Val Di Sole brought nail-biting drama and some wild moments to the third round of the 2023 series ahead of a two-month break to the second half of the season. As we look back on the dramatic third stop of the 2023 downhill World Cup it was Vali Höll and Jackson Goldstone who tamed the Black Snake and came out on top in Italy. The racing was raw and rowdy but apart from the winning riders who else was performing well at round three?
After an amazing day of racing let's get into the results and stats.
Race Results
Elite Women
1st. Vali Höll: 4:07.440
2nd. Camille Balanche: 4:10.353
3rd. Jess Blewitt: 4:12.210
4th. Marine Cabirou: 4:12.445
5th. Nina Hoffmann: 4:12.689
Elite Men
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 3:34.926
2nd. Finn Iles: 3:37.150
3rd. Thibaut Daprela: 3:37.366
4th. Troy Brosnan: 3:38.797
5th. Loris Vergier: 3:39.121
Full results,
here.
Sector by Sector Results
Overall Split Positions
Elite Women
Sector 1
1st. Vali Höll: 54.944
2nd. Camille Balanche: 55.208
3rd. Nina Hoffmann: 55.458
4th. Jess Blewitt: 55.920
5th. Marine Cabirou: 56.105
Sector 2
1st. Vali Höll: 2:17.199
2nd. Camille Balanche: 2:19.482
3rd. Gracey Hemstreet: 2:20.544
4th. Nina Hoffmann: 2:20.959
5th. Jess Blewitt: 2:21.175
Sector 3
1st. Vali Höll: 2:48.387
2nd. Camille Balanche: 2:52.080
3rd. Jess Blewitt: 2:52.937
4th. Nina Hoffmann: 2:53.112
5th. Marine Cabirou: 2:54.251
Sector 4
1st. Vali Höll: 3:30.508
2nd. Camille Balanche: 3:33.131
3rd. Marine Cabirou: 3:35.395
4th. Jess Blewitt: 3:35.566
5th. Nina Hoffmann: 3:35.776
Finish
1st. Vali Höll: 4:07.440
2nd. Camille Balanche: 4:10.353
3rd. Jess Blewitt: 4:12.210
4th. Marine Cabirou: 4:12.445
5th. Nina Hoffmann: 4:12.689
Elite Men
Sector 1
1st. Thibaut Daprela: 47.116
2nd. Loris Vergier: 47.394
3rd. Finn Iles: 47.435
4th. Jackson Goldstone: 47.805
5th. Troy Brosnan: 47.968
Sector 2
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 2:00.349
2nd. Thibaut Daprela: 2:01.240
3rd. Jordan Williams: 2:01.046
4th. Finn Iles: 2:01.240
5th. Andreas Kolb: 2:02.522
Sector 3
1st. Thibaut Daprela: 2:27.543
2nd. Jackson Goldstone: 2:27.646
3rd. Jordan Williams: 2:28.152
4th. Finn Iles: 2:28.194
5th. Andreas Kolb: 2:30.257
Sector 4
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 3:02.474
2nd. Finn Iles: 3:03.835
3rd. Jordan Williams: 3:04.133
4th. Thibaut Daprela: 3:04.180
5th. Troy Brosnan: 3:05.755
Finish
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 3:34.926
2nd. Finn Iles: 3:37.150
3rd. Thibaut Daprela: 3:37.366
4th. Troy Brosnan: 3:38.797
5th. Loris Vergier: 3:39.121
Split Rankings
Elite Women
Sector 1
1st. Vali Höll: 54.944
2nd. Camille Balanche: 55.208
3rd. Nina Hoffmann: 55.458
4th. Jess Blewitt: 55.920
5th. Marine Cabirou: 56.105
Sector 2
1st. Vali Höll: 1:22.255
2nd. Gracey Hemstreet: 1:23.919
3rd. Camille Balanche: 1:24.274
4th. Jess Blewitt: 1:25.255
5th. Nina Hoffmann: 1:25.501
Sector 3
1st. Vali Höll: 31.188
2nd. Jess Blewitt: 31.762
3rd. Marine Cabirou: 31.844
4th. Nina Hoffmann: 32.153
5th. Camille Balanche: 32.598
Sector 4
1st. Gracey Hemstreet: 40.387
2nd. Camille Balanche: 41.051
3rd. Marine Cabirou: 41.144
4th. Monika Hrastnik: 41.301
5th. Vali Höll: 42.121
Final Split to Finish
1st. Gracey Hemstreet: 36.034
2nd. Jess Blewitt: 36.644
3rd. Monika Hrastnik: 36.769
4th. Nina Hoffmann: 36.913
5th. Vali Höll: 36.932
Elite Men
Sector 1
1st. Thibaut Daprela: 47.116
2nd. Loris Vergier: 47.394
3rd. Finn Iles: 47.435
4th. Jackson Goldstone: 47.805
5th. Troy Brosnan: 47.968
Sector 2
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 1:12.544
2nd. Jordan Williams: 1:12.915
3rd. Thibaut Daprela: 1:13.563
4th. Finn Iles: 1:13.805
5th. Greg Williamson: 1:14.196
Sector 3
1st. Thibaut Daprela: 26.864
