, but not forgotten. RIP Stevie Smith.
MENTIONS: @davetrump / @natedh9 / @mdelorme
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
Well done to everyone!!
On a personal note I would say that the Olympics should be the pinnicle of that sport and should be the highest honnor a person would strieve for, so why would/should we include sports like football + rugby which are team sports that have world cups which have a higher value to them than a gold medal....?
I think there was something like 20'000 - 25'000 on the mountain.
Take a look at the size of the crowd for the womens Rugby yesterday. maybe 1000 people tops
1. The IOC are even bigger bellends than the UCI (systemic doping in Russia? Aye come on and compete)
2. They would build "spectator friendly" courses, aka bikepark tracks with big jumps so people who don't appreciate gnarly rock gardens would say "wow!" this would then effect the tracks at wc level and equal more leogang, less MSA.
3. Why do we need it? Do we want our sport to turn into a corporate machine where people like Josh Bryceland end up giving interviews that sound like those of Supercross riders? "my maxxis tyres were hooking up real good and the new 450 yamaha is amazing blah blah blah". Downhill needs better online streaming and then I'd be fairly happy with it how it is now. Be nice for the riders to be paid more though.
Actually moving forward that is not true anymore. Cities will be able to add events for their olympics that are not necessarily going to be in the future games. There's still the core events but now they have more freedom.
Are you trying to tell me there is no decent size mountain that could be sculpted in Brazil?
I'll just go and ride my bike cause l dont wont to think about it....
But how about pole dancing ? That would fit very well with the "olympic" spirit. And sorry to look like a nerd, but the athenian games had poetry in it. So how about to bring that in ? Pole dancing, poetry and whatever comes with !! Hell yes !
P.S : How about a pole dancing DH competition (pole dancing with the DH blokes), that would be hilarious ! XD
His name is Luca not Luks.
Have an not In an.
Champ not Cahmp.
What I like about the Olympics however is that I always end up watching sports I would have never otherwise watched. For example last night I sat screaming at the TV whilst watching fencing...
It's a great platform for raising awareness of different sports which would only be a good thing for downhill.
"Olympic sport being more about showcasing the human athletic abilities..." blah blah blah
Just imagine people who don't even ride getting their hands on rules and regulations on how the the competition should run. And that's just for a start.
73.6 KM/h ???????????????? THAT is what I'm talking about!! Beating most of the guys thru the speed trap was pretty unreal & made for some interesting talk at last nights party!! Sorry boys - that's just how badass us girls can be ???????????? on a more serious note @claudiocaluori @robwarner970 how about when rob asks "why is Rach so fast" instead of always just saying "cos she rides with her brother" why not say the truth?? Because I work DAMN hard!! I train damn hard with my coach , my mechanics and I work on my bike setup and suspension like there's no tomorrow, I focus on every aspect of racing, I analyse & doubt myself, my experience with injuries has taught me my limits & my abilities, I live for racing, it makes my heart beat!! YES I do ride with my brothers a lot, but I also ride ALOT on my own , and it kind of takes the piss when all you say is "because she rides with her brother" I am, along with all the other women, athletes in our own right, bike riders because WE have the SKILLS, not because we blindly follow the boys with our eyes closed. So Sort it out please boys!!! Otherwise it's good commentary & a great show @redbulltv ????????????
of course, no one is saying that they are not part of the success, they certainly will be,but why cant Claudio (and he has done this several times now) just say its because she is a hard working professional, why cant he say that? or something similar that gives Rach the credit first and foremost, If you break down how someone is the best then yes, there are many many elements that make up a winner and the brothers will be in there somewhere, but not the primary reason.
In that short section where he was asked a quick question for a quick answer he gave her "brothers" as to why she is so good ... not fair really, is it
stumbling over words, asking rob for the english word during an english broadcast, talking smack and or the same old boring lame comment about most riders, i believe i heard him say " whatever" yesterday when he couldn't find the word(s) to finish his thought/sentence, he seems very out of touch with modern downhill techniques and riding styles,taking the easy way out of explaining things, talking about nonsense while a rider is on course rather than actually calling the race and the racerun(you know.. actual sport commentary, rather just stories while people race)................the list goes on and on.
get needles in there for crying out loud.
the sport deserves better than claudio.
even his course previews have run their course and are not informative or funny anymore.
his schtick lasts only so long.
"Monk Dawg
Monk Dawg – @MonkDawg1
Sorry twitter, been busy sorting stuff, but Im back for a bit. Thanks MSA organizers for the party.I ain't no legend cause I ain't dead yet!"
RIP Legend.
Olympification would normalise DH. This would almost certainly help with the authorities & various other organisations, if you could pose the argument, 'kids need access to train for the olympics'.
What we are up against is the entrenched views of the traditional cycling 'heads'. These are people that hate even XC, and BMX.
Of course, from an Olympic organizer point of view, the building / siting of a course, would be a considerable expense. There's another thing against DH.
DH being too mechanically oriented? - pull the other one, it's just a bicycle - even the most BS ridden suspension design is nothing much 'mechanical' - and there's No motor.That's what stops Motorsports events being in the Olympics - human power only - well, and Horses (I'm watching the Nags doing their version of XC, right now) Fair enough.
DH came fairly close to being run at the 2000 Olympics - a course was considered for near Wollongong. The TV companies were pushing for it - face it, there's not much that's particularly visually spectacular in the Summer Olympics, when compared to the Gravity fed events that people go ape for with the Winter Olympics. But, the old guard / f***wits in power within Cycling (and, mainly Cycling Australia), did not approve of DH, and they certainly couldn't countenance one of their Track Cycling events to be dropped for DH - XC had already caused them heart attacks. Goodness only knows how they survived BMX being put in - maybe enough of the old twerps had carked it.........
There's probably many reasons why DH isn't a discipline but it would probably be a good start if the UCI had a proper DH circuit instead of a handful of races too.
To the best of my recollection it was probably at Mont Sainte Anne in 1993. 1: John Tomac 2: Dave Cullinan 3: "Earthquake" Jake Watson (may he rest in peace).
Believe it or not mist of the Olympic guys are not here and are busy preparing and or resting for the big race in Rio. But there are still some heavy hitters and fresh hear that we will be reporting on once the XC gets underway in a few hours.