The only rainbows on the horizon today were those of the coveted World Champion's jerseys. With not a drop of rain in sight and nothing but blue skies and hot sun baking the infamous Mont Saint Anne downhill track, the stage was set for an epic battle.
First up would be the junior women where, as predicted, Vali Holl dominated the field to take her second world title in as many years. Behind her, Mille Johnset would claim silver with Anna Newkirk in bronze. Proving once again that these three young women are a step above the rest of the field and will be forces to be reconned with next year when they move up to elites. For the Junior men, race favourite, Thibaut Daprela, would be denied gold for the second year in a row as Kye A'Hern had the run of his life to take the title. He was followed by EWS phenom Antoine Vidal. Third would go to the Kiwi racer, Tuhoto-Ariki Pene.
In the elite women's race, Myriam Nicole came down early in the field to set the fastest time with a 4:53.22. Tahnee Seagrave would be the first rider to pose a threat to Myriam's time, but would come up oh-so-short at just 1.2 seconds back. From there all eyes would turn to this year's dominant World Cup racers, Marine Cabirou and Tracey Hannah. Marine would up the tension as she was in touch at the first few splits before fading slightly at the bottom of the track, her time no threat to Myriam Nicole, but close enough to make Tahnee nervous about holding onto sliver. As she crossed the line in third the leaders definitely took a sigh of relief. Everyone held their breath as Tracey Hannah dropped in, but by the midpoint of the track it was beginning to become obvious that she was to be no threat to the top three, eventually finishing over 5 seconds back. And just like that the two captivating riders who have missed nearly the entire season came roaring back to the top right when it mattered most. Gold for Myriam Nicole, silver for Tahnee Seagrave, and bronze for this season's newest talent, Marine Cabirou. They were all within 1.8 seconds of each other in what will be remembered as another legendary race in Mont Sainte Anne.
In the men's race for the rainbow jersey it would be Canadian Finn Iles who would whip the home country crowd into a frenzy with the first podium-worthy time of the day at a blistering pace of 4:10.52. As rider after rider failed to top his time, the possibility of a Canadian medal only upped their enthusiasm and the noise level roared even higher... That is until Greg Minnaar took to the track and stormed into the lead with only 6 riders to go. Laurie Greenland and Danny Hart would come close, but it was Troy Brosnan who would blow the lid off of things with a time that looked unbeatable. Unbeatable by all but Super Bruni. As the last man on track, Loic kept the crowd on their feet as he worked his way down the track, up at every split by the slimmest of margins. Upon crossing the line he cemented his name in the record books and took home a remarkable third World Championship title in three years, and the fourth of his career.
MENTIONS: @natedh9
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Super Bruni!!!!
Never saw Amaury so disappointed!What a face when Loic passed the line...
Hope Bulldog will be back soon,Kate too!
I'd really like to know what happened to him, because he rode fist pumping down the hill.
Congrats to the winners and...
... also healing vibes to all victims of this gnarly track.
#LongLiveChainsaw
I mean MSA is a host since how long? 20 Years or even more?
Maybe check the caption: "...Troy smashed the previous times and looked to be unbeatable with only two riders to go..."
It was only Loic after Troy
Several racer's seem to have been stopped (one Australian just after the restaraunt), then the camera showed another rider letting another ride pass in a rock garden (was it Irmisch?). Anyone know what happened?
Maybe Troy would benefit from a new chassis, more budget, more development from Canyon.
I would never dare saying the bike is making the difference because Bruni is from just from another planet, just that you have to dialed every possible detail to get to the bar he and his team have now set.