2nd. Finn Iles: 26.954
3rd. Jordan Williams: 27.106
4th. Jackson Goldstone: 27.297
5th. Luca Shaw: 27.692
Sector 4
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 34.828
2nd. Troy Brosnan: 35.102
3rd. Loris Vergier: 35.305
4th. Finn Iles: 35.641
5th. Antoine Pierron: 35.711
Final Split to Finish
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 32.452
2nd. Bernard Kerr: 32.878
3rd. Troy Brosnan: 33.042
4th. Thibaut Daprela: 33.186
5th. Andreas Kolb: 33.202
Sector Breakdown
Sector 1Tahnee Seagrave's first sector time was 2:21.204 after a crash.
Kicking off the technical challenge of the course in Val Di Sole is the open top section giving riders a chance to pick up the pace through some open turns before heading into the rocks, roots and steeps. In finals, the first sector was won by Vali Höll and Thibaut Daprela who both kicked off their runs with a lead of around 0.2 seconds. For the women, it was Camille Balanche who came closest to the fastest split time 0.264 seconds off the pace. Nina Hoffmann came third 0.514 seconds back. In the men's race, Loris Vergier made it two French riders at the top as he came within 0.278 seconds of Daprela. Finn Iles crossed the timing gate only 0.319 behind the top time.
Sector 2
Sector two was by far the largest section of the course taking in the first challenges for the riders in their race runs. Vali Höll once again went fastest here and made the most of her strength through here to find a sizeable 1.664 seconds on Gracey Hemstreet. Camille Balanche was the only other rider within three seconds of the race winner with a sector deficit of 2.019 seconds. The gaps weren't quite as wide in the men's race as Jackson Goldstone led fellow first-year elite racer Jordan Williams by 0.371 seconds. No other rider could close the gap to lower than a second here as Thibaut Daprela was third in this split, 1.019 behind the race winner.
Sector 3
After the large second sector, the third split kept things short with the lowest times of the five track segments. Just like the first sector, it was Vali Höll and Thibaut Daprela sitting at the top of the timing sheet. Vali Höll made up more time on her opponents as she pulled ahead of Jess Blewitt by 0.574 and Marine Cabirou by 0.656 seconds. Thibaut Daprela wouldn't find quite so much time here as he was only ahead of 2nd-placed Finn Iles by a tiny 0.09 seconds. Jordan Williams had another great run through split three as he was third and only off the fastest time by 0.242 seconds.
Sector 4
The fourth sector saw some big changes for the elite women as race winner Vali Höll dropped back to fifth and a hard-charging Gracey Hemstreet fought back from a crash in sector three to go fastest here against Camille Balanche by 0.664 seconds. Marine Cabirou would sit third, 0.757 back. Jackson Goldstone went fastest again in this sector as he began to pick up pace towards the finish line. Troy Brosnan had his best sector as his time was only 0.274 from Goldstone. Loris Vergier secured third in this split, 0.477 off Goldstone's winning speed.
Sector 5Jordan William's fifth sector time was 1:06.807 after a crash.
The final section of track to the finish saw another Candian domination as both Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet were fastest again. Gracey Hemstreet pulled more time back after her crash as she went 0.61 seconds up on Jess Blewitt. Monika Hrastnik ended her run with a race-best split-time position of third, 0.735 behind Hemstreet. Interestingly Jackson Goldstone was the only rider to beat Bernard Kerr's early race time through the final sector going 0.426 seconds up on the British rider. Troy Brosnan also came close to doing this as he crossed the line 0.59 back.
