Iles podiums at World Cup DH dust-up in Andorra
Brand-new Vallnord delivers hectic downhill racing
Photo by:
Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
Finn Iles landed his third World Cup podium of the year with a spectacular run – and several sensational saves – on a brand-new track in Vallnord, Andorra on Saturday.
On a new course, both elite races saw riders take their first wins of 2022.
Canadians in Andorra
Before Iles sensational run, four more Canadains took on the Vallnord track. Mark Wallace (Canyon Cllctv) leaves Andorra with a 39th. Wallace’s teammate Jakob Jewett was close behind in 43rd. Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing) is 47th and Elliot Jamieson 60th.
Elite women: Höll finds form
Valentine Höll (RockShox Trek) turned around a frustrating start to her season to take a big win on the wildly technical Andorra track. Nina Hoffmann (Syndicate) takes second, 3.583 seconds behind the young Austrian.
World Cup leader Camille Blanche (Dorval AM) struggled through her final run, barely holding on to save a few moments and settling for a third in Andorra.
Jess Blewett (GT Factory) takes fourth, a big result for the New Zealand freerider. Millie Johnset (Commencal 100%) rounds out the podium in fifth.
Myriam Nicole started fast, attacking the home course of her Commencal/Muc-Off team, but a crash near the bottom dropped her to seventh. It’s the world champions first result outside of the top-three all year, and comes just seven days after her win in Lenzerheide.
Balanche extends her overall lead. The Swiss rider now has 1085 points to Nicole’s 905. Höll sits third with 811.
Elite men: dust-up in Vallnord
Finn Iles put in a spectacular run, flirting with chaos the whole way down the mountain. After a blistering fast first two splits, where Iles set the days fastest times, the Canadian’s run nearly came unglued as his front wheel skidded through deep silt while approaching a steep rock garden. After riding out the compression at the bottom of that slop on his handlebars, Iles – somehow – picked up speed again, building pace back up through the run before nearly crashing on the awkward, high-speed bridge drop into the finish line. The Canadian moved into the hot-seat, but seemed more amazed that he was still upright, exclaiming “Oh my god, I can’t believe it” to the broadcast camera while still on his bike in the finish area.
Up next, Iles’ teammate Loic Bruni made a spectacular comeback from injury. A precision-clean run put Bruni ahead of the Canadian 0.2 seconds.
Amaury Peirron, winner in three of four world cups this year, was next out off the start gate. After a heavy crash in Sunday morning practice that saw him break his handlebars, the Commencal/Muc-Off rider was looking a little more restrained than his usual, wild self. He still found energy to sprint across the line for 12th, preserving valuable points for the overall title, but looked visibly spent from the effort.
The last man on the mountain was Loris Vergier. After qualifying fastest, the Trek Factory Racing rider looked incredibly comfortable and controlled in the deep Andorran dust. The French rider stayed flawless to the finish line, crossing the line fastest by a solid 1.418-seconds ahead of Bruni.
Loris Vergier wins Vallnord World Cup. Loic Bruni storms back to second. Finn Iles takes his third podium of 2022 in third. Aron Gwin (Intense Factory Racing) returns to a World Cup podium with a fourth place while Continental-Atherton’s Andreas Kolb takes fifth.
With 666 points, Iles moves into second overall in the World Cup standings. Amaury Pierron still leads, with 930 after Andorra. With his win, Vergier moves into third. He trails Iles by 11, at 655 points. With three races remaining, the season is still wide open.
