7 Things We Learned from the Vallnord DH World Cup
Course designers need to listen to the riders
We'll file this one under 'things we hope the race organizers learned.' As early as the track walk, riders had been complaining that the track was too dangerous - not all the way down, but in a few specific spots. As a general rule, if we're learned anything from listening to the riders' feedback from every track ever, raw, natural sections tend to be good and bizarre man-made constructions tend to be less good. It seems to be incredibly tough for course designers to judge just how fast these riders will be riding come race day - after all, they're the fastest in the world so there aren't many who can accurately guinea pig for them - so when the riders do arrive and give feedback, that feedback shouldn't be dismissed.
Finn Iles was on a heater of a run, but it could have ended catastrophically if he'd landed just an inch to his left off this drop. His precision saved him here.
To the course designers' credit, they did move some course tape and file down some stumps in a fast, rough section up on the hill, but the manmade features were a big problem, awkwardly slowing the riders and incentivizing them to ride sketchy features faster than was safe - especially off the 90-degree turn, drop, and sprint into the finish line.
That unnecessary danger was unfortunately illustrated by junior Remy Meier-Smith's horrific finish line crash, which ended what likely would have been a podium run. And if that doesn't make the point, consider how close Finn Iles was to doing the exact same thing in his incredible third-place run, using all the available space with no room for error.
The course was central to this week's discussion of riders unionizing, a prime example of the riders feeling like their wellbeing wasn't centered. And that's not to mention the 4km commute from the track to the pit zone, which cut into riders' time actually practicing the course, plus likely piled onto the already rampant dehydration and exhaustion from riding in the heat. World Cup downhill is inherently dangerous, but if the riders - who tend not to shy away from risk - say the course is too dangerous, those with the power to make changes need to listen.
Aaron Gwin might be back
Aaron Gwin has had a couple of down years, as the comments section knows very well. This year, however, he's made it clear he isn't backing down and resting on his laurels. When he started to release his latest video series called 'Going for Six' (World Cup overall titles, that is), I'll admit I was skeptical. How could someone who'd only been in the top 20 a handful of times since his winning year of 2017 declare such a lofty goal? That's gotta be intensely vulnerable to put that out there and fall as short as I expected him to fall.
Still, he's Aaron Gwin, he isn't slowing down, and he's well on his way to proving me wrong.
Still, he's Aaron Gwin, he isn't slowing down, and he's well on his way to proving me wrong.
Aaron Gwin is back on form.
The absolute animal that is Gwin at his best came out swinging once again this race, and despite a pretty nasty bobble, put down a fourth place run on an unpredictable and just plain sketchy course. Sure, some could say he managed it because the former SoCal resident is used to the dry and dusty conditions that are foreign to most World Cup racers, but I think that would be stealing credit from where credit is due. Gwin is very, very fast at the moment, and I bet this taste of a return to pace will keep him hungry for more.
Loris Vergier can handle the pressure
Last fall, when the season culminated in the most dramatic World Cup downhill race any of us had seen in ages, Loris Vergier was at the center of an immense amount of pressure. The leader for the overall following Daprela's crash in practice, all eyes were on him... and then he caved, scraping together a tough run to 54th place. During that race week, all the talk about Vergier's mental game probably didn't help. Some riders can lean into the pressure and absolutely thrive when they're last riders down the mountain. Bruni's known for it. Vergier doesn't seem to share that.
Absolutely flawless and a joy to watch.
But this week, Vergier showed us all once again just how fast he is. He went fastest in timed training, won the qualifier, and put himself in the commanding position of being the last man down the hill. That's not the same pressure as, say, needing to make it into the top two at the last race of the season to win the overall, but it's pressure nonetheless. Vergier delivered a flawless, bold, precise run, and it was a joy to see.
Jackson Goldstone's run is a talking point... again
Loris Vergier put down a very, very fast run. But, surprisingly, it wasn't the fastest run of the day. That honor would go to Jackson Goldstone, who has been nipping at the heels of the elites ever since he started racing World Cups last year, and this time he managed to put it together to beat all the other riders on the hill. Full stop. All the elites, all the juniors, everyone.