Story of the Race
Elite Women
Elite Men
The Perfect Run
Elite WomenThe Perfect Run: 4:04.808 (2.632 seconds faster than the race winner)
//Vali Höll: 54.944 // Vali Höll: 1:22.255 // Vali Höll: 31.188 // Gracey Hemstreet: 40.387 // Gracey Hemstreet: 36.034 //
Elite MenThe Perfect Run: 3:33.804 (1.122 seconds faster than the race winner)
//Thibaut Daprela: 47.116 // Jackson Goldstone: 1:12.544 // Thibaut Daprela: 26.864 // Jackson Goldstone: 34.828 // Jackson Goldstone: 32.452 //
Stats Breakdown
You can use the drop-down menu to view each rider's times.You can use the drop-down menu to view each rider's times.The top 10 Elite Women's race runs were plotted.The top 15 race runs were plotted before including results at positions 20, 25, 30 and 31You can hover over the graph to reveal the lap improvement times.You can hover over the graph to reveal the lap improvement times.
Overall Standings
Talking Points
Vali Höll Couldn't Keep a High Pace in Splits 4 & 5Race winner Vali Höll was dominant through the upper three splits including where she bested the Elite Women's field by over one and a half seconds in just split two. While Vali could keep her lead to the line it's interesting to see the back-to-back World Cup winner go flat-out up top before struggling in the lower steeps where she placed fifth in both splits four and five. Split four saw the Austrian rider drop almost two seconds compared to Gracey Hemstreet's fastest time. The final sector to the finish saw almost another second lost to the young Canadian rider. Vali may have summed this up best herself in a post-race interview where she said: "It's just so hard to keep the momentum and keep the strength up on this track. It's so physical and it's so rough, it's just hard to hold on."
Track Conditions Improved Halfway Through the Men's RacingAs the rain began to fall at the start of the Elite Men's racing it felt like we might be in for a repeat of Lourdes 2017 with the early riders getting the best conditions. As we saw rider after rider struggle to match Bernard Kerr's time it did seem like we were in for another washout. But the sun returned and baked the track to make it at least rideable enough for a thrilling showdown of the final riders. Looking at our chart comparing start order and finish positions it becomes clear that track conditions began to improve with the 17th rider on the start list Thomas Estaque. The French rider was the first rider to buck the trend of slower race runs and kicked off a downward trajectory that saw riders come close to and beat the time of Kerr. Jackson Goldstone remains the only rider to beat Kerr in the final track sector.
Gracey Hemstreet Could be the Next First-Year Elite on Top of the PodiumAfter three rounds in 2023, we have already seen Jordan Williams and Jackson Goldstone prove themselves against the World's best with their first Elite victories and we think Gracey Hemstreet could be next. From the races we have seen so far the young Canadian rider has been lighting up the splits setting some of the fastest times. Looking at the racing in Val Di Sole, she was unmatched in the lower part of the course finding around 0.6 seconds in both split four and five. Without a crash in split three, we could have seen a very strong final result. Gracey will be one to watch once the World Cup returns at the end of August.
Sure was no "magic" run I was expecting.
Stage races on the road and race series in XCC and DH have, will, and arguably should, reward consistency across a series of races..
Camille has been first or second in *every* quali/semi and final so far, except for one third place in semis in Leogang, amazingly consistent over the whole weekend in all three events.
Vali however was 4th in the finals in the first round, as well as, crucially,14th in semis there and 4th in qualis, losing over 160 points to Camille.
Making up 160 points is never going to be easy if the person you are chasing keeps coming second!
Want to be the series champion? Keep standing on the podium race after race, stay on your bike every round and don't suffer mechanicals. It's early days yet and this year's Champion will be the most consistent rider.
All I say is the current situation where the racer that's won 2 races and did 4th in the other one (also dominating quali and semi in those 2 races) is nit right.
If you account final's points alone Vali would be 1st with 650pts and Cami 2nd with 630. But now there's another 150pts at stake for what is just 'build up laps'. It's ok to give some points for quali and semi so riders stay competitive, like it was done in the past, but they shouldn't have such a weight in the overall.
However, the world moves on. The most consistent rider over the season will still win the overall, and now, with Qualis, Semis and Finals, there is more racing.
And more racing means the broadcasters, content creators, influencers, media marketers, brand managers and the entire circus that is World Cup UCI level racing can be coerced into believing that "the product" has increased in value thanks to that.
What you, I or anyone else down here in "product consumption-ville" think about it is essentially irrelevant.
And coming to an understanding one is irrelevant is pretty damned good after a while; it makes the days far more fun. Enjoy!