Results: 2022 World Cup DH #5 – Vallnord, Andorra
Elite Women
| 1. |  |
HÖLL Valentina ROCKSHOX TREK RACE TEAM |
3:09.803 |
|
| 2. |  |
HOFFMANN Nina SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE |
3:13.341 +3.538 |
|
| 3. |  |
BALANCHE Camille DORVAL AM COMMENCAL |
3:13.487 +3.684 |
|
| 4. |  |
BLEWITT Jess GT FACTORY RACING |
3:15.002 +5.199 |
|
| 5. |  |
JOHNSET Mille COMMENCAL / 100% |
3:15.922 +6.119 |
|
| 6. |  |
FARINA Eleonora MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
3:17.652 +7.849 |
|
| 7. |  |
NICOLE Myriam COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION |
3:18.357 +8.554 |
|
| 8. |  |
NEWKIRK Anna BEYOND RACING |
3:19.954 +10.151 |
|
| 9. |  |
VAN DER VELDEN Siel COMMENCAL VEE |
3:24.342 +14.539 |
|
| 10. |  |
FISHER Stacey |
3:25.673 +15.870 |
|
| 11. | |
FERGUSON Louise-Anna |
3:25.976 +16.173 |
|
| 12. |  |
HRASTNIK Monika DORVAL AM COMMENCAL |
3:26.840 +17.037 |
|
| 13. | |
PIERRINI Léona |
3:28.771 +18.968 |
|
| 14. |  |
SMITH Ellie |
3:31.494 +21.691 |
|
| 15. | |
WIDMANN Veronika MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM |
3:36.764 +26.961 |
Elite Men
| 1. | |
VERGIER Loris TREK FACTORY RACING DH |
2:44.500 |
|
| 2. | |
BRUNI Loic SPECIALIZED GRAVITY |
2:45.918 +1.418 |
|
| 3. |  |
ILES Finn SPECIALIZED GRAVITY |
2:46.197 +1.697 |
|
| 4. | |
GWIN Aaron INTENSE FACTORY RACING |
2:46.913 +2.413 |
|
| 5. | |
KOLB Andreas CONTINENTAL ATHERTON |
2:47.519 +3.019 |
|
| 6. | |
MEIER-SMITH Luke PROPAIN FACTORY RACING |
2:47.823 +3.323 |
|
| 7. |  |
SUAREZ ALONSO Angel COMMENCAL / 100% |
2:47.982 +3.482 |
|
| 8. |  |
ZWAR Oliver UNION |
2:48.344 +3.844 |
|
| 9. |  |
MINNAAR Greg SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE |
2:48.408 +3.908 |
|
| 10. | |
GREENLAND Laurie SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE |
2:48.948 +4.448 |
|
| 11. | |
HARTENSTERN Max CUBE FACTORY RACING |
2:49.019 +4.519 |
|
| 12. | |
ESTAQUE Thomas COMMENCAL / 100% |
2:49.039 +4.539 |
|
| 13. | |
PIERRON Amaury COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION |
2:49.346 +4.846 |
|
| 14. | |
KERR Bernard PIVOT FACTORY RACING |
2:49.926 +5.426 |
|
| 15. | |
DAPRELA Thibaut COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION |
2:50.188 +5.688 |
|
| 16. | |
BRANNIGAN George NS BIKES UR |
2:50.362 +5.862 |
|
| 17. | |
VIDAL Antoine COMMENCAL LES ORRES |
2:50.429 +5.929 |
|
| 18. | |
HART Danny CUBE FACTORY RACING |
2:50.692 +6.192 |
|
| 19. | |
NORTON Dakotah INTENSE FACTORY RACING |
2:50.734 +6.234 |
|
| 20. | |
WILLIAMSON Greg COMMENCAL / 100% |
2:50.840 +6.340 |
|
| 21. | |
LUCAS Dean SCOTT DOWNHILL FACTORY |
2:50.962 +6.462 |
|
| 22. | |
CRAIK Ethan GT FACTORY RACING |
2:50.974 +6.474 |
|
| 23. | |
PALAZZARI Davide ROGUE RACING – AFTER SKULL TEAM |
2:51.028 +6.528 |
|
| 24. | |
