Pinkbike Primer - Everything You Need to Know Ahead of the 2022 DH World Champs
The biggest race of the year is already upon us with the 2022 World Championships kicking off in Les Gets. This year's racing has been flat out and wild and we can guarantee that it will be no different this weekend. The course in Les Gets has proven itself to produce incredible racing from the dusty turns of 2019 to the slippery and loose 2021 race.
Riders have had a few weeks since the last World Cup round at Mont-Sainte-Anne and there are now only a few days before we will see the newly crowned champions for 2022. Check out all you need to know before racing kicks off below.
The Track
FullAttack has taken a walk and ride down the updated DH course in Les Gets. It looks like riders will same some fresh sections alongside some updated parts of the previous course.
Previous World Champions
ELITE MEN
2021 // Val di Sole, Italy // Greg MINNAAR // RSA
2020 // Leogang, Austria // Reece WILSON // GBR
2019 // Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada // Loic BRUNI // FRA
2018 // Lenzerheide, Switzerland // Loic BRUNI // FRA
2017 // Cairns, Australia // Loic BRUNI // FRA
2016 // Val di Sole, Italy // Danny HART // GBR
2015 // Vallnord, Andorra // Loic BRUNI // FRA
2014 // Hafjell, Norway // Gee ATHERTON // GBR
2013 // Pietermaritzburg, South Africa // Greg MINNAAR // RSA
2012 // Leogang, Austria // Greg MINNAAR // RSA
2011 // Champery, Switzerland // Danny HART // GBR
2010 // Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada // Sam HILL // AUS
2009 // Canberra, Australia // Steve PEAT // GBR
2008 // Val di Sole, Italy // Gee ATHERTON // GBR
2007 // Fort William, United Kingdom // Sam HILL // AUS
2006 // Rotorua, New Zealand // Sam HILL // AUS
2005 // Livigno, Italy // Fabien BAREL // FRA
2004 // Les Gets, France // Fabien BAREL // FRA
2003 // Lugano, Switzerland // Greg MINNAAR // RSA
2002 // Kaprun, Austria // Nicolas VOUILLOZ // FRA
2001 // Vail, USA // Nicolas VOUILLOZ // FRA
2000 /// Sierra Nevada, Spain // Myles ROCKWELL // USA
1999 // Are, Sweden // Nicolas VOUILLOZ // FRA
1998 // Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada // Nicolas VOUILLOZ // FRA
1997 // Chateau-d’OEx, Switzerland // Nicolas VOUILLOZ // FRA
1996 // Cairns, Australia // Nicolas VOUILLOZ // FRA
1995 // Kirchzarten, Germany // Nicolas VOUILLOZ // FRA
1994 // Vail, USA // Francois GACHET // FRA
1993 // Metabief, France // Mike KING // USA
1992 // Bromont, Canada // Dave CULLINAN // USA
1991 // Ciocco, Italy // Albert ITEN // SUI
1990 // Durango, USA // Greg HERBOLD // USA
ELITE WOMEN
2021 // Val di Sole, Italy // Myriam NICOLE // FRA
2020 // Leogang, Austria // Camille BALANCHE // SUI
2019 // Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada // Myriam NICOLE // FRA
2018 // Lenzerheide, Switzerland // Rachel ATHERTON // GBR
2017 // Cairns, Australia // Miranda MILLER // CAN
2016 // Val di Sole, Italy // Rachel ATHERTON // GBR
2015 // Vallnord, Andorra // Rachel ATHERTON // GBR
2014 // Hafjell, Norway // Manon CARPENTER // GBR
2013 // Pietermaritzburg, South Africa // Rachel ATHERTON // GBR
2012 // Leogang, Austria // Morgane CHARRE // FRA
2011 // Champery, Switzerland // Emmeline RAGOT // FRA
2010 // Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada // Tracy MOSELEY // GBR
2009 // Canberra, Australia // Emmeline RAGOT // FRA
2008 // Val di Sole, Italy // Rachel ATHERTON // GBR
2007 // Fort William, United Kingdom // Sabrina JONNIER // FRA
2006 // Rotorua, New Zealand // Sabrina JONNIER // FRA
2005 // Livigno, Italy // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
2004 // Les Gets, France // Vanessa QUIN // NZL
2003 // Lugano, Switzerland // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
2002 // Kaprun, Austria // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
2001 // Vail, USA // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
2000 /// Sierra Nevada, Spain // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
1999 // Are, Sweden // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
1998 // Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
1997 // Chateau-d’OEx, Switzerland // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
1996 // Cairns, Australia // Anne-Caroline CHAUSSON // FRA
1995 // Kirchzarten, Germany // Leigh DONOVAN // USA
1994 // Vail, USA // Missy GIOVE // USA
1993 // Metabief, France // Giovanna BONAZZI // ITA
1992 // Bromont, Canada // Juli FURTADO // USA
1991 // Ciocco, Italy // Giovanna BONAZZI // ITA
1990 // Durango, USA // Cindy DEVINE // CAN
What Happened in 2021?
