Pinkbike Primer: Everything You Need to Know Ahead of the Mont-Sainte-Anne DH World Cup 2023

Following seven rounds of racing the 2023 World Cup series has reached its end at a legendary venue in Canada. Here is everything you need to know ahead of the 2023 DH World Cup's conclusion at Mont-Sainte-Anne.

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Race Briefing

Coming hot off the last round in Snowshoe we finally return to Mont-Sainte-Anne for what will be a truly amazing conclusion to the 2023 series. The last time we visited it was Finn Iles and Vali Höll who topped the standings as the venue returned after a three-year break. The longest standings World Cup location always brings great racing and with two overall titles still on the line we could be in for some wild runs.

After a season full of unpredictable results including seven elite male winners in seven races it doesn't look like MSA would prove any different as only a handful of riders have claimed multiple wins here. Since 2012 only Aaron Gwin and Loic Bruni have managed to repeat a win on one of downhill's longest and most gruelling courses. Loic Bruni is the only multiple MSA winner on course this week. For the women only Tahnee Seagrave and Vali Höll are previous winners who will be racing in the final round.

As we look at the overall standings the Junior Men and Elite Women's title fight is all wrapped up. Both Ryan Pinkerton and Vali Höll built point leads impossible to close after Snowshoe leaving them to have zero worries when racing this weekend. In the Junior Women's standings, it's a three-way fight between Valentina Roa Sanchez, Lisa Bouladou and Erice Van Leuven, although it would take a disaster for Erice to overtake both Valentina and Lisa.

Even after his finals crash last week in Snowshoe Loic Bruni still heads up the Elite Men's overall with a 60-point margin against 2nd-placed Loris Vergier. We have an article detailing who can win the overall coming later this week but for now, we believe there is a possible 250 points on offer for the finale allowing anyone currently in the top four to take the title this weekend. The current top four are Loic Bruni, Loris Vergier, Jackson Goldstone and Finn Iles.

We hope that helps get you prepped for this weekend's racing and keep scrolling to gather more details to get you ready for the final round of DH racing in MSA.

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What happened at the Last Round?

Snowshoe never fails to deliver drama as the rough, wild and greasy course brought amazing moments throughout the week with an incredible day of elite racing on Saturday showing just how great downhill racing can be when the world's best are pushing the limits.

Erice Van Leuven backed up a dominant qualifying performance putting together an impeccable finals run to lead the Junior Women by almost six seconds. The World Champ was back on top in Snowshoe as she bested Transition Factory Racing's Taylor Ostgaard and Valentina Roa Sanchez.

It was four wins in a row for Ryan Pinkerton as he not only took a victory on home soil but he also wrapped up the 2023 overall series title. Evan Medcalf ran a close race to Ryan, ending the day 0.327 seconds back in 2nd. Mylann Falquet completed the top three Junior Men, 1.964 seconds off Ryan's pace.

Marine Cabirou secured back-to-back World Cup wins as she pulled ahead of overall standings rival Nina Hoffmann by 0.344 seconds. Vali Höll kept things calm and controlled to go over the line in third place and secure the 2023 overall series champion title. While the series winner has been decided we still have a close fight for second place as Marine Cabirou carries the momentum of two wins into a final showdown with Nina Hoffmann.

Elite men's racing doesn't get much better than this as Oisin O Callaghan secures a wild first elite win by 0.496 seconds producing an incredible moment as the cameras caught his moment of disbelief when he realised he was the winner. Ronan Dunne also laid down an amazing run to create an Ireland one-two finish. Dakotah Norton couldn't quite get a win on home soil but he leaves the seventh round with another top result.





You can view the full elite results here.

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Who is Leading the Overall?

After the seventh round of the 2023 season, it is Valentina Roa Sanchez and Loic Bruni who lead the overall standings going into the final showdown.

Ryan Pinkerton and Vali Höll have already wrapped the 2023 series as champions in Snowshoe.

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Elite Women

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Elite Men

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Junior Women

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Junior Men

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What's the Track Like?

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When and What Racing is Happening this Weekend?

The schedule provides non-stop action and with the always brutal MSA course, riders have a tough week of racing to close out the season. Here is a look at what you can expect to find happening this weekend.

All times EDT

Wednesday, October 4
• 14:00-17:00 // Training - Juniors Only

Thursday, October 5
• 08:30-10:30 // Training - Group B
• 10:30-12:30 // Training - Group A
• 12:30-14:00 // Training - Group B
• 14:00-15:30 // Training - Group A
• 15:45-15:55 // Qualifying - Junior Women
• 15:55-16:30 // Qualifying - Junior Men

Friday, October 6
• 08:30-10:30 // Training - Group B
• 10:30-12:30 // Training - Group A
• 12:45 // Finals - Junior Women
• 13:15 // Finals - Junior Men
• 14:00 // Qualifying - Elite Women
• 14:40 // Qualifying - Elite Men

Saturday, October 7
• 08:30-9:30 // Training - Qualified Women
• 09:30-10:30 // Training - Qualified Men
• 10:45 // Semi-Final - Elite Women
• 11:20 // Semi-Final - Elite Men
• 13:00 // Finals - Elite Women
• 14:00 // Finals - Elite Men

Note: All times are local and subject to change by the UCI/event organizer.

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What's the Weather Expected to be?

For the final round of the season, we are in for a mostly dry week of weather with the current forecast only predicting rain for the Elite finals.

Wednesday, October 4

Partly sunny and very warm // 24°C // 3% probability of precipitation // wind 7km/h

Thursday, October 5

Very warm with periods of sun and clouds // 24°C // 1% probability of precipitation // wind 7km/h

Friday, October 6

Remaining warm with clouds and sunny spells // 22°C // 14% probability of precipitation // wind 7km/h

Saturday, October 7

Cooler with periods of rain // 18°C // 91% probability of precipitation // wind 9km/h


Weather forecast as of Monday, October 2 from Accuweather.

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What Happened Last Time at Mont-Sainte-Anne?

The seventh round of the 2022 Downhill World Cup provided legendary racing at Mont-Sainte-Anne. In the Junior Men's racing, Jackson Goldstone secured the win on home soil. Jordan Williams crossed the line just under four seconds back with Bodhi Kuhn completing the top three. Phoebe Gale took the win in the Junior Women's race with a dominant run and a gap of almost seven seconds to Izabela Yankova. Gracey Hemstreet ended the weekend in third.

Vali Höll took another win in 2022 as she pulled over three seconds ahead of a hard-charging Nina Hoffmann. Eleonora Farina was the only other rider to beat the fastest qualifying run and crossed the line in third. Myriam Nicole was leading even against Vali by over two seconds after split two but a flat tire took away her chance of a win.

Finn Iles pushed past unbelievable pressure to take his first World Cup win in Canada. Finn became the first Canadian to win at home since Stevie Smith in 2013 and he didn't have a chain at the end of his run. Laurie Greenland put down a wild run that seemed unbeatable right until the very end.

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How to Follow the Racing?

Tune in to Pinkbike to catch all the Mont-Sainte-Anne coverage throughout the week with results, photo epics, bike checks, race analysis and more.

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