REVELLI Loris CANYON COLLECTIVE PIRELLI |
2:51.058 +6.558 |
|
| 25. | |
FRIXTALON Hugo COMMENCAL / 100% |
2:51.104 +6.604 |
|
| 26. | |
VERNON Taylor SORTED RACEGEAR |
2:51.116 +6.616 |
|
| 27. | |
HATTON Charlie CONTINENTAL ATHERTON |
2:51.219 +6.719 |
|
| 28. | |
BRAYTON Adam |
2:51.221 +6.721 |
|
| 29. | |
DOOLEY Austin COMMENCAL NORTH AMERICA |
2:51.335 +6.835 |
|
| 30. | |
PIERRON Baptiste DORVAL AM COMMENCAL |
2:51.361 +6.861 |
|
| 31. | |
ROGGE Antoine |
2:51.760 +7.260 |
|
| 32. | |
LEVESQUE Dylan SCOTT DOWNHILL FACTORY |
2:51.779 +7.279 |
|
| 33. | |
WILLIAMS Preston |
2:51.897 +7.397 |
|
| 34. | |
MENOYO BUSQUETS Pau COMMENCAL – SCHWALBE |
2:52.076 +7.576 |
|
| 35. |  |
DICKSON Jacob MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
2:52.103 +7.603 |
|
| 37. | |
EDMONDSON Jamie ROCKSHOX TREK RACE TEAM |
2:52.209 +7.709 |
|
| 36. | |
BROSNAN Troy CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM |
2:52.209 +7.709 |
|
| 38. | |
SILVA Dante CANYON COLLECTIVE PIRELLI |
2:52.439 +7.939 |
|
| 39. | |
WALLACE Mark CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM |
2:52.534 +8.034 |
|
| 40. | |
TRUMMER David MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
2:52.894 +8.394 |
|
| 41. | |
MASTERS Edward PIVOT FACTORY RACING |
2:52.974 +8.474 |
|
| 42. | |
DUNNE Ronan CONTINENTAL NUKEPROOF FACTORY RACING |
2:53.206 +8.706 |
|
| 43. | |
JEWETT Jakob CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM |
2:53.269 +8.769 |
|
| 44. | |
MACDONALD Brook MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
2:53.380 +8.880 |
|
| 45. | |
BLENKINSOP Samuel NORCO FACTORY TEAM |
2:53.557 +9.057 |
|
| 46. | |
LALY Thibault PINKBIKE RACING |
2:53.787 +9.287 |
|
| 47. | |
SHERLOCK Seth INTENSE FACTORY RACING |
2:54.003 +9.503 |
|
| 48. |  |
VIEIRA Roger |
2:54.214 +9.714 |
|
| 49. | |
FISCHBACH Johannes |
2:54.313 +9.813 |
|
| 50. | |
A’HERN Kye NS BIKES UR |
2:54.317 +9.817 |
|
| 51. | |
INIGUEZ Matteo COMMENCAL VEE |
2:54.392 +9.892 |
|
| 52. | |
FEARON Connor FORBIDDEN SYNTHESIS TEAM |
2:54.498 +9.998 |
|
| 53. | |
PENE Tuhoto-Ariki MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
2:54.908 +10.408 |
|
| 54. | |
GRICE Christopher SPECIALIZED GRAVITY |
2:55.324 +10.824 |
|
| 55. | |
INTROZZI Stefano |
2:55.694 +11.194 |
|
| 56. | |
JORBA PRATS Ferran |
2:55.729 +11.229 |
|
| 57. | |
CABIROU Rudy |
2:57.645 +13.145 |
|
| 58. | |
ERLANGSEN Theo COMPUTER MANIA MTB RACING TEAM |
2:57.778 +13.278 |
|
| 59. | |
FINNIS Connor |
2:57.912 +13.412 |
|
| 60. | |
JAMIESON Elliot NORCO FACTORY TEAM |
2:57.935 +13.435 |
|
| 61. | |
MULALLY Neko FRAMEWORKS RACING |
2:58.634 +14.134 |
|
| 62. | |
WALKER Matt MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM |
3:16.783 +32.283 |
|
| 63. | |
PAYET Florent SCOTT DOWNHILL FACTORY |
3:27.453 +42.953 |
