Finn Iles flies to podium at Lenzerheide World Cup
Results from a huge day of semi-final and finals racing in Lenzerheide
Photo by:
Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
The first downhill World Cup brought out fantastic performances from the Canadian contingent. Finn Iles found his first World Cup podium of 2023. Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet, both first-year elites, proved they’re ready to take on the big dogs with top 10 finishes in Lenzerheide.
Lenzerheide World Cup brought all kinds of unknowns making for unpredictable and thrilling racing on Saturday. A Racers had to deal with a new format – adding a semi-final run on the same day as finals run, which is a huge ask at the level they are racing. It’s also the first race after an unusually long off-season, with racers keen to prove their form and get back to racing. Add in returning champions like Sam Hill and Rachel Atherton plus new riders like Jackson Goldstone and Jordan Williams and it was an absolutely thrilling day in Lenzerheide.
Lenzerheide: Semi-finals debut at World Cup
Racers really had to balance their efforts on Saturday. Opposing demands made for difficult decisions about how to pace the day. With only 30 men and 10 women advancing to finals, the new semi-final really required a race effort. But, with finals only a couple hours later in the day, there was a very real risk of not having the energy left for finals.
Hailing from B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Factory Team) had a stellar semi-final run. Only three riders could best her time in Saturday’s first run. Those riders included two world champions, Camille Balanche and Rachel Atherton, and the Syndicate’s German powerhouse, Nina Hoffmann.
Balanche put in the morning’s fastest time followed by Atherton and Hoffmann.
On the men’s side, where 60 qualified riders would be cut down to 30 finalists, semi-finals were flat out. The dry course in Lenzerheide wreaked havoc on equipment, with numerous flats and mechanical problems ending the rider’s day early.
Loic Bruni (Specialized Factory Racing) would put down the morning’s fastest time, winning the first World Cup semi-final (and a big, 200-point bonus with it). Andreas Kolb (Continental Atherton) and Loris Vergier (Trek Factory Racing) followed in third and fourth.
Finn Iles (Specialized Factory Racing) and Jackson Goldstone (Syndicate) slotted into sixth and seventh, setting them up well for a solid final run. Canada’s Mark Wallace (Norco) just missed making it out of the semi-final round, finishing 34th in Lenzerheide. Jake Jewett (Pivot Factory Racing) and Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing) were 41st and 42nd. Close, but not close enough for a second run.
Finals – a battle of generations
The first World Cup of 2023 was defined by unknown riders. Junior phenoms graduating to elite met the existing champs on the field with returning legends. In a sensational final, the graduating and the returning would put the current top riders on notice.
Elite Women
Gracey Hemstreet was the first Canadian on course, building momentum all the way down the track. It wasn’t quite enough to push reigning world champion Vali Höll out of the hot seat, but it was close.
In the end, it would be Rachel Atherton proving to be the class of the field. The iconic racer has been largely absent from the World Cup since rupturing an Achilles tendon in Les Gets in 2019. Since then, she’s had her first child and done one or two races to test the waters. In Lenzerheide, she was back at full speed. The Continental Atherton racer dominated the field, taking her 40th World Cup win.
“I can’t believe it. You get so fired up and in three minutes it’s over,” Atherton said. “Coming into this, I had no idea if I’d qualify. The new format is so hard. You have to save some energy from semi-finals because you have to go again so soon.”
Despite starting her season with a win, Atherton is not sure she’ll be on the start line when World Cup racing continues next week.
“This was my plan to just do this. I’m so exhausted, everything hurts,” Atherton admitted. “Leogang’s next week, but I don’t think I could do this again next week.”
Only Camille Balanche was able to come close to Atherton’s time. Nina Hoffmann, Vali Höll and Marine Cabiro, also returning from significant injury, round out the podium.
Gracey Hemstreet finishes sixth, just 0.343 from the podium in her first elite appearance.
Elite Men
In the men’s final, the challenge came from the opposite side of the age spectrum. Two dominant juniors, Jordan Williams and Canada’s Jackson Goldstone, took on the established elite field.
Williams (Specialized Gravity Racing) put the field on notice early, pushing Troy Brosnan out of the hot seat with a blazing-fast 2.39.222 time.
Goldstone, Williams’ rival while the two were juniors, was the first to challenge Williams’ time. Despite being unsure he would be able to start in Lenzerheide as late as last weekend, the Syndicate’s young Canadian threw down an impressive 2:41.428.
Finn Iles would come down the mountain next. The Specialized Gravity Racing Canuck would not be able to match his teammate’s time, but moved just ahead of Goldstone on the standings.
In the end, only Loris Vergier (Trek Factory Racing) and world champion Loic Bruni (Specialized Gravity Racing) were the only two to push William’s pace. Both fell behind on the lower sections of the track, though.
Jordan Williams wins his first elite World Cup in his first appearance in a remarkable start for the young Brit.
“This is just insane. Lenzerheide isn’t one of my favourite tracks and I just rode as good as I could,” Williams said after his win. “Coming from juniors to elites having fast riders in juniors to push me has helped me a lot. I didn’t focus on trying to win or send it super hard, just put down the best run I could. I really thought he (Bruni) beat me.”
Vergier takes second, Bruni third. Laurie Greenland (Syndicate) managed to squeeze in just ahead of Iles to take fourth.
Finn Iles earns his first podium of 2023 in fifth place. That puts all three Specialized riders on the podium in the top five, though surely not in the order team managers would have expected at the start of the day.
Jackson Goldstone places sixth in his first elite World Cup appearance. A phenomenal start for the young Squamish racer and surely a sign of more to come.
