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Wild scenes as France sweeps men’s DH at Les Gets world championships

Results from a historic downhill worlds

Photo by: UCI / Twitter
August 27, 2022
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A huge day for downhill in France led to some wild scenes in Les Gets on Saturday. Fans swarmed the finish line area as security and police were unable to stop them from celebrating an all-France podium in the men’s elite downhill.

A trio of French riders gave the fans much to cheer about, too. While the home country’s top riders showed up in Les Gets nursing injuries from World Cup rounds in Mont-Sainte-Anne and Andorra, it didn’t slow them down at all.

RELATED: B.C.’s Gracey Hemstreet silver at Jr. worlds

Loic Bruni won the elite men’s race in dominating fashion. Despite twin shoulder injuries, “Super Bruni” won by a massive 2.581 seconds. It’s Bruni’s fifth elite world championship title. It’s also his first major win at home on French soil.

Joining him on the podium, two more French riders. Amaury Pierron and Loris Vergier finish second and third. It’s an incredible podium sweep by the home country, and the French crowd responded in kind. Bruni was carried by the crowd as they set of smoke flares in the red, white and blue of France’s tricolour.

For Bruni, it redeems what has been, up to this point, a hard season filled with injury and frustration.

Troy Brosnan and Laurie Greenland bring home fourth and fifth for Australia and Great Britain. But Saturday was all about the the three French riders on the podium.

Canadians in Les Gets

Finn Iles was slated to start second last on Saturday. But a crash in practice sidelined the Canadian, just as he was carrying so much momentum into world championships weekend from his own World Cup win at home at Mont-Sainte-Anne. Its an unfortunate end to Iles world championships weekend. It could also spell trouble for his position in the World Cup overall when that season wraps up next week in Val di Sole, Italy.

That leaves Jakob Jewett to take the top Canadian finish in France. The Canyon Cllctv rider placed 33rd. Kirk McDowall followed close behind in 36th. Lucas Cruz followed in 40th and Jack Pelland 53rd. Mark Wallace started fast, but crashed in his race run to finish 64th. Gabe Neron also had a rough day in Les Gets, ending up 72nd.

On the women’s side, national champion Bailey Goldstone takes the top Canadian elite result with her 23rd in Les Gets. Chandrima Lavoie followed in 29th.

Elite Women

Myriam Nicole came into Saturday with the 2021 world championship title to defend, the fastest qualifying time and the full support of the French home crowd. The Commencal/Muc-Off rider’s run was mostly clean, but not quite fast enough to dislodge German Nina Hoffmann from the hot seat. That opened the door for the 20-year-old Austrian, Vali Höll.

Höll started fast and extended her lead down the middle of the course. While she lost a bit of time to Hoffman at through the bottom jumps, her advantage was more than enough to carry her across the finish line in the lead. Only Camille Balanche remained at the top of the mountain. The injured Swiss rider, still nursing a recently-broken collarbone, put in a valiant effort but could only manage fourth.

Valentina Höll claims the 2022 elite women’s downhill world championships title.

Nina Hommann takes second, Myriam Nicole third, Camille Balanche fourth and Monika Hrastnik fifth in Les Gets.

Full replays of both elite downhill races are, in Canada, on FloBikes. If you’re outside of Canada (or can convince your computer you are), Red Bull TV has international broadcast rights.

Results: 2022 mountain bike world championships

Elite Women’s Downhill
1 HÖLL Valentina AUT 3:53.857
2 HOFFMANN Nina GER +0.906
3 NICOLE Myriam FRA +3.447
4 BALANCHE Camille SUI +4.205
5 HRASTNIK Monika SLO +5.713
6 FISHER Stacey GBR +10.766
7 FARINA Eleonora ITA +16.692
8 WIDMANN Veronika ITA +19.645
9 FERGUSON Louise-Anna GBR +19.760
10 BLEWITT Jess NZL +20.510
11 BERNARD Mathilde FRA +21.341
12 PIERRINI Léona FRA +22.379
13 JOHNSET Mille NOR +23.962
14 NEWKIRK Anna USA +24.439
15 CHAPPAZ Mélanie FRA +25.012
16 VAN DER VELDEN Siel BEL +25.421
17 SMITH Ellie AUS +26.625
18 PARTON Mikayla GBR +26.709
19 SALAZAR Mariana ESA +34.591
20 MUIRHEAD Kalani NZL +40.926
23 GOLDSTONE Bailey CAN +46.849
29 Lavoie Chandrima CAN +1:03.868
Elite Men’s Downhill
1 BRUNI Loic FRA 3:20.478
2 PIERRON Amaury FRA +2.581
3 VERGIER Loris FRA +3.386
4 BROSNAN Troy AUS +3.910
5 GREENLAND Laurie GBR +4.051
6 ZWAR Oliver SWE +4.330
7 NORTON Dakotah USA +4.432
8 GWIN Aaron USA +4.586
9 KERR Henry IRL +4.885
10 COULANGES Benoit FRA +4.991
11 MINNAAR Greg RSA +5.492
12 SHAW Luca USA +6.100
13 KERR Bernard GBR +6.137
14 VIDAL Antoine FRA +6.683
15 TRUMMER David AUT +6.888
16 DUNNE Ronan IRL +6.990
17 A’HERN Kye AUS +7.107
18 DAPRELA Thibaut FRA +7.570
19 MEIER-SMITH Luke AUS +8.455
20 FISCHBACH Johannes GER +8.882
33 JEWETT Jakob CAN +11.607
36 McDowall Kirk CAN +12.400
40 Cruz Lucas CAN +13.521
53 Pelland Jack CAN +17.610
64 WALLACE Mark CAN +19.828
72 Neron Gabe CAN +22.809
Iles Finn CAN DNS