Izabela Yankova kicked off racing in Val di Sole with a huge win in the Junior Women's race as she bested second-placed Kine Haugom by nearly 11 seconds. Jackson Goldstone took home the rainbow jersey from his first Junior World Championships after a great performance. There was a close fight with Jordan Williams, but Jackson found 1.812 seconds on the British rider.
Myriam Nicole had a perfect run in the Elite Women's race to fly into first place by nearly five seconds. Marine Cabirou laid down one of the most impressive performances as she fought through her injury from Les Gets to cross the line in second place. 2020 World Champion, Camille Balanche, didn't match her winning run from the previous year, but she still walked away from Val di Sole with the bronze medal after a great run on the tricky course.
The Elite Men's racing provided plenty of drama as Greg Minnaar secured his fourth World Championships title. Benoit Coulanges came close to taking the top spot, but he settled for the silver medal as he crossed the line 0.227 seconds behind Greg. Troy Brosnan rounded out the top three riders and was the only other person to come within a second of Greg Minnaar's winning time.
Elite Women
1st. Myriam Nicole: 4:06.243
2nd. Marine Cabirou: +4.827
3rd. Camille Balanche: +6.099
4th. Monika Hrastnik: +9.085
5th. Tahnee Seagrave: +9.781
Elite Men
1st. Greg Minnaar: 3:28.963
2nd. Benoit Coulanges: +0.227
3rd. Troy Brosnan: +0.441
4th. Loris Vergier: +1.166
5th. Danny Hart: +1.850
Junior Women
1st. Izabela Yankova: 4:30.865
2nd. Kine Haugom: +10.844
3rd. Gracey Hemstreet: +13.245
4th. Simonka Kuchynkova: +15.153
5th. Delia De Mocogno: +15.512
Junior Men
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 3:37.097
2nd. Jordan Williams: +1.812
3rd. Lachlan Stevens-McNab: +3.560
4th. Ethan Craik: +4.848
5th. Oisin O Callaghan: +6.218
What Happened at the Last World Cup Round?
Elite Women
1st. Vali Höll: 4:56.012
2nd. Nina Hoffmann: 4:59.159
3rd. Eleonora Farina: 5:00.522
4th. Jess Blewitt: 5:11.908
5th. Monika Hrastnik: 5:12.210
Elite Men
1st. Finn Iles: 4:11.717
2nd. Laurie Greenland: 4:11.955
3rd. Troy Brosnan: 4:15.221
4th. Aaron Gwin: 4:17.531
5th. Bernard Kerr: 4:18.100
Junior Women
1st. Phoebe Gale: 5:09.223
2nd. Izabela Yankova: 5:16.084
3rd. Gracey Hemstreet: 5:16.805
4th. Valentina Roa Sanchez: 5:27.466
5th. Aimi Kenyon: 5:28.439
Junior Men
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 4:13.766
2nd. Jordan Williams: 4:17.566
3rd. Bodhi Kuhn: 4:20.302
4th. Lachlan Stevens-McNab: 4:26.463
5th. Ryan Pinkerton: 4:26.966
Entry List
DH - Junior Women
DH- Junior Men
DH- Elite Women
DH - Elite Men
Weather Forecast
The weather is mostly looking good for the week of racing in Les Gets. The only worrying part of the current forecast comes from the chance of rain showers and thunderstorms for finals. Let's hope this ends up missing the area and we get the same conditions for every rider.
