Pinkbike Primer: Thundering Into Snowshoe for Round 6 of the 2022 DH World Cup
We are in the back half of the 2022 World Cup season. Round six sees the traveling circus return to Snowshoe, West Virginia, for what's sure to be an exciting race. Check out all the information you need to know before racing kicks off later this week.
The Track
Each track this year has received at least a small update, so while we haven't heard of any changes yet from the 2021 course seen above we wouldn't be surprised if the organisers throw some changes at riders this week.
Previous Winners
Elite Men
2021: Loic Bruni
2021: Reece Wilson
2019: Danny Hart
2021: Loic Bruni
2021: Reece Wilson
2019: Danny Hart
Elite Women
2021: Vali Höll
2021: Vali Höll
2019: Marine Cabirou
2021: Vali Höll
2021: Vali Höll
2019: Marine Cabirou
What Happened in 2021?
Race 1
Elite Women
1st. Vali Holl: 3:40.233
2nd. Camille Balanche: 3:44.850
3rd. Marine Cabirou: 3:45.928
4th. Myriam Nicole: 3:50.128
5th. Tahnee Seagrave: 3:50.647
Elite Men
1. Reece Wilson - 3:10.066
2. Loic Bruni +0.032
3. Loris Vergier +0.580
4. Finn Iles +1.289
5. Mark Wallace +1.332
Junior Women
1st. Izabella Yankova: 4:00.555
2nd. Phoebe Gale: 4:05.768
3rd. Siel van der Velden: 4:11.943
4th. Ella Erickson: 4:24.159
5th. Emma Artz: 4:36.667
Junior Men
1st. Jordan Williams: 3:16.597
2nd. Jackson Goldstone: 3:20.141
3rd. Tristan Lemire: 3:22.191
4th. Oliver Davis: 3:23.068
5th. Remy Meier Smith: 3:23.524
Race 2
Elite Women
1st. Vali Höll: 3:39.679
2nd. Marine Cabirou: 3:39.935
3rd. Camille Balanche: 3:45.100
4th. Tahnee Seagrave: 3:46.236
5th. Nina Hoffmann: 3:46.948
Elite Men
1st. Loic Bruni: 3:13.379
2nd. Troy Brosnan: 3:13.800
3rd. Angel Suarez: 3:14.010
4th. Amaury Pierron: 3:14.154
5th. Luca Shaw: 3:14.707
Junior Women
1st. Izabela Yankova: 4:10.233
2nd. Siel Van Der Velden: 4:14.654
3rd. Ella Erickson: 4:33.782
4th. Caitlyn Farmer: 4:48.425
5th. Emma Artz: 5:36.595
Junior Men
1st. Jordan Williams: 3:20.430
2nd. Jackson Goldstone: 3:20.556
3rd. Oisin O Callaghan: 3:23.300
4th. Tristan Lemire: 3:24.478
5th. Preston Williams: 3:24.505
What Happened at the Last Round?
The fifth round of the 2022 downhill World Cup provided incredible racing on the absolutely flat-out course. For the junior women, Phoebe Gale had a rapid run to take the win by almost six seconds. Phoebe's race run was also good enough for sixth in the elites. Gracey Hemstreet crossed the line in second with Jenna Hastings wrapping up the top three. Kicking off the day for Pinkbike Racing, Aimi Kenyon ends the day with ninth place.
For the junior men, it was Jackson Goldstone who came out on top again and went just over one and a half seconds faster than Jordan Williams. Jackson managed to find over three seconds on Loris Vergier's fastest qualifier. Canada definitely came out on top today with four racers in the top five junior men.
Vali Höll finally got a clean run and with a ride that looked aggressive, she took the win by a huge three and a half second margin. Nina Hoffmann crossed the line in second place and third went to Camille Balanche who looked off her usual form today. Pinkbike Racing's Léona Pierrini finished the day in 13th place. The elite men's race had a thrilling conclusion as we saw the times tumble with crazy runs from Finn Iles and Loic Bruni, but in the end Loris Vergier surfed the dust fastest and went into the lead by 1.4 seconds. The fastest time of the week does still go to junior racer Jackson Goldstone who went almost a second faster than Loris. Pinkbike Racing ended the day with Thibault Laly in 46th position.
Elite Women
1st. Vali Höll: 3:09.803
2nd. Nina Hoffmann: 3:13.341
3rd. Camille Balanche: 3:13.487
4th. Jess Blewitt: 3:15.002
5th. Mille Johnset: 3:15.922
Elite Men
1st. Loris Vergier: 2:44.500
2nd. Loic Bruni: 2:45.918
3rd. Finn Iles: 2:46.197
4th. Aaron Gwin: 2:46.913
5th. Andreas Kolb: 2:47.519
Junior Women
1st. Phoebe Gale: 3:16.852
2nd. Gracey Hemstreet: 3:22.845
3rd. Jenna Hastings: 3:24.301
4th. Lisa Bouladou: 3:25.234
5th. Izabela Yankova: 3:25.239
Junior Men
1st. Jackson Goldstone: 2:43.420
2nd. Jordan Williams: 2:45.106
3rd. Tegan Cruz: 2:48.190
4th. Bodhi Kuhn: 2:48.843
5th. Tristan Lemire: 2:49.487
Overall Standings After Round 5
Elite Women
Elite Men
Junior Women
Junior Men
Weather Forecast
The weather is not looking great for racing this week with a few thunderstorms predicted and run during training and qualifying. Luckily it looks like things do brighten up slightly for finals, although there is still a risk of rain and a thunderstorm. Let's hope this doesn't mess up those final on Saturday.
