2019 Pinkbike Awards: Best Performance Nominees

It seems like every year the athletes get better, the courses get more difficult and the winning margins get smaller. Even if you're the best in the world, it's not enough to compete within your comfort zone, you still have to be on the edge of your limits to win. There's no room for error whether you're competing in World Cup DH, XC, enduro, slopestyle or freeride.

This year's selection for Performance of the Year consists of gold-medal veterans like Sam Hill, Brandon Semenuk, Amaury Pierron and Danny Hart as well as a couple of underdogs like Chloe Woodruff, Emil Johansson, and Marine Cabirou. There's nothing like the excitement of seeing David take the win against Goliath, but it's always impressive to see those who have the world's expectations on their backs perform despite the pressure.

Last year it was Kate Courtney and her World Championships win in her first year as an Elite that took the award. Who will win this year? A newcomer to the podium or a seasoned veteran?

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Why he's nominated

The atmosphere was electric on Bastille weekend at the Les Gets World Cup. As the top qualifier and last man down the hill, Amaury Pierron had the pressure of a nation on his shoulders. Somehow, he managed to back up his qualifying time with a run that saw him roar to victory with more than two seconds to spare.

The run itself was one of the most exciting to watch of the season, with Pierron finding the limit of what was possible on the track that day. Likely the wildest run of the season, the defending overall World Cup champion two-wheel drifted on more than one of the flat grass turns and hardly looked like he touched the brakes from top to bottom. Commitment, technique and precision all boiled down into a performance far above the rest of the field. The crowds got what they wanted - that all-important French victory.

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Why she's nominated

At 32 years old, Chloe Woodruff has been racing World Cup cross-country for over a decade. But until this year in Nove Mesto, the American had never reached the podium. Woodruff had proved herself domestically in the United States in short track races, and she said that she lined up in Nove Mesto believing she could win after compatriot Kate Courtney's win in the Albstadt short track the week before. There's a big difference between believing you can do something and going off the front of the pack of the world's fastest female cross-country mountain bikers and suffering on your own for two whole laps.

With that early break from the pack, Woodruff was able to carry the momentum to her first-ever World Cup victory. In a race that often ends in a photo finish, Woodruff finished an entire eight seconds ahead of second-placed Annie Last. A remarkable performance from the American rider. Woodruff said on her Instagram after the race that "Everything came into alignment for that race in Nove Mesto, and I still can't quite believe I got away with the move I pulled. What is the saying? Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

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Why he's nominated

The overall title for the 2019 Enduro World Series all came down to one race in the Swiss town of Zermatt. Going into the weekend, Florian Nicolai was leading the standings by a slim margin of 60 points, with Sam Hill trailing in second. Zermatt was a brand new venue so it was a level playing field for the final round of the battle royale between the two riders.

With consistent speed throughout the five-stage race, Sam Hill didn't buckle under the intense pressure of three-peating as World Champion and picked up second in the event behind Richie Rude. Hill would have had to have lost 8 seconds on the final stage to Richie Rude to lose the overall title, but instead he beat him by 17 in a Hollywood-like performance.

With his second-place finish and win on the Queen stage, Hill took the overall by 40 points over Nicolai. Hill becomes only the second enduro racer to win three titles in a row after Tracey Moseley’s domination of the early years of the sport.

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Why she's nominated

As she stood in the start gate at the final round of the World Cup in Snowshoe, there was still a small chance that Marine Cabirou could win the 2019 overall title. Instead of letting the nerves get to her, she put down a flawless run, finishing an impressive two seconds ahead of second-placed Myriam Nicole and nearly 5 seconds ahead of overall winner Tracey Hannah, who played it so safe she almost missed out on the overall title with her 5th place. One spot lower and the overall title would have gone to Cabirou.

Cabirou was the only woman to jump the doubles near the end of the track in her bold run, putting as much pressure as she possibly could on Tracey Hannah. When it counted most and she was able to lay it all on the line with no regrets. We expect great things from the young French rider in coming years as she has proved she can perform her best under massive pressure.

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Why he's nominated

Last year, Emil Johannson won the Comeback of the Year award for his impressive 4th place finish at Red Bull Joyride after ten months off the bike due to a congenital 6th lumbar vertebrae defect combined with an auto-immune disease that slowed down his ability to recover and rehab from his back injury. This year, he came into the event healthy, but with the likes of Brett Rheeder and Nicolai Rogatkin in the contest, he was far from the favourite to take the win.

With a stunning first run on a freshly redesigned course filled with new features and challenging jumps, Johansson stood at the top nervously awaiting a second run. To his relief, he didn't need to do one and was able to celebrate with a victory lap. "If anybody would have beat my run, I would have needed to improve the run that I already did and I don’t even know if I could have got all of those combos again in a row since it was so hard just to get them together," he said after the event. "I’m pretty stoked on the last three whip to unturndown. I had never done that before off of a big step down. It’s been a rough past few years. If you had told me two years ago that this was going to happen, I probably wouldn’t have trusted you." The best performances are when the winner is as gobsmacked at the result as the crowd is.

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Why he's nominated

Brandon Semenuk's Red Bull Rampage didn't go according to plan last year as he failed to complete in either of his two runs. This year, he came back for redemption, and redemption he received. The seventh rider of the day, Semenuk scored a 92.33 with a massive run that included a backflip into his lilypad feature. The score held, not just for the remainder of the first run, but for the entire day.

"There were some little things I knew I could add to it, but it was pretty minimal," he said of his line after the awards were finished. "I definitely threw it everything for the most part. We built the line for that stuff specifically and that's what we got. I'm really stoked for my first run. With the win, Semenuk becomes the second rider to win the event three times, proving he really can put it all on the line when it counts most.

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Why he's nominated

Since joining Madison Saracen at the start of last year, Danny Hart has picked up nine podiums and has only fallen outside of the top 10 twice in World Cup racing. An impressive feat, and yet the Redcar Rocket hadn't managed to put it together for a win in nearly two years. His first-place qualifying time in Lenzerheide translated to a fifth place in the final results, something that he wanted sorely not to repeat after winning Qualification in West Virginia.

On race day, it finally came together for Hart to the delight of his fans (and Loic Bruni!). Hart undoubtedly won the race in the rock garden where he managed to pull out more than 1.5 seconds on Amaury Pierron in an incredible display of technical riding. Hart's performance had him win the race by 0.656 seconds.

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Incredible performances from Hill, Woodruff, Johansson, Semenuk, Cabirous, Hart and Pierron in the world's most difficult mountain bike events. Which one has your pick?

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