Finals Photo Epic: Down to the Wire - Lenzerheide World Cup DH 2019
Photo Epic presented by Five Ten
Seven down, one to go. Both elite titles are still up for grabs as we head onto the last World Cup of the season in Snowshoe, West Virginia in a few weeks time. There is, of course, the little matter of settling the World Champs jerseys in between then, but we'll come back to that later. Today was the perfect result for those that want to see the title fights go down to the wire with both Marine Cabirou and Amaury Pierron who are ranked 2nd in the overall, get one over on their title rivals in Tracey Hannah and Loic Bruni respectively.
The weather gods decided to hit the reset button once again this morning with riders greeted by steady rain and low lying cloud in the morning. It didn't take long for the track conditions to turn slick with riders keen to cram in as much track time as possible, most riders completed 3 runs in quick succession in the short hour session they had available this morning. The rain stopped by the time the elite men's race runs came around and the track steadily began to dry out. Any fear of an afternoon shower quickly subsided as the sun began to creep out from behind the clouds.
As mentioned previously Marine Cabirou managed to snag her second-ever World Cup win just ahead of title rival Tracey Hannah after they played a game of split ping pong over the length of the track, Caibrou eventually eeking out a margin of just under 3 tenths. There was then a gap of 7 seconds before the riders came in thick and fast with home hero Emilie Siegenthaler coming in third ahead of Kiwi Kate Weatherly and another Swiss rider in Camille Balanche who got her second podium in as many races. In behind them came Eleonora Farina, Monika Hrastnik, Raphaela Richter, Veronika Widmann, and Sian A'Hern. Nina Hoffmann and Mariana Salazar both went down in the slippery conditions when on podium pace.
The juniors may well have got the worst of the conditions which makes Vali Höll's fastest time of the day even more impressive. What can we say about Vali that hasn't been said already? It wasn't Anna Newkirk following her home in second this time, she was third as Nastasia Gimenez took her first podium finish of the year in second. Seth Sherlock laid down a heater in a tightly contested junior men where he pipped Switzerland's Janosch Klaus who chose a good race to take his first podium at, last weekend's winner Tuhoto-Ariki Pene rounded off the podium. It was a day to forget for Thibaut Daprela who flatted even when down at the first few spits.
With the rain halting the track then proceeded to dry throughout the men's finals with the track conditions improving rider to rider. Last man down Danny Hart just couldn't match his qualifying prowess and faded to 5th, opening the door for Amaury Pierron to take his third win of the season. He and Bruni have now taken 3 apiece with Greenland the only other rider to get in on the number 1 action this season. Greg Minnaar came closest to Pierron just under a second back with overall leader Loic Bruni coming home 3rd, Troy Brosnan and Danny Hart rounded out the podium. Laurie Greenland, Dean Lucas, Loris Vergier, Reece Wilson, and Florent Payet completed the top ten. Kudos to Lucas, Wilson, and Payet who all took their best result of the season so far.
Bring on World Champs and World Cup finals.
Not the morning we hoped to wake up to for finals, but conditions steadily picked up throughout the day.
Riders didn't have long to adapt to their newfound conditions this morning.
It got a little atmospheric out there this morning.
A flat for Daprela and he'll be counting his blessings A'hern did not hit the podium this weekend.
Anna Newkirk marching on towards yet another podium, but this time struggling in the slippery conditions and having to settle for 3rd.
The Swiss were out in force today. Janosch Klaus took his first podium in the junior men.
Tuhoto-Ariki Pene keen to show Val Di Sole was no fluke, hit the podium again, just 1.2 short of the win for 3rd place.
Vali Höll decimates the opposition on her way to the fastest time of the day.
Great season so far for Seth Sherlock. He's been steady climbing the ladder and after his first podium in Les Gets, he took home his first World Cup win today.
Nastasia Gimenez managed a second place finish yet still almost 30 seconds off from Vali Holl's time.
Loris Vergier stops to inspect some line choice this morning.
Marine Cabirou was very observant this morning during practice. Every second counts as the battle goes on between her and Tracey.
Tracy Hannah came painfully close to besting Cabirou's imperfect run, but that tiny 0.2 second margin won't show in the standings and valuable points have been lost to her French rival.
Dean Lucas takes his best result of the season so far in 7th.
Not the weekend for Dakota Norton, who will surely be extremely frustrated to waste an otherwise solid visit to Switzerland sliding out on the final turn.
Kate Weatherly struck back with her first podium since Leogang on the slippery Swiss roots.
Second World Cup and second top 10 for Raphaela Richter.
Amaury Pierron rips his own line on the steeps this morning.
Florent Payet keeping it low of one of the road gaps on his way to 10th place.
Greg Minnaar proved to us that he can still play with the young cats and a second place finish to boot.