Thursday, July 28 - Training
A couple of showers and a thunderstorm; a thick cloud cover in the morning, then periods of clouds and sun in the afternoon // 23° // 88% Chance of Precipitation // 17 km/h Wind
Friday, July 29 - Qualifying
A thunderstorm; considerable morning cloudiness, then periods of clouds and sun in the afternoon // 21° // 80% Chance of Precipitation // 11 km/h Wind
Saturday, July 30 - Finals
Some sun, then turning cloudy with a thunderstorm in parts of the area // 20° // 40% Chance of Precipitation // 4 km/h Wind
Weather forecast as of Monday, July 25 from Accuweather.
A couple of showers and a thunderstorm; a thick cloud cover in the morning, then periods of clouds and sun in the afternoon // 23° // 88% Chance of Precipitation // 17 km/h Wind
Friday, July 29 - Qualifying
A thunderstorm; considerable morning cloudiness, then periods of clouds and sun in the afternoon // 21° // 80% Chance of Precipitation // 11 km/h Wind
Saturday, July 30 - Finals
Some sun, then turning cloudy with a thunderstorm in parts of the area // 20° // 40% Chance of Precipitation // 4 km/h Wind
Weather forecast as of Monday, July 25 from Accuweather.
The Schedule
Thursday, July 28
• 08:45-11:15 // Official Downhill Training - Group B
• 11:15-12:30 // Official Downhill Training - Group A and B (mixed training)
• 12:45-15:15 // Official Downhill Training - Group A
• 15:30-17:00 // Downhill Timed Training Session
• 17:00-17:45 // On Foot Downhill Course Inspection - Riders and Teams
Friday, July 29
• 08:45-10:15 // Official Downhill Training - Group B
• 10:15-11:45 // Official Downhill Training - Group A
• 12:15 // Seeding Run - Junior Women
• 12:30 // Qualifying Round - Junior Men
• 13:30 // Qualifying Round - Elite Women
• 14:00 // Qualifying Round - Elite Men
• Followed by // 30 minutes On Foot Downhill Course Inspection - Riders and Teams
Saturday, July 30
• 08:15-09:15 // Official Downhill Training - Junior Women, Junior Men, Elite Women
• 09:45 // Final - Junior Men
• 10:30 // Final - Junior Women
• 10:50-11:05 // Official Downhill Training - Women Elite qualified for the final
• 11:05-12:05 // Official Downhill Training - Men Elite qualified for the final
• 12:30 // Final - Elite Women
• 13:30 // Final - Elite Men
• Awards to follow
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 Snowshoe 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.
You can also watch the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on redbull.tv. The live DH broadcast starts on Saturday, July 16 at 12:25pm EDT.
Schedule: Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Leogang LIVE on Red Bull TV:
Snowshoe DHI Women: July 30 Live on Red Bull TV 12:25 EDT
Snowshoe DHI Men: July 30 Live on Red Bull TV 13:45 EDT
(All times EDT, replay available immediately following the races. Times subject to change at organizers' and Red Bull's discretion.)
2022 Fantasy League
Don't forget to complete your DH Fantasy team for the sixth round this weekend, because the fantasy league is a whole lot more fun if you participate in each race.
The Fantasy Downhill League is Presented by Specialized
Author Info:
Member since Mar 16, 2017
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It can be worse, you may be forced to understand something like this
METAR KEKN 262051Z AUTO 20003KT 10SM BKN025 OVC033 22/18 A3007 RMK AO2 SLP174 60010 T02170183 58013
this is today's METAR for Snowshoe heliport
Per PisgahGnar up there, this past weekend was supposed to be 0 chance or rain. But got a quick cell that dropped probably 2 inches in an hour or so. It may have been a bad choice to ride out to Drop Out and then up Easy Street during the downpour (including some hail for good measure).
Most of the rest is the same (wild zone drop under lift, and all the rocks of lower. Last new bit is when they enter the open section where they usually open up a sprint. They have a berm there to help now, but then it cuts down toward the woods a bit sooner with small gaps, but sends them into the triple jump and such in a more direct route. They also added some new ending, which is great, because the last section we did at DHSE was rough and not that fun. But some nice little hips to end it for them. Missy Giove had a hand getting this designed and into it walking with Neko and others to get it in.
Me and the wife are headed up Thursday night cant wait!
It’s been like that for years! I absolutely love to ride Snowshoe but why do they build features then close them all year?
Ya ya, injuries, bad look for the park or whatever the reason to close them. We all signed waivers. PreRide - ReRide - Free Ride! Let each rider make their own decisions.
That said... Jesus, when does Amaury clinch this year? Dude is scary good.
asking for a friend who plays tennis...
Again, regardless of what anyone thinks about taking drugs:
Is every international male, female or junior rider, coach, mechanic, and team member vaxxed enough to enter the US and Canada? Is there some UCI string pulling to help the pure-bloods get into these countries for the races? Or are some people staying home for these races because of the discriminatory border policies of these countries?
I'm curious because I think it would be cool if UCI were doing its part to make sure that the athletes and teams which make their sport a sport in the first place get to participate at all the events on the calendar, regardless of the political whims of the country holding the event.
But like I said in my first post, it's not hard to fake a vaxx certification. And that's probably the most likely answer... everyone is "officially" jabbed and omertà as always for everyone inside the pro cycling scene.