Interviews: Qualifying & Semi-Final Reactions from the Bielsko-Biala DH World Cup 2024

With Semi finals done and dusted we grabbed some reactions from the riders to see how they are enjoying this Polish track.

Dakotah Norton

First time you ever won semis. How does it feel?

First time I've ever won anything at this level. I was stoked on being fastest in timed practice last week, and pretty cool to do it this week. The rain held off, and it made for some consistent conditions. Man, I'm over the moon.

Are you enjoying this track?

Yeah, I am. I'm really enjoying it. It's a good racetrack, just gotta hit my marks. You know, it's so fast. Sometimes you have to slow down to hit things faster, and it's hard to commit to that. But overall, I'm just really happy.

You got the biggest target on your back tomorrow. Last man down the hill. How are you feeling, do you think you can pull it out again tomorrow?

There's no telling, but I'm going to give it hell.

First time we're here in Poland with a new track. How's it been?

Overall, it's a great venue. They put on a great track, it's super tough to ride fast. The weather's been challenging, but it's beautiful. The people here are so stoked. I did qualifying earlier and it felt like a race run. The people were so loud. Everyone's stoked and it's some enthusiasm to come to like a densely populated place pretty close to some major cities and there's an awesome turnout. It feels like a race day and it'll be good. I'm really excited.

Nina Hoffmann

Nina. Not the day you wanted, what happened?

On both runs the corners or berms kind of disappeared, and I washed the front. Especially in the second run in the semi-finals there was a right hander, you couldn't see it from further away, and I came around and was ready to give her some beans in the corner. She wasn't there anymore. Front wheel gone. This track's changing so much as it's new and a fresh track and so many riders going down, it's really hard to get a good and solid rundown. You want to push, but obviously, you don't want to over push.

It's a difficult balancing act. Short track as well. Do you feel it punishes mistakes more?

Oh for sure. But to be honest, look at Fort William. Long track and still pretty tight racing in the women's, so you can't make mistakes anymore. If I was not protected, I would have been out now. Earlier on, you could have allowed yourself a crash in the women's field and still be on but now you really need to get your stuff together.

How does it feel that moment when you go 'ah that run was rubbish' and then you realize, oh okay, I'm protected? Is it just a massive, overwhelming relief?

So I went into this run knowing I'm protected and actually all the upper part, until I crashed, felt really good compared to my qualifying run. So I was like, we're on a good run. And then that just happened and I was like, let's get on the bike and try to still push to get some points. So maybe I can still do a top ten or something to gain just a few points. Yeah, it didn't happen, but I tried.

The effort was there

The effort was there, just not in the last section. I was hesitating there because this is where I messed up in Qualis.

Is that the steep section through the final woods?

It's not as steep as you think, it's fine. It's just if this left hander is not there anymore. I mean, I wasn't inside and I didn't know about this inside. So I came around the corner where, like, going into the outside, and that was obviously washed away.

So that's not going to be the line tomorrow?

No it's not. I made it good and all right in semis. Now I go for track walk now and have a look, and it's not gonna be that many riders anymore tomorrow. It might rain as well which means it's gonna be a whole other story again.

New track, new country. How has it been?

Crazy fans. I just said to Ethan, I'm annoyed by these chainsaws right now. I just want to have a bit of peace and quiet after my run and they just want to go on. I've seen so many people just dress in costumes and with weird stuff on their heads and chainsaws and everything, so this is quite a good atmosphere. I'm feeling really welcomed here. The accommodation is nice. Organization is quite nice. They put a lot of effort into the track to do some changes that we were asking for after track walk on the first day of practice, so I appreciate that.

Are you ready to go with plenty left in the tank for tomorrow?

For sure, yeah everything is left. I mean, my splits were all right, so not too bad, except after the crash. I still want to work on some stuff and know where I can make some time. So we're definitely on for a heater tomorrow.


Mikayla Parton

Sadly not the semis you were looking for?

Yeah, unfortunately, I crashed in my semi-final run before the top split, and I was feeling so good. So I don't even have one split to look at. But I just took a corner faster than I had before, which is good because I was pushing and I was just on the edge, but too much on the edge and crashed. Yeah, it's not ideal.

It's a tougher track than it looks. People had written it off as some easy bike park track. It's really not is it?

No it's not, but it was sick though, I really liked it. I actually am nursing a bit of an injury, so I wasn't even sure if I was gonna ride today. I should probably just be happy with today, because I wasn't even gonna ride. Time to rest up, I think.

The women's field has got super competitive as well, right? Do you feel like the short tracks kind of make it harder?

Oh, yeah for sure. It's tricky because you know there's no way that you're gonna get in with the crash. Not the way the field is now.

How have you found the new track?

So sick. I really really like it here. I'm excited. I hope we can come back again.

The crowd were insane, right?

Yeah, definitely, have you seen all the guys with the chainsaws?! They were so funny with the, I think it was watering cans, on their heads.

So progress, but not what you wanted?