Still, we can't get away without including the caveat that the juniors raced on what was essentially a different track before the final elite training and race, and before the sun's final few hours of drying and dusting prior to the elite finals. With the elite men lining up in the hottest part of the day, too, it's likely that several were suffering from various forms of exhaustion and dehydration that made it just a bit tougher for them to put down dialed, precise, and fast runs.
Still, we can't get away without including the caveat that the juniors raced on what was essentially a different track before the final elite training and race, and before the sun's final few hours of drying and dusting prior to the elite finals. With the elite men lining up in the hottest part of the day, too, it's likely that several were suffering from various forms of exhaustion and dehydration that made it just a bit tougher for them to put down dialed, precise, and fast runs.
Shifting to the second-place junior (and the other favorite for the win) Jordan Williams, his time would have landed him second in the elites as well, so it's clear that these boys are on the up, and the French contingent that usually dominates the downhill podiums should watch their backs once the young Canadian and Brit make the jump to the elites next year.
Moving over to the junior women's field, the future is also looking pretty sparkly. Phoebe Gale took the win, 5.9 seconds ahead of second-place Gracey Hemstreet, with a run that would have put her sixth in the elite women, between regular podium threats Mille Johnset and Eleonora Farina.
It's a tough balancing act between loose and precise
The race this weekend was Exhibit A of how sometimes, it takes a bit of wildness to get on the top step. For the most part, it was the riders who were riding right on the edge and occasionally stepped a tiny bit past that edge that ended up on top: Aaron Gwin nearly lost it but kept it together for his first podium in quite a while and Finn Iles was buck wild several times on his way down but managed to hang on for a stellar result, to name just a couple.
Things didn't work quite so well for some riders favorited for the win: Matt Walker looked great until he lost it in what looked like an awful crash. Thankfully he's okay, but the podium run he surely wanted wasn't in the cards. Myriam Nicole looked on point but she, too, lost it in a crash.
Things didn't work quite so well for some riders favorited for the win: Matt Walker looked great until he lost it in what looked like an awful crash. Thankfully he's okay, but the podium run he surely wanted wasn't in the cards. Myriam Nicole looked on point but she, too, lost it in a crash.
Aaron Gwin was on the edge and it landed him on the podium.
The riders known for their consistency didn't fare quite as well this week. When the top 50 riders fall within 10 seconds (and the top 10 riders within five seconds), there isn't much room for playing it safe, and the riders who rode cleanly but a bit more conservatively suffered for it - Cami Balanche and Greg Minnaar, for example.
In my mind, there were only three riders who were perfectly loosely dialed: Vali Höll, Loic Bruni, and Loris Vergier. Those three seemed to know exactly where to push it, where to take the risks, and where to be extra precise and keep it together. Taking the elite women's win, the elite men's second place, and the elite men's win, respectively, it paid off for them.
Oliver Zwar, Luke Meier-Smith, and Jess Blewitt are the underdogs of the week
Oliver Zwar! Holy shit, hell yeah! The fast Australian Swede was over the moon last fall to place in the top 20 at World Champs, so taking eighth this weekend must be a new high point for him, by far a career-best. Truly excellent riding.
Similarly, Luke Meier-Smith is a young up-and-comer who has started to make a name for himself not only in downhill racing but in the EWS U21s, too. With a few top-20s and now a sixth place, just 0.3 off the podium, he's another one to watch.
Similarly, Luke Meier-Smith is a young up-and-comer who has started to make a name for himself not only in downhill racing but in the EWS U21s, too. With a few top-20s and now a sixth place, just 0.3 off the podium, he's another one to watch.
That was quite the ride. Congrats, Oliver.
The standout racer in the women's field this week was Jess Blewitt. The 20-year-old from New Zealand had a devastating crash last fall at Snowshoe, where she's been on a killer run, and spent the next several months recovering from a broken femur, wrist, ribs, vertebrae, and clavicle. Then, upon returning to the downhill bike, she broke her other clavicle this year in Fort William. After all that adversary and recovery - both physical and no doubt mental - it's incredible to see her ride like she did yesterday and take her first (and very likely not her last) World Cup podium.
Vali Höll is coming into her own and clearly has the pace
Vali Höll - just wow. Speaking of pressure, Höll has faced sky-high expectations ever since she was a junior putting down blistering race times. Since moving up to the elites, she's had a tough time piecing together complete race runs without crashing. When she's on her bike, it's clear that she has almost unmatched pace, attacking the course with so, so much aggression and power. This weekend, she showed us all what she can do, taking her third World Cup win after her first back-to-back victories in Snowshoe last fall.
The young racer is clearly coming into her own.
The young racer is clearly coming into her own.
Vali's got it.
I hope that writing this doesn't further compound the pressure, and I hope she's learning that she doesn't have anything to prove. She's done it. She is already one of the fastest downhill mountain bikers on the planet, and everything she does from here on out is just adding to that legacy.
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The old Vallnord track had multiple bridges covered in rubber mats too, but no one complained because they were just pretty straight forward.
So thankful that more riders weren't injured.
Why does Whistler not have a world cup race?
A wolrd cup DH race in Whistler would be sick.
As mentioned in the article poor pit location etc all added to rider stress and exhaustion too.
And yep I'm a keyboard warrior for sure, the closest I get to WC pace is in my car.
Ball already has a relationship with Whistler from running the EWS there, after all.
Not like they need the publicity.
Just because its WC doesnt mean you dont need to slow down on some bits - they all have brakes.
Its about who is able to make it to the finish and set a fast time on the given track.
If everyone set off from the top on any track and rode at the limit most would crash.
Doesn't necessarily mean the course is dangerous just you're riding it wrong.
It's like Lewis Hamilton taking a tight sharp corner at 200mph and crashing and then saying the track is too dangerous.
Creek side is currently getting a new gondola. Not so sure about the WC course
If someone was not holding the pressure lately that was Vali. As she admitted it. Looks like she found the formula. Great for her!
„Norwegian Austrian“ ??
Vali is Austrian.
Her mother is from Germany.
At least I don’t see an Nowegian in there?
What do I miss?
Born here, citizen here. And this is what gives rise to the racists' complaint of immigrants crossing the border to give birth to "anchor babies".
Now, when U.S. citizens birth a child abroad, I believe that child still receives U.S. citizenship, but that doesn't change the fact that, as @gooral said, "In US if you are born on their soil, you are the citizen".
Has me excited to be at snowshoe in a couple weeks, there is so many people that can podium now hoping Reece Wilson and Tahnee will return for America.
Hmm, how do athletes raise their concern? Seriously asking.
I´ve heard in numerous track walk and post race analysis videos about the complaints, but how is the official way?
Shouldn´t there be a technical delegate (David Vasquez?) who should check the course in advance?
Can the riders approach him, or does he collect feedback and can he demand changes throughout the raceweekend?
Is´nt there a riders meeting, and can anyone file a complaint there?
Is´nt there a riders representative, that can be approached and does he have the duty to report that?
And lastly, did someone go this official way to demand course changes, or was it just moaning on social media?
Because the latter doesn´t lead anywhere, but we tend to forget it.
Unsure about the rest of the points and if it was officially raised, but I would be surprised if it wasn't after so many teams and riders complained about it.
At the moment it seems to easy for the organisers and UCI to ignore any rider feedback, I think the riders union/association will make a big difference in this regard.
I would add to that that I don’t think that there are much obvious consensus between the riders. « Organizers should listen to the riders » is an easy claim, but not easy to do. I have worked myself in MSA race organization and we did take the input from UCI technical delegates and riders to tune our event before the big day. However the feedback from riders was far from unanimous.
Some required raking to remove loose rocks while others claimed that it would speed up the course too much to a dangerous level. Some required bigger jumps for the show, some didn’t agree. Some asked for wider taping while some didn’t agree, etc.
Also let’s not forget that the riders and UCI delegates get to the site juste a few days before facing. There are not much changes that can be done in such small time window. If UCI and riders want to have their word on course design, they need to visit months before racing, which would be difficult to do for them.
In an ideal world, all organizers would have top level course designers in their staff, but thats not the case and don’t think it will be anytime soon.
Yes they ride with 25 °C vs 35 °C for the elite on the afternoon
Plus the track was raked out after the qualis on saturday. Juniors were the first on track on the morning. With the practice women + men + finals runs it’s pretty much 300 ride between Jackson and Loris. Bottom of the Track was blown up for the top20
But still a pretty impressive performance from the two top juniors, just difficult to compare with the elite
Very well put.
Aaron Gwin might be back - He has never been away from the top 20, this track might just have suited him and some folk had a bad day, others out injured. Last 3 races he has been 2.8, 2.4, 2.1% off the winning ace, he was 0.8%, 1.3%, 4.1% at the end of the 2020 season, so arguably, he is further off the pace on average now compared to then!
Jackson Goldstone's run is a talking point... again - Jackson v Jordan has been great all season on the tracks in the respective conditions they have raced.
Maybe the pits were too far away for the photographers to go and get some pics though?
Everyone *points at the ski mat*
I think he could defo take another win if the French riders and a few others (Illes) have an off day .
Loris' run really reminded me of peak Gwin, when he was dominant he looked (and was) absolutely unbeatable, just putting down perfect race run after perfect race run and finding bunches of time in places where no one else could even get close. I see no reason why he shouldn't find that form again, he's not old and has had relatively few big (like structural - think Gee) injuries. It's just(!) finding that mental edge and laser focus imo.
Most guys would've retired and done something else, but Aaron is committed to proving he's got a secret sauce that can benefit riders and manufacturers alike.
If you're creating an artificial structure then there's more onus on the builder/designer to not make it inherently unsafe.
There were things they could have done to make it less sketchy, so it was an element of risk that didn't need to be there.
But, when ALL of the professionals that actually have to race the track are complaining about the same thing, and it is NOT inherent the sport (i.e. rubber mats lmfao)…I think it’s clear something should have been done to rectify this.
This also ensures there is less pressure on junior racers-they aren’t doing 130 mile road races etc.
To make matters worse, at the juniors level it tends to be the best-off kids racing world cups, not the most talented ones. So you’ll have some juniors like Goldstone or Holl firing off heaters, while the back-markers are (dangerously) flailing down the mountain.
WC downhill courses are inherently hard and dangerous. Even better designed courses than Andorra have high consequence chutes one after another.
If the UCI cared about rider safety, juinior would have slightly scaled back courses where they could learn to carry speed with lower consequences. I’d even say reduced suspension might be appropriate to facilitate learning line choice.
As-is, kids are out there on high-stakes courses throughout the summer. Their not yet fully developed brains and bodies are taking hits that aren’t appropriate.
If the DH racers unionize (and I hope they do) this should be a front-and-center issue.
But the purpose of having a Juniors category is to allow riders to develop without the stresses of racing at the elite level. That's why even at Junior Worlds, road and cross racers are racing shorter courses on restricted gears, even if they can push the big meat all day. How is Juniors racing in DH helping riders develop with less pressure and risk??
I don't invalidate the work (and money) spent by Juniors to get to WC racing, but they should be exposed to less risk. Period. Their bodies aren't done growing. They won't handle the inevitable concussions as well as an adult.
If Juniors racing isn't a means of allowing riders to develop their skills in a safer environment, what's the point of having a Juniors category??
I think it's a very important topic and, for or against it, it should be seriously discussed
But, it has nothing to do with age. Anyone who properly qualifies to even participate in a WC race can handle these courses.
Now…world champs is a little different lol.
anytime you want to come throw down some heaters and see who is faster you can literally be my guest.
keep in mind though bc isn't for the faint of heart, she gets pretty steep.
You don't see top guys "opting to qualify poorly" because putting down a solid time in qualis is more valuable toward the goal of building speed throughout the weekend. As good as these guys are, they don't just flip a switch on race day. At the WC level, it's a 4-5 day build. You would know this if you spent any time racing, even locally.
That's not to say that Jackson isn't fast AF and that he wouldn't have posted a top 10 or podium had he left with the other top elites, just that the track was running faster when he was on it.