Race Recap: iXS EDC Round Two - Schladming

We're looking back at one of the most demanding, but also most popular races of the whole iXS season. It was far from easy to make it down the track in one piece this weekend for more than 400 riders from 30 different nations. The fastest riders of the weekend were Emmeline Ragot and Danny Hart.

Awards Ceremony Elite Men (f.l.t.r.: Ruaridh Cunningham, George Brannigan, Danny Hart, Loic Bruni, Markus Pekoll)

Since last year, Schladming is once again a part of the iXS agenda and finally plays host again to international downhill events after three years of absence from the scene. And it seems like the track at the Planai even increased in popularity among the riders. Together with another race of the iXS European Downhill Cup, some real big names of the downhill scene once again returned to the legendary course, ready for some hot fights.

One of the highlights of this special track is of course, the finish area, which has been rebuilt for the Alpine Ski World Championships and now offers an incredible setting for a high class downhill race. This weekend, the stadium was crowded with numerous team trucks and pits, supporting their riders and putting on a real show for the crowd. With 2 500 meters in length and a 600 meter descend the track perfectly fits the requirements of the European Series and with the rather bad weather on Friday adding to the level of difficulty everything was set for an exciting race. Both weather and the field of competitors seemed to increase the overall anticipation even more and already seemed to push the riders during their training sessions.

Trek World Racing Team Train. © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Gravity Republic mechanic Jack Roure. © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

As the race was a part of the Gravity Games Schladming 2015, the organizers of course had some more action up theirs sleeves with the Planai Pump Masters. Round by round, two riders competed on a meadow slalom course, until Maximilian Flank (AUT - Bike Team Ginner) was left as the winner, followed by Dominik Pellegrin (ITA - Bike-Club Egna Neumarkt) and Myles Weber (SUI - Team Project).

Saturday also started with rainfall and another training session, but fortunately both the track and most of the riders seemed to cope well with these conditions. Just in time for qualifying however the weather finally seemed to clear. But even if the track got dryer by the minute, this first run was far from "dry".

The Elite Women category once more seemed to present its 3 top favorites, who clearly dominated the field with a huge gap towards their other competitors. During qualifications Tahnée Seagrave (GBR - FMD Racing) finished 3 seconds faster than last year's winner Emmeline Ragot (FRA - MS Mondraker) followed by Tracey Hannah (AUS - Polygon UR) in third. Already then, it seemed likely that it would be exactly those three fighting for top podium on Sunday, but there were of course also 30 others who definitely seemed eager to prove them all wrong.

Tahnée Seagrave (GBR - FMD Racing). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Tracey Hannah (AUS - Polygon UR). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

For the Elite Men category it was even more important to deliver some fast results. After the first round and the premiere of the Super Final in Kranjska Gora, it was once more all about reaching the top 30 in Saturday's qualifying. The small number of starters in Sunday's Super Final seemed to provide some extra motivation and eagerness. And at the end of the day, Sunday's start list even bore some real surprises. Danny Hart (GBR - MS Mondraker) set the best time of the day with 4:07.681 minutes despite an injury since the World Cup in Leogang, 3.5 seconds faster than George Brannigan (NZL - Trek World Racing). Last year's winner Loic Bruni (FRA - Lapierre Gravity Republic) finished his qualifier run in third.

Danny Hart (GBR - MS Mondraker). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Loic Bruni (FRA - Lapierre Gravity Republic). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

And before it could get too boring, Saturday was completed with the Austrian Whip-Offs in the evening, crowning Fabio Wibmer (AUT) as the champion 2015.

Sunday greeted the riders with better and especially dryer conditions, even if it was not exactly a nice summer's day. In terms of racing the conditions were more than sufficient and the overall atmosphere was relaxed and excited at the same time. After a last training session, the Pro Masters category opened the race at noon. Similar to the result in Kranjska Gora Michal Sliwa (POL - Myslenice) finished fastest in his category with a healthy 8-second lead, followed by Mads Weidemann (DEN - madsweidemann.com) and Benjamin Herold (GER - NRG Team).