Tuesday, August 23 - Track Walk
Sunshine and patchy clouds // 22°C // 1% precipitation // wind 9km/h
Wednesday, August 24 - Training
Mostly sunny and warm // 24°C // 1% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Thursday, August 25 - Qualifying
Partly sunny and warm; a thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon // 25°C // 40% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Friday, August 26 - Training
Intervals of clouds and sunshine with a thunderstorm in the area in the afternoon // 23°C // 55% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Saturday, August 27 - Finals
Mainly cloudy and warm with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm // 23°C // 60% precipitation // wind 9km/h
Weather forecast as of Monday, August 22 from Accuweather.
Sunshine and patchy clouds // 22°C // 1% precipitation // wind 9km/h
Wednesday, August 24 - Training
Mostly sunny and warm // 24°C // 1% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Thursday, August 25 - Qualifying
Partly sunny and warm; a thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon // 25°C // 40% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Friday, August 26 - Training
Intervals of clouds and sunshine with a thunderstorm in the area in the afternoon // 23°C // 55% precipitation // wind 7km/h
Saturday, August 27 - Finals
Mainly cloudy and warm with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm // 23°C // 60% precipitation // wind 9km/h
Weather forecast as of Monday, August 22 from Accuweather.
The Schedule
Tuesday, August 23
• 13:00-16:00 // On Foot Downhill Course Inspection - Riders and Teams
Wednesday, August 24
• 09:30-13:30 // Official Downhill Training - Juniors and Elite Women
• 13:45-17:45 // Official Downhill Training - Elite Men
Thursday, August 25
• 08:00-09:00 // Official Downhill Training - Juniors and Elite Women
• 09:00-10:00 // Official Downhill Training - Elite Men
• 10:30-11:30 // Qualifying - Juniors
• 11:45-13:30 // Qualifying - Elites
Friday, August 26
• 09:00-12:00 // Official Downhill Training - Juniors and Elite Women
• 13:00-16:00 // Official Downhill Training - Elite Men
Saturday, August 27
• 08:00-09:00 // Official Downhill Training - Juniors and Elite Women
• 09:30 // Final - Junior Women
• After // Final - Junior Men
• Followed by Awards Ceremony for Junior categories
• 11:15-11:30 // Official Downhill Training - Women Elite qualified for the final
• 11:30-12:30 // Official Downhill Training - Men Elite qualified for the final
• 13:15 // Final - Elite Women
• 14:35 // Final - Elite Men
Note: All times are local and subject to change by the event organizer.
How to Watch
Pinkbike will be providing you with the best daily coverage from Les Gets this week. Tune in to Pinkbike to catch photo epics, videos, and results from Timed Training, Practice, Qualifying, and Finals, as well as tech bits and news.
And if you live in one of the lucky countries listed at this link, you can also watch World Champs live on redbull.tv.
And, totally unrelated for the rest of you, we've compiled a Pinkbike article on how to keep your data safe while browsing online, just because we absolutely care about your internet security. You can read our VPN Internet Safety Briefing here.
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Reece WILSON, GB, World Champ from Leogang 2020, racing DH for Trek
Reece WALLACE, CAN, freerider, riding for Giant
Mark WALLACE, CAN, racing DH for Canyon
ETA: Never mind, I see them listed on Redbull's page now. Could not find that listing anywhere last week for some reason!
thanks guys!
