Photo Report: European DH Cup Final, Brandnertal by Racement

With no rain the mud got heavy and super sticky at race day

Another summer race series just came to an end. In one of the wildest races with rain pouring down and mud changing its state of aggregation from liquid to sticky the spectators were in for a show. Brandnertal isn't a new venue for the series and is growing and pushing just a little harder every year. With rain on Friday and Saturday riders were enjoying one big slip'n'slide. From the outside, it looked absolutely miserable but plenty of riders loved the conditions. Sunday was another tough but dry day on the wild mountainside of Brandnertal but with the offseason in sight, everyone was ready to send it.

The European champ and 5th in the World Cup overall Monika Hrastnik came to take the overall. With health issues, Hrastnik was more about having a safe weekend and seeded far outside of the top 3 but on race day she was able to push. With a slight crash and one rider to overtake she still rode the second fastest time of the day. Nina Hoffmann who is coming from a career-best in La Bresse rode with so much confidence and made it down the hill clean and fast. She took the day win but she rarely closed the gap to Hrastnik who took the overall title for the second year in a row.

Joshua Barth and Bryn Dickerson were the two men who would fight for the iXS European DH Cup overall in the elite men. Both were constant podium riders with each one win. With 23 points separating both it all came down the final run. Whoever would place in front of the other takes the trophy.

But it was Johannes von Klebelsberg who shocked everyone b winning the qualification by almost five seconds. Conditions were tricky no doubt about it but that was quite a margin. Barth and Dickerson were both up there and it all came down to the final run. While von Klebelsberg had another stellar run to secure himself the win it was Joshua Barth who kept it upright and going to take the overall title. Dickerson crashed out and passed it into Barth's hands who kept it upright and going what crowns him the 2018 iXS European DH Cup champion.

It was a foggy start into the morning

Ever since the iXS European DH Cup comes to Brandnertal the weather plays a huge factor

Not the perfect conditions for an open lift ride but riders got rewarded with one of the best tracks this year

Miserable conditions but the riders enjoyed every single run. Andreas Kolb with his signature stem f*ck

Hard packed with an extra portion of mud an absolutely nightmare

Hard packed with an extra portion of mud, an absolute nightmare

From the very beginning there was mud flying everywhere

With mud all over them the so many root sections were extremely hard to judge

Line spotting and hoping that it still will be there next run

No need for skin care

Pushing hard on the jump line

Joshua Barth went into the race leading the overall by just a handful of points in front of Bryn Dickerson

The course had many different sections and was a real monster in these conditions

Martin Lebl on the fly off jump

Dominik Dierich was on the hunt after seeding in 3rd. Later on, he won the masters race

Podium masters with Fabian Buschor, Dominik Dierich, Frank Hedwig and Tomas Brozik

Johanna Illmer was the only rider in the U17 female category

Podium U17 female with Johanna Illmer

Benjamin Beck put in the work and placed himself 3rd in the U17

Luke Williamson from the UK showed some great speed and dominated the U17 category

Podium U17 male with Ross Blake, Luke Williamson and Benjamnin Beck

Ellie Smith from Australia is here to race worlds champs next weekend and has an extra bit of confidence now by winning the U19 female

Podium U19 female with Sally Poter and Ellie Smith

Tristan Botteram took fourth in today's race and second overall in the U19 male

Kendall McLean from Kovarik Racing was ripping out there. He won the U19 male and would have been just two spots off a top ten finisher in the elite men

Podium U19 male with Tristan Botteram, Aaron Gungl, Kendall McLean, Hamish McLeod and Patrick Butler

Sandra Ruebesam enjoyed the rain but the sticky mud from race day just didn't allow her to attack

Monika Hrastnik struggled all weekend long but went for it in the final. Despite a crash and overtaking another rider she still managed to place 2nd

Nina Hoffmann is coming from a 6th place finisher in La Bresse and is still building. She took the win in Brandnertal

Podium elite women with Lea Ruetz, Monika Hrastnik, Nina Hoffmann, Kim Schwemmer and Silja Froehlich

The elite women overall with Nina Hoffmann, Monika Hrastnik and Sandra Ruebesam

Monika Hrastnik wins the iXS European DH Cup overall

Harry Molloy won the small final in the elite men

Wojciech Czermak from Poland took a great 9th place finisher

Davide Pallazari sending it into the finish area

Julian Steiner had some bad luck injuring his hand but is back at it and picks up the pace

Basil Weber missed the first day of practice and just couldn't draw the others level. 17th in the big final

Emanuel Pombo made his last world champs preparations and is ready to go

Bryn DIckerson was right there but just couldn t held it upright. A crash in the finals meant he had to settle for second in the overall

Bryn Dickerson was right there but just couldn't hold it upright. A crash in the finals meant he had to settle for second in the overall

It was a tough battle all weekend long.

Adam Rojcek started out slow but kept pushing in the final and came in 7th

Brage Vestavik was around and decided to race what played out pretty well for the young MS Mondraker rider

Stanislav Sehnal finished the season very strong. A win in Spicak and a solid 5th place in Brandnertal

Andreas Kolb isn't just a stem f*ck majestic, he can mean business too and took 4th place

Christopher Philogene is just 20 years old and is right in the mix with all the big boys as he takes second

Joshua Barth had to push hard as he knew Dickerson would give his very best and pulled it off, taking second of the day and the overall title

Johannes von Klebelsberg was on fire in Brandnertal. He won the seeding run and just pushed repeat on Sunday taking the final win of this year's series

Solid 1.7 seconds to the second place

Podium elite men with Andreas Kolb, Christopher Philogene, Johannes von Klebelsberg, Joshua barth and Stanislav Sehnal

He built his confidence very early this season and just kept his momentum going, congrats Big J!

The elite men overall with Bryn Dickerson, Joshua Barth and Stanislav Sehnal

Joshua Barth is the new iXS European DH Cup champion

FULL RESULTS

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Author Info:

Racement

Member since Jun 19, 2013
188 articles

5 Comments

vinay FL (Sep 4, 2018 at 15:04)

I'm confused. Harry Molloy won the small final. I get what the small final is in a knock-out type of race like 4X racing. But what is the small final here? Is it between the riders who didn't qualify high enough to ride the finals, like the Mega Challenger at the Megavalance race?

headshot FL (Sep 4, 2018 at 2:43)

Great to see another young SA rider on the podium. From the same part of the country Greg Minnaar if I'm not mistaken.

sevenup FL (Sep 4, 2018 at 9:43)

Theo Erlangsen is a killer too ! he need to do more world cup

ShempHoward (Sep 4, 2018 at 3:30)

Looks like one slimey sleazy day at the races.

fristafrista (Sep 4, 2018 at 5:32)

grande Johannes!!