The U17 category included 30 young riders from 11 different nations and some of the names seemed to be well known from various Rookies races of the last years. Of course, the step from a Rookies Cup to the European Cup is a rather huge one, and accordingly the competition gets a lot harder. After Finn Iles (CAN - Lapierre Gravity Republic) dominated Saturday's qualifying, Joe Parfitt (GBR - wideopenmag.co.uk) set the best time of his category on Sunday with 4:26.799 minutes. Andrea Bianciotto (ITA - Korax Lapierre) and Moritz Ribarich (AUT - Sports Nut Team) completed the podium.

After that, it was the U19's turn and the speed increased even more. Laurie Greenland (GBR - Trek World Racing) finished with an incredible 4:14.206 minutes, followed by an extremely fast Max Warshawksy (AUS - Bergamont Hayes Team) in second place and Henry Fitzgerald (GBR - Steve Peat Syndicate) in third. Silas Grandy (GER - Nicolai Factory Team) who finished fastest on Saturday had to settle with fourth place at the end of the day.

The next category was the first part of the Elite Men with their Small Final, including only those who did not reach the Super Final. The atmosphere was at its best and finally also the sun paid the riders a visit. In the end, Loris Vergier (FRA - Lapierre Gravity Republic) finished fastest with a time of 4:13.920 minutes.

Uwe Buchholz and Loris Vergier (FRA - Lapierre Gravity Republic) at the Red Bull Hot Seat.

The Elite Women category again clearly profited from the new race day agenda with a huge crowd. The first rider to occupy the Red Bull Hot Seat was Veronika Widmann (ITA - Bike Club Egna Neumarkt). When Alba Wunderlin (SUI - Stützrädli) crossed the finish line with a better time, she didn't even get the chance to sit down, before Casey Brown (CAN - Bergamont Hayes Team) took over. The lead kept changing, first with Petra Bernhard (RC-Gravity-Eagles) and then Miranda Miller (CAN). Emilie Siegenthaler (SUI - Pivot Factory Team) had some problems with the track and did not even reach the top 3. Tracey Hannah came down the hill, set a new best time and waited for her strongest competitors. But when Ragot came into sight it was clear that she would be faster and indeed she finished with a 10-second lead. At this point all eyes were on Seagrave, the only one who could have altered the result. But in the end, she simply was not fast enough and finished in second place. Hannah completed the podium, followed by Miller and Bernhard.


Emmeline Ragot (FRA - MS Mondraker). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Tracey Hannah (AUS - Polygon UR). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Casey Brown (CAN - Bergamont Hayes Team). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Awards Ceremony Elite Women (f.l.t.r.: Miranda Miller, Tahnée Seagrave, Emmeline Ragot, Tracey Hannah, Petra Bernhard).

With an exciting Elite Women finale the stage was set for the Elite Men Super Final. It took some time at first, until someone was faster than Vergier in the Small Final. The first time that came close to Saturday's results was set by Wyn Masters (NZL - Team Bulls) with 4:08.430 minutes. But when Ruaridh Cunningham (GBR - Unior Tools Team) crossed the finish line he was even faster than Hart had been on Saturday. All eyes were on the track, but neither Edward Masters (NZL - Bergamont Hayes Team), Brook MacDonald (AUS - Trek World Racing), nor Mark Wallace (CAN - Devinci Global Racing) reached Cunningham's time. Markus Pekoll (AUT - MS Mondraker) seemed to be faster for some time, but failed by only 2 seconds. Finally, the 2014 champ Loic Bruni took the lead, but was immediately edged out again by George Brannigan. Danny Hart was the last man down the hill and he definitely had to push it to the limits to deliver a result like this! He finished only split seconds faster than Bruni and took the title with a best time of 4:03.573 minutes. In the end, the podium was exactly the same as in the qualifications on Saturday, while Cunningham and Pekoll followed.

Brook MacDonald (AUS - Trek World Racing). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Loic Bruni (FRA - Lapierre Gravity Republic). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Danny Hart (GBR - MS Mondraker). © extreme-pics.de / Benjamin Prescher.

Schladming once again has proven worthy with the Gravity Games 2015. The only thing that could still be improved was the weather, everything else was perfect. What is left to say is simply that we hope to keep Schladming among our venues for a long time.


www.ixsdownhillcup.com

Riders Profiles: Brook MacDonald, Emmeline Ragot, Loic Bruni, Tracey Hannah, Danny Hart, Tahnee Seagrave, Andrew Neethling, George Brannigan

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MENTIONS: @iXSsports

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