Who decides on the geo-restrictions? I get that Poland isn't the biggest country (although there's many DH fans here) , but how can countries like USA, GB, France not be included?
VPN is a basic human right.
Rider in the US, Canada, England / Most of Europe, NZ & Aus are too busy to watch this week but pleaaaaaaase do keep the gaming & rap battles up & running all weekend Redbull.
I know there's more to it than this but can someone remind me again why every major country that likes & watches DH is off the list and mostly countries that don't even have riders in the game are on it???
People would prefer to watch all of their Mtb on Red Bull, but it is irrelevant to the UCI, because capitalism.
How about we just start a petition to get them to hire Rob Warner?
“By clicking Start Watching, you will be charged $150.00 today for the first year. Your annual subscription will automatically renew on August 23rd, 2023 and each year thereafter until you cancel. For more details on our payment terms, click here.”
Go F yourselves!!
Total BS. If the UCI had any brains (and know-how) they would offer the streaming via their own platform and sell it direct. Id pay for an annual DH package. But not $150USD to a bunch of clowns at Flo…….who’s in charge here??? This is sooooo bad for the UCI brand…… if they needed any help.
Oh ya….go Finn and Jackson
That comment didn't age very well considering Discovery released the 2023 calendar later on the same day. I was very surprised to hear him say it considering Chris Ball had previously talked about doing exactly that.
He also talks about prize money improving over the years, it's still pitiful. Time will tell if it improves in any significant way, but I'm not holding my breath.
It seems to me he's speculating in much the same way as we are in some respects. We'll see if he's right about it being free to air if you don't mind adverts. Discovery certainly haven't done that with their coverage of the Grand Tours in this country, you get an hour of highlights, which to be honest is about as much of Carlton Kirby's commentary as I can tolerate. If you want to watch live you have to pay. I don't know if other European countries can watch Eurosport for free (as he seemed to imply), but you have to pay for it in the UK.
I agreed with him that it was a mistake for Chris Ball to do the AMA on Pinkbike, but I think it's highly likely that he was keeping a lot of what he knows to himself and the cynic in me thinks he probably did it then, rather than when some things become public knowledge.
I hope as much as you do that he's right in a lot of what he said.
I'm afraid I don't share your optimism that the UCI gave Discovery the contract because they have a better plan, more likely it's because they put in a higher bid.
I think the geo restrictions around this weekend back that up. Why give coverage rights to companies like FloSports where people are faced with paying an annual subscription of $150 potentially to watch one race, when instead they could just give RB the rights in the same package as WCDH. Which avenue would be most effective at helping to grow the sport?
I'm actually not optimistic at all - just neutral (and I'm DH focused only b/c EWS gets such bad coverage that I don't expect much there). But I was a doomsayer to begin with and now I'm just ambivalent - we'll see. Ditto on those geo-restrictions (I don't know if that's a redbull thing or what) but the fact that I can't just log onto something / somewhere / whatever and pay to watch this weekends race pisses me off - all the biggest nations with actual huge mtb fans are not on the list.
I have no other real or meaningful input on all this - just wanna be able to watch all the DH and as much EWS as possible (and no offense, I don't give an eff about XC though I'm glad its there & it was prob always the main road into DH and EWS anyway).
What interests me is that Freecaster went a fair way down the road to setting up DH1 as their contract ended. They had some teams on board (Santa Cruz, Scott and Trek iirc and maybe others), more interestingly the also had UCI sanctioning. They only shelved it when RB said coverage would be free to air.
My biggest (maybe unrealistic) hope is that that RB will sit and wait to see how it goes and step in with a rival series if things don't work out.
Winning the "World Championship" is different from winning a "World Cup," or the "World Cup Overall," right?
If so...theoretically, a rider could ONLY race the WC, win, and be named "world champion," is that correct?
Does the WC race only count as much as any other World Cup race in terms of points for the World Cup Overall?
Just trying to get a sense of the stakes this weekend.