I feel like I'm probably being a bit hard on myself, but it doesn't mean I'm not gutted though.

Vero Widmann

Vero good day for you today. Where did you finish up?

Yes! Fourth today in semi-finals.

Are you enjoying this track?

I was today, yes. Yesterday in the rain I found it quite difficult, to be honest. Um, but today, I felt good. I felt like I was pushing, and the level is so high at the moment, and you need to push 100% for qualis, for semis, for finals. It's not like, ah I just have a chilled run and we'll be fine for qualis. It's absolutely not. I knew we were 19 girls in semi-finals, so basically cut half. So I knew I had to do my best run to make it in, and I didn't expect fourth place.

I guess that means tomorrow there's a couple of protected riders, but you're going to be quite late down the hill. Bad news for you, it's gonna rain. Do you think you've got more in the tank for tomorrow?

I have to see how it develops, how much rain it's coming down. It's pretty rutted in at the moment. My main goal was to be in finals. Obviously, a fourth place is more than expected. I think we just go for it and see what the outcome is.

So just a bit of a shorter track here in time. It's quite long, but it's quite fast. Do you think they're harder to race on these kind of tracks?

It's shorter, but I feel it's more physical than other tracks because you have to pedal so much and pump so much and making those jumps nicely and then pedal. I think it's pretty physical.

I guess here one mistake means a lot more right?

Yeah, I guess so. When it's not steep and it's flat, you make a mistake, it takes more time to recover and all that. We'll see how tomorrow goes.


Charlie Hatton

How does it feel to be through today, after the last round?

Oh, to be honest, I was pretty gutted after Fort William. Obviously, I knew I had some really good pace and to finish like that, I was not stoked. Glad to get some redemption back this week. Qualified 20th, which wasn't great. Knew I had some more time in the tank and then just finished ninth in the semi-final and times are ridiculously tight. So yeah, really happy and excited to go hard tomorrow.

It's turned into quite an interesting track, right? People wrote off probably a bit too early and said it wasn't going to be any good. How are you finding it?

Oh, it's a savage track, so it makes some really good racing I think. Like there's not loads of places where you can really make up time so the racing is super tight. Whoever said it was a bike park track, needs to come and ride it because it's far from.

We're walking in the rain right now. There's rain predicted tomorrow. How are you feeling about that?

Oh, I love the rain. So keep it coming. I'm all for it. But now I'm just going up to walk the track now to check out some lines and try and find a bit more speed.

How good is this crowd?

Oh, my days. Unreal crowd here in Poland. I wasn't sure what to make of the whole venue and stuff before coming. I've never been to Poland, but I'll definitely be back. It's a real cool country and the crowd are absolutely insane at the minute and it's not even finals day.

Reece Wilson

Reece not the day you wanted. What happened?

Honestly, nothing. It's just a type of track where there's absolutely nothing to separate anybody, and there's only time to be lost. I'm definitely the type of guy that prefers a track when there's something to be gained by just, you know, having that little bit extra head and doing something a little bit crazier. And on this track, you just can't, you have to be really patient. In all honesty, you have to be extremely fit for this track. There's so much pumping and so much pedalling. With how my last offseason's gone, that's my weakness, you know? I mean, I'm fit. I'm healthy. Like I said, I've done nothing wrong. I'm just fractionally off everywhere, which adds up at the end of a run and that's put us out of the top 30. Today is what it is, sadly.

How have you found the track?

Now it's dry again, it's insanely fast. It was definitely nicer when it was soft initially in the first day, you could get away with a wee bit more, but now you've seen the amount of frontend washouts there. It's so rock hard that one little bit too off the inside of the bike and the front wheel is gone. It's a scary track man..

Did you find the track was changing constantly?

Definitely bits and bobs. But I think for me, predictable things that were gonna go. So I wasn't all that surprised by how much it's moved. I knew that the rain would help hold it together a wee bit, which it certainly has. It's still a real hard track to ride.

So new country, new track. How has it been here in Poland?

We've loved it for Trek Factory Racing. We've had a fantastic place in the pits. We've had fantastic accommodation right across the road. We've been within two minutes walking of everything that we need to do this week, from the gondola, from the start. It's been an absolute pleasure. The people have been lovely. There's so many fans here that are very supportive and know their stuff, so that's always good. I hope we come back.

Full season obviously for you. Are the old injuries staying at bay?

I mean, I've been living in constant pain really on the ankle for the last year, so that's just always there and it's life now. It's been there so permanently now that it almost just doesn't count. I've really got no excuses. I just need to get this season as I planned. Get this season under my belt. Stay fit, stay healthy, keep building throughout the year, keep working on my bike, and keep working on myself. Really coming at this next off season and attacking next year's the grand master plan. You know, right now I'm just ticking off little wins here and there. So we've taken a little loss today. But it is what it is. We'll bounce back.

Harry Molloy

Harry first time since Les Gets into semi-finals?

Yeah, I believe so.

How was it?

