The World Champs in Mont-Sainte-Anne provided some legendary racing, here are five things we noticed from the sidelines.
Loic Bruni laid down an incredible run last weekend that saw him secure his fifth World Championships title (four Elite, one Junior) and his third title in a row since 2017. Despite riders like Troy Brosnan and Amaury Pierron putting everything on the line in their final run, Bruni seems to have an incredible ability to perform at the World Champs.
With his fifth title secured Bruni is now half way to Nicolas Vouilloz's record of ten World Champs victories.
After both riders sustained injuries early in the season it was a massive effort for both Myriam Nicole and Tahnee Seagrave to return by World Champs. While they have been away both Tracey Hannah and Marine Cabirou have ridden super strong, and everyone had their eyes set on Mont-Sainte-Anne to see if one of them could take the title.
While neither Myriam nor Tahnee appeared to expect the top results, they went 1st and 2nd respectively. There's a school of thought that says some athletes are overtraining during the regular season, and maybe the forced time off during injury did them good. Come race day Myriam Nicole was down early with a blistering time that was unbeatable. We can't wait to see a nearly complete Elite Womens race this weekend in Snowshoe.
Vali Höll took another World Champs title this weekend and finished with a run that would have placed 6th in the Elite Women. With one race left as a Junior, all eyes are going to be on the Austrian as she heads into the Elite category next year and will definitely be a force to be reckoned with. Next year we'll have her battling it out with a healthy Rachel Atherton, Myriam Nicole, Tahnee Seagrave, Marine Cabirou, Nina Hoffmann, and Tracey Hannah. Wild.
In the Junior Men, Thibaut Daprela was unstoppable at the beginning of the season but then dropped off the pace—but he got fifth at Worlds after losing his derailleur in the 3rd turn. We expect absolute fireworks at Snowshoe from him, and we're excited to see what he can do in Elite—over his career as a Junior Daprela has only ever dropped outside of the top 2 positions five times. Another standout result came from the Canyon Factory Racing rider Kye A'Hern, who secured the rainbow jersey in one his best results and the first win since Fort William and Leogang in 2018. He will be another one to watch in 2020, and with a good result this weekend he will secure a second place in the Junior World Cup overall.
This year we had World Champs taking place before the final round of the World Cup, and with the titles still to play for some expected the leading riders to take it ever so slightly easier to ensure they can still fight for the overall. But that was not the case as rider after rider pushed the limits on the Mont-Sainte-Anne course, and the top riders clearly putting everything into their runs. It was an amazing spectacle to watch, and sets the table for a super exciting showdown in Snowshoe.
LoL
In the last couple of events they've both talked about being more consistent. Greenland event talked about head attitude and body placement changes after Val Di Sole, but honestly he looked like he was back to his wild ways at MSA.
I used freevpn.me one of my dev boxens and the performance was just as good as a paid option on my Firestick.
Kids a weapon current oceanic champ. Won his first world Cup at Val di Sole and then 3rd at world champs.. All with out factory support!!
Someone give the kid a ride and some coverage!
He really needs one before he calls it quits.
I’m a massive Peaty fan, but because I stated riding in 1994/5 and remember the Nico domination he’ll never be the man in the way that mr Frenchy is. Same goes for Gwinny and Bruni, but don’t worry, Bruni will won a few overalls too before he’s done.
Everything on the line for 1 run, the pressure that goes with that as opposed to being able to make up for a bad result means riders push their limits way more than a world cup round, the riders themselves mention this all the time.
So I wouldn’t put it past Bruni to sup-pas that mark in the future.
This current crop of french riders are going to be on top for the next few years , it’s their time now . Just Gwinn , he peaked just like Bruni is now .
So yeah, I think we can speak of French era now. I think Gwin grew up, started reflecting on things and can’t go fullgas. He may have that last blow like Minnaar and Peaty, but that’s even more rare than a Junior doing well in Elite.
Quote: "I think we all understand the difference between World Champion and World Cup Champion"
Slightly more impressive, now run along
Claudio: how have you done racing here?
Rob: I think I went on the podium once.
Claudio: that’s right, you were 5th.
Rob: how do you remember?
Claudio: well, I was fourth...
Gave me a good laugh from them two...
But hey...... Victory Deserves Revelries!!!
Only @lizashirley scored more than 700 pts, 705 to be precise. Snowshoe is a bit of an unknown for most of the Pinkbike Fantasy Athletes, which will be the real test for these athletes who have been battling all year round and already need some rest after a long season and so many injuries.
With all due respect to the older riders, the UCI could take a page from the PGA Tour: no other (lesser) events the week before a major on the major venue itself, and ideally the Masters WC would have been held somewhere else entirely. You need to privilege track conditions for MTB’s biggest stage.
So In a way, yeah, nice to have a clean track but then, this thing is savage anyways.