Thibault Daprela drops out of Snowshoe World Cup due to injury
There will be a new series leader after Saturday's racing
Photo by:
Bartek Wolinksi / Red Bull Content Pool
Thibaut Daprela has unquestionably the wildest, up-and-down World Cup 2021 season of any rider on the circuit. Unfortunately for the young French rider, it’s ending on an unfortunate down note. Daprela crashed in qualifying on Friday and will drop out of Saturday’s race – and the season points race – while wearing the leader’s jersey.
Daprela’s big season – with some detours
Commencal/Muc-Off’s breakout star of the season rolled into Snowshoe, W.Va solidly in the lead in the World Cup overall. Impressive not only because it’s Daprela’s second season in elite. But also because Daprela’s season nearly ended at a French Cup when he nearly bit through his tongue. Barely a week later he was back on course, winning the Les Gets World Cup. Despite his injury, Daprela seemed to have more difficulty enunciating enough to get through his post-race interviews than he did dealing with the wet, steep Les Gets track.
Sidelined by Snowshoe
Two rounds later, the 2021 series crossed the Atlantic for two final rounds in Snowshoe.
In Wednesday’s final, Daprela looked to be flying. Half way down, and in the middle of one of the endless rock garden’s on course, Daprela lost his line and crashed hard. He was physically intact, but his front wheel was shattered. Despite not finishing his run, and scoring no points, Daprela still had a narrow grasp on the series title. Just 46 points separated him from fellow French rider, Loris Vergier. Loic Bruni lurked 125 points behind. Distant, but within reach.
That all came undone on Friday. Daprela crashed during Friday’s qualifying. This time, he didn’t walk away in one piece. With a broken thumb and potentially fractured tibia near the ankle, according to his Commencal/Muc-Off team.
That means Daprela drops out of the series points race, while wearing the leader’s jersey. Unable to