Nerding Out - Leogang World Cup 2021

Despite regular grumbles about the historically bike parky nature of the track, there's no denying that its tight time gaps and well-broadcasted course make for incredibly exciting racing for all of us watching at home. Thankfully the new course changes have done nothing to change that.

The new woods section is now in its second year and it seems that it hasn't been dry since it was first graced by racers' rubber last October. Once again it was the talk of the weekend as racers pondered over the best lines, setups, and approaches to conquer 'Vali's Hell'. The results will tell us that Troy Brosnan and Camille Balanche made the most sense of it but there was far more going on in both races than that might suggest. Let's get into the splits and sectors to understand what really went on in Austria on Saturday.

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Results

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Sector 1 From the start gate, around the opening corners, and across the ski piste cambers. The split ends just after the second road crossing.
Men ≈ 47 seconds, Women ≈ 55 seconds

Sector 2 Through the rest of the top open sections including the steep stumps. The section ends at the foot of the motorway jumps.
Men ≈ 35 seconds, Women ≈ 42 seconds

Sector 3 Through the ten jumps of the motorway to just before the riders hit the wallride.
Men ≈ 39 seconds, Women ≈ 43 seconds

Sector 4 Off the wallride and into the woods. The section ends a couple of turns before the bridge jump back onto the old track.
Men ≈ 50 seconds, Women ≈ 65 seconds

Sector 5 Out of the woods to rejoin the main line, the track now avoids the rock roll into the finish and sends riders through another small woods section before they cross the line.
Men ≈ 34 seconds, Women ≈ 42 seconds

Total Length: 2.2km / 1.37 miles

Total Drop: 469 metres / 1539 ft

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Sector by Sector Results

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The Story of the Race

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In Depth

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It can't be overstated how impressive Thibaut Daprela was in the top two sectors on Saturday. After the first 45 seconds of track, he already had a lead of more than 0.3 seconds. This may not sound like a lot but this is Leogang we're talking about, where entire races have been won by less.

Matt Walker was the closest rider to Daprela at 0.344 seconds and Benoit Coulanges was the only other rider to get within half a second, which put him third. Coulanges was closely followed by Joe Breeden and Loic Bruni. Eventual winner Troy Brosnan starts with a ninth-placed split 0.737 seconds back.

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Daprela continued to extend his lead in Sector 2, this time he was nearly a second faster than anyone else in just over 30 seconds of track. Daprela was also significantly faster than anyone else through this sector of the track last year, so clearly he's got a trick up his sleeve that sets him apart through these steep stump sections.

Phil Atwill has a great second split and is the only rider within a second of Daprela, closely followed by Danny Hart and then Troy Brosnan. Matt Walker, who was second fastest at Split 1 seems to have a bit of trouble in this sector and loses two seconds.


Adding the first two sectors together, we can see that Daprela has already built a commanding lead of more than 1.5 seconds. Phil Atwill's storming Sector 2 sees him running second at this point ahead of Hart and Brosnan. Daprela aside, the rest of the racers are tightly packed as you'd expect from the more bike-parky half of the Leogang track as just over 2 seconds separate Phil Atwill in second to Luca Shaw in 20th.

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A flurry of different names appears at the top of the time sheets in the motorway sector as Minnaar takes it by the narrowest of margins over Dakotah Norton. The second Syndicate rider, Luca Shaw, comes through third fastest and Angel Suarez shows his moto roots with a fourth fastest time through this rhythm section. Brosnan has his worst split of the race here but it's only twelfth place and less than half a second back on Minnaar.

The big name missing here is Thibaut Daprela. This is the section where it looked like he tried to triple one of the jumps and it may have looked cool but he later admitted it was a mistake after he lost his bearings and jumped the wrong transition. It cost him crucial momentum and he was 28th fastest through this sector, more than a second off Minnaar.


Daprela's lead gets cut for the first time as we reach the halfway point of the race and he now has an advantage of just over a second over Brosnan, who is starting to climb through the rankings. Coulanges, Suarez, Norton, and Iles are all well placed at this time with the most crucial part of the track still to come. One rider to point out here is Pierron - as in qualifying, he's a fair way down on the leader at the end of the motorway but he will make up lots of time from the entry to the woods onwards.

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When we get into the woods, we start to see much larger time gaps develop. In Sector 3, the top 20 were separated by about three quarters of a second. In Sector 4, it's by more than three seconds. Reece Wilson was fastest through here (and took the top spot in Red Bull's Key Section), proving that last year's victory wasn't as much of a lottery as some people like to claim.

Laurie Greenland and Amaury Pierron aren't too far behind with Thirion (who picked up bronze at last year's World Championships) and Troy Brosnan making up the top five. Daprela gets stalled on the low line off the drop and loses 3.5 seconds while Suarez, Norton, and Iles, who made up most of the leading group at this point, start to slip back, finishing this sector 49th, 21st, and 25th respectively.


The standings get shaken up with Troy Brosnan stepping into the lead for the first time and Pierron and Wilson taking huge strides forward. Daprela has gone from first to third and is 0.7 down on the leader at this point. Coulanges holds onto the final podium place at this point but it's going to be down to the wire between him and Danny Hart.

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Brosnan turns on the afterburners close to the line and powers home by winning the final sector. He spoke a lot about his revised fitness regime in preparation for this race and clearly it served him well, as he was able to push right through to the line. Daprela recovers to take the second-fastest time followed by Brosnan's two teammates, Wallace and A'Hern.


Brosnan takes the win by more than a second with Daprela and Pierron taking silver and bronze on the new Supreme. Wilson's super-strong woods section took him to fourth while Coulanges gets his first-ever World Cup podium in fifth.

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Sector one belongs to Vali Holl. She got off to a great start on her home track at her debut Elite World Cup and only Tahnee Seagrave is able to get within a second of her. Marine Cabirou is third, followed by Camille Balanche and Monika Hrastnik. Norwegian-born but US-based racer Frida Ronning puts in a super-impressive split for sixth. Myriam Nicole crashed on just the second turn but will have the rest of the track to try and make up her five-second deficit.

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It's Vali Holl on top again in Sector 2 but you can see how well Myriam Nicole recovered and she is now chasing hard, just 0.5 seconds back on this sector. Cabirou keeps it consistent in third and Balanche maintains her position in fourth. Seagrave, who made a great start, slips back and is eighth fastest through this sector.


After 90 seconds of racing, Holl has already established herself as the woman to beat in this race. Cabirou's consistency has got her the third spot and Seagrave holds onto fourth, although she has just a whisker of a lead over the World Champion. Myriam Nicole is beginning her comeback and climbs her way up to seventh.

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Myriam Nicole is flying now and takes the motorway by almost a second, this is a truly impressive sector when you consider how tight times can be on this high-speed rhythm section. Vali Holl is still fast here and ends up second just ahead of Balanche. Cabirou loses significant time, probably due to her massive nose dive off the first jump that she saved incredibly well.


Holl's lead grows by another second to be almost three now. Interestingly, the rider who won the first two splits in both races would have a significant lead by the end of the motorway but both also ended second by the end of the race after a mistake. The battle for second place is fierce at this point with Balanche, Cabirou and Seagrave all within 0.3 seconds of each other. After a rough start, Myriam Nicole has battled her way into fifth at the halfway point.

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Just like last year, Balanche was able to make sense of the woods better than the rest of her competitors and wins the fourth sector. Vali Holl and Monika Hrastnik are roughly neck and neck here about a second back. After working hard to get herself back in contention, Myriam Nicole slips up again and loses 10 seconds with a crash just before the drop.


Vali Holl's lead got cut in the top half of the woods but she still has two seconds to play with before the line. Balanche holds second place but Monika Hrastnik jumps from sixth to third. Myriam Nicole yo-yos again, this time back to seventh.

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Disaster strikes in the final split as Vali Holl takes a tumble and loses four seconds on the very last turn of the course. For a full analysis on that crash, watch Ben Cathro's breakdown, here. Hrastnik wins the final sector and Balanche continues her strong bottom half of the track as the Dorval teammates go 1-2.


Rainbow curse? What Rainbow curse. On the track she became World Champion last year, Camille Balanche takes her first Elite World Cup win less than 12 months later. Vali Holl loses the victory but recovers well enough to take second, only just beating out Monika Hrastnik by less than a tenth of a second. Third place is a joint career-best result for Hrastnik, equalling her run in Val di Sole 2018.

Cabirou holds on to fourth despite a couple of washouts in the woods and Tahnee holds off a fast-finishing Farina for fifth.

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Racing and Events DH Racing Nerding Out Camille Balanche Troy Brosnan Leogang World Cup Dh 2021