Tracey Hannah may have been feeling the pressure today. She's been on one hell of a ride so far but it's been challenged as of late. A few mistakes cost her the win.
Mariana Salazar has a bit of fun after crashing on her race run. One of the best styles out there.
Camille Balanche took the last spot on the podium in front of the home crowd.
Emilie Siegenthaler did the business at home and took the third step on the podium.
The Swiss support was strong for the home riders, and they delivered too.
Marine Cabirou may not be leading the point race just yet but she seems unstoppable with one more race to go.
Tracey Hannah crosses the line into second place just a few tenths off Cabirou.
Tracey Hannah needn't look at the timing screen, Cabirou's reaction on the hot seat said all that needed to be said.
Win number 2 in as many weeks for Marine Cabirou.
It was definitely slick out there.
Cheers to the Swiss weather gods for showing a little mercy.
Dakotah Norton 30th with a crash. He was running on the fringes of the top 10.
Before you say it... this wasn't so much the French line as it was the 'international line'. The hop was fastest and apparently it was fully legit.
Brook MacDonald always comes out swinging, but on the Lenzerheide course it is easy to push too hard. 16th for the Bulldog.
Gee Atherton rampaging towards the finish arena for a convincing 15th place.
Neko Mullaly is back folks. The American champ stormed to his season best performance of 12th place, upping his strong qualie score by one.
Mark Wallace carves the final turn into 14th place.
A step in the right direction for Luca Shaw in 11th.
Last weeks winner Laurie Greenland just missed out on the podium steps in 6th.
Loris Vergier once again had everything needed for the win here in Lenzerheide, but this time slipped off the box by only 1.5 seconds, leaving him in 8th.
Amaury Pierron flying into the finish area and roaring straight into the hotseat.
Lucky 13th for David Trummer. He's been consistent, buzzing around that top ten spot.
Kade Edwards put down a clean one for 20th. A good feeling for sure after stumbling a few too many times.
Eleonora Farina had a heartbreaking run in Val Di Sole with a mechanical ending her hope for a podium finish. The weather today didn't make it any easier either. She'd finish just off the podium.
Laurie Greenland enjoying a little hot seat time in front of the admirable Swiss crowds.
Reece Wilson shaving centimetres off the track on his way to 9th.
Troy Brosnan pushing through the beam with yet another podium, this time just 2 seconds from the top step.
Greg Minnaar ran Pierron close but ended up just under a second back.
Determined as always, Loic Bruni pushed hard and this time around, some small mistakes added up. It wasn't the repeat performance from last year's World Champs but a close third.
Loic Bruni slots into third behind Greg Minnaar and Amaury Pierron.
That'll do. Not the win but another solid step towards the overall.
Last man down, top qualifier Danny Hart has hit the podium every World Cup this season bar one. But the Redcar Rocket wants more than consistency.
It quickly became apparent who the victor would be with Danny Hart falling further back at each split.
1.4 seconds off the top, could Bruni have pushed for more? It's always going to be a delicate balancing act of staying consistent without risking everything to claim the overall.
That one has been brewing for a while. Reece Wilson lays down his best run of the season which rewarded him in a 9th place finish.
Loic Bruni and Loris Vergier share the stories from their race runs.
Seth all smiles as the maple leaf anthem plays on.
Three of the heaviest hitters in the game.
Siegenthaler stoked to make the top steps in Switzerland just a few tenths ahead of partner, Balanche.
This time she was prepared... Cabirou sees off Hannah champagne offering with clear vision.
Winning is b*itching as they so often say. Pierron takes his 3rd win to match Bruni.
Junior Men's podium.
Junior Women's podium.
Your top 5 elite women. 1st) Marine Cabirou 2nd) Tracey Hannah 3rd) Emilie Siegenthaler 4th) Kate Weatherly 5th) Camille Balanche
It's getting repetitive at the top at this point, but you wouldn't want to swap out legends and legends in the making like this for any old racer.
Third win of the season for Amaury Pierron as he keeps the overall dream alive.
MENTIONS: @natedh9 @andy9 @rossbellphoto
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Uhmmm. Les Gets anyone? 49th place is not really a podium is it?
Get out the warm clothes for next season, elite girls....
From a photographers perspective: average shots, bad post-production editing (way too much contrast, too much "standard filtering") - but hey i know, no time, timely article.
Cheers!
Keep working the "standard filtering" whatever the heck that is haha
But like i said, i can understand the hurry one must be in. And Cheers to the shots angle-wise etc, good captures.
You just told three professional photographers that their photos were "average", the editing was "bad", and that they must have rushed the job to get it online... What part of that is not fully intended to offend the people who present their hard work here?
Ross, Nate, and Andy... Top shots, and great work !!!