It was good. I was happy. You gotta push past the limit I think these days. I was on the bubble, really so realistically you need more than that. But I think the way it is, eight seconds from qualifying and winning that's a tight racing for sure.

How did you find the track? It's changed a lot.

It has. It's actually really good. It's similar to like Maribor but way tighter and way faster. It's a sick place. Everything about Poland to be fair as well.

How great are these fans?

It's been really good the whole way down to be fair. Chainsaws, all sorts of stuff going on there. It was mega.

Getting into semis in Elite is a big deal, right? There's some hitters in there. There's a lot of protected guys, too. Just how hard is it?

Yeah, harder than ever by a long shot. I think the courses, the bikes and everything's come on. We're really at the pinnacle now. There's no words that really describe just how insane it is to get through.

Do you think the turnaround time is enough from quali to semi?

I mean, it's tight for sure, but I think it was all right. I mean, it's all right unless you have a problem. We haven't had any problems. Good on that front, but it is tight, that's for sure. But it's I think it's good for the top of the sport to have their time on Sunday.

So you're currently in 20th with 30 to go. Douglas Vieira scraped through at this point last round. Do you reckon it's gonna hold up, eight seconds back is a long way back?

I really don't think that's probably enough. But I was just happy, you know, I'm happy. It's a start. If I made a mistake, then generally, I think I would have to almost have a faultless run to even dream about getting in that top 30 at the moment. But, like I say, it's a start and it's round two, so many more to go.


Dan Slack

This is probably my most fun interview of the day. I don't think it's too harsh to say it's unexpected to see you in finals. How do you feel?

Really good. It's been a tough week, obviously. First practice, bone dry, dusty, really fun. Then second practice it absolutely hammered it down. The track's just changed every run. But really happy with how I rode today.

Can you really pick apart what did it for you this weekend, it's a big leap from Fort William?

Not sure. Just Fort William got a bit unlucky, obviously, with a puncture, but same old for everybody there. I like this kind of track. It reminds me of Maribor a few years ago where my 10th and it's just nice to be on a track that's fast, fresh, loamy. It's just a little bit of me.

First time into elite finals, how's that feeling?

It's gonna be good. Last year, first race, I was 31st, 0.09 off being in the main final. So today it feels nice to be actually in the big show. Just going for track walk now. Made a few mistakes at the top anyway, so I'm gonna go and try and fix them for tomorrow.

New country, new track. How do you feel about it?

I really rate this as a venue for a race. Poland itself has been awesome. Everything's cheap, everything's really good. The track itself is insane. Uplift: no queues whatsoever. Like first practice day, I did nine runs. Like it's silly. It's better than the National at home. It's crazy. I would 100% have a race here every year.

It's gonna be a tough one tomorrow, but you might get a bit lucky with the weather. Are you prepped for that?

So we've obviously got all the wheels ready. We did practice the other day in the rain, in the mud. So just like being at home anyway. Whatever happens, we'll be ready for it.

The fans, let's give the last comment to that.

You've got the dudes with the watering cans on their head and chainsaws and hedge trimmers. It's good. It's really good.

Anna Newkirk

A great day for you, eighth place. Happy with your run?

Yeah, for sure. It was pretty hectic. The track was a lot different than when I last rode it, so I tried some new lines out. I think they worked pretty well. All in all, pretty happy.

Do you think you've more in the tank for tomorrow?

I don't know what to think about tomorrow. It's supposed to rain. Kind of a little bit afraid so we will see.

Brand new track, new country to come to. How's it been?

It's been so cool. I've never been to Poland before, but it's awesome. It's so beautiful here. It kind of reminds me of the Black Forest and a little bit of Slovenia, just with the rolling hills and lots of trees and greenery. The track is really cool. The trail building team did a fantastic job. The Pinkbike commenters are going to be very unhappy that all the riders like it because, you know, they decided a week ago that it was bad. All in all, it's been great.

It's been looking really fun. How have you done with like, only 5.5 hours of practice and trying to put together a race run or something new? How did you go about it? Did you kind of just balls to the wall and just go for it?

Actually, yesterday I was having a pretty hectic day and the first practice I got three laps in. First two I felt terrible. Third lap I felt decent. As soon as I went up for the second practice, it started pouring and the track was so slick. I did one run down and it was like, I'm not riding anymore. I'm done for today. I like 50:50 the hardest jump of the forest, because I was like, it's gonna be fine. It was not fine. I frame cased that.

I bet DT Swiss were really happy about that.

My wheel was actually fine. I ran it all day in practice. But yeah, it was hectic yesterday in practice.

How has it been setting up your bike? Some of the guys were saying they had to choose between figuring out the track and bike setup. Did you kind of have the same thing or do you just chill with the same setup?

Yeah, I just did the same setup I always do, to be honest. The only thing I was thinking about was tire choice. But for me, at least for this one, it was a pretty clear choice running an Assegai front and DHR in the rear. But other than that my bike feels good set up the same as I was in Fort William, to be honest. It's a good setup. It works for me.

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