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May 19, 2024
MTB – DHI – World Cup 2024 ME – 2 – – Bielsko-Biała, Poland 🇵🇱
Downhill pretty much does what it says on the tin: it’s about riding downhill,
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May 19, 2024
MTB – DHI – World Cup 2024 ME – 2 – – Bielsko-Biała, Poland 🇵🇱
Downhill pretty much does what it says on the tin: it’s about riding downhill, really fast. It’s raced individually in a time trial format, with riders going against the clock to try to set the fastest time from the top to the bottom of the mountain. It’s arguably the most thrilling and most dangerous mountain bike format, with tightly-taped tracks featuring boulder-strewn rock gardens, huge slippery roots, massive drops and big jumps which all test the riders’ skill, nerve and equipment. Some tracks are longer and slower, and others are short, steep and fast. The shortest tracks last just under three minutes, and the longest are more towards six minutes. The speeds in downhill are really high, with riders often reaching in excess of 70kmph whilst flying down the mountain.
Ronan Dunne (Mondraker Factory Racing) put in an assured, controlled performance to take his first-ever UCI Downhill World Cup win in Poland – the Irish 21-year-old piloting his prototype Mondraker down the course in his signature, knife-edge style.
It was another Irishman who was in the hot seat for most of the men’s final – Oisin O’Callaghan (YT Mob) fourth on the hill and laying down a marker that would be strong enough for 10th on the day.
Benoît Coulanges (Dorval AM Commencal) finally broke the 21-year-old’s dreams of a second UCI World Cup win. The Frenchman’s race run was the first to go inside the 2:57 barrier and enough to see him finish on the podium in fourth – an improvement on his 6th place in Fort William.
Coulanges’ time in the hot seat was short-lived though. Enter Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity). The 2023 UCI Downhill World Cup overall series winner had kicked off his season with victory in Scotland and looked to have overcome a crash in yesterday’s Semi-Finals. He was 1.2 seconds up on Coulanges in the first split alone and would hold on to break the 2:55 barrier. But would it be enough for his 10th UCI Downhill World Cup win?
Saturday’s surprise qualifier Lachlan Stevens-McNab (Union – Forged by Steel City Media) appeared to be backing up his strong Semi-Finals run, gapping Bruni deep into the fourth intermediate split until he was brought crashing back down to earth with a front wheel washout on an innocuous piece of track.
The 20-year-old New Zealand national champion had shown that there was time to be made on Bruni’s time though, which Dunne exploited to the max. The Irishman laid down a final run where he was fastest in three out of four intermediate splits (and second-fastest in the other), narrowly beating Bruni by 0.64 seconds.
The three riders left on the hill didn’t have an answer to Dunne’s dominant run – Luca Shaw (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) finishing sixth, Loris Vergier (Trek Factory Racing Gravity) rescuing third despite dabbing his foot down, and team-mate Dakotah Norton (Mondraker Factory Racing) down in 31st after sliding out at the top of the first sector on a wet patch.
Speaking after his win, Ronan Dunne said: “I was loving the track in Poland. The crowd was insane. It’s the second [UCI Downhill World Cup] with the new team. It’s been perfect and I had myself in the mindset of either I was going for a helicopter trip, or I was coming down in first. We didn’t take the helicopter trip, but we took the win. Usually, I don’t look at the times, but this time I was. I saw the time that Bruni put down and I thought ‘OK, we’re going for it, we’re not messing around’. I was ready to fight someone. It paid off.”
Overall series leader Loïc Bruni said: “I’m pretty happy with the result. I don’t think I deserved more because my weekend wasn’t so good. Some of the boys were riding better than me. I’m happy with second. I didn’t think it would be possible to go top three. The run was good, the bike was good, and everything is really nice so hopefully we can carry the momentum. I’m really happy for Ronan. It’s so good to see.
Results :
 put in an assured, controlled performance to take his first-ever UCI Downhill World Cup win in Poland – the Irish 21-year-old piloting his prototype Mondraker down the course in his signature, knife-edge style.
It was another Irishman who was in the hot seat for most of the men’s final – Oisin O’Callaghan (YT Mob) fourth on the hill and laying down a marker that would be strong enough for 10th on the day.
Benoît Coulanges (Dorval AM Commencal) finally broke the 21-year-old’s dreams of a second UCI World Cup win. The Frenchman’s race run was the first to go inside the 2:57 barrier and enough to see him finish on the podium in fourth – an improvement on his 6th place in Fort William.
Coulanges’ time in the hot seat was short-lived though. Enter Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity). The 2023 UCI Downhill World Cup overall series winner had kicked off his season with victory in Scotland and looked to have overcome a crash in yesterday’s Semi-Finals. He was 1.2 seconds up on Coulanges in the first split alone and would hold on to break the 2:55 barrier. But would it be enough for his 10th UCI Downhill World Cup win?
Saturday’s surprise qualifier Lachlan Stevens-McNab (Union - Forged by Steel City Media) appeared to be backing up his strong Semi-Finals run, gapping Bruni deep into the fourth intermediate split until he was brought crashing back down to earth with a front wheel washout on an innocuous piece of track.
The 20-year-old New Zealand national champion had shown that there was time to be made on Bruni’s time though, which Dunne exploited to the max. The Irishman laid down a final run where he was fastest in three out of four intermediate splits (and second-fastest in the other), narrowly beating Bruni by 0.64 seconds.
The three riders left on the hill didn’t have an answer to Dunne’s dominant run – Luca Shaw (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) finishing sixth, Loris Vergier (Trek Factory Racing Gravity) rescuing third despite dabbing his foot down, and team-mate Dakotah Norton (Mondraker Factory Racing) down in 31st after sliding out at the top of the first sector on a wet patch.
Speaking after his win, Ronan Dunne said: “I was loving the track in Poland. The crowd was insane. It’s the second [UCI Downhill World Cup] with the new team. It’s been perfect and I had myself in the mindset of either I was going for a helicopter trip, or I was coming down in first. We didn’t take the helicopter trip, but we took the win. Usually, I don’t look at the times, but this time I was. I saw the time that Bruni put down and I thought ‘OK, we’re going for it, we’re not messing around’. I was ready to fight someone. It paid off.”
Overall series leader Loïc Bruni said: “I’m pretty happy with the result. I don’t think I deserved more because my weekend wasn’t so good. Some of the boys were riding better than me. I’m happy with second. I didn’t think it would be possible to go top three. The run was good, the bike was good, and everything is really nice so hopefully we can carry the momentum. I’m really happy for Ronan. It’s so good to see.
<strong>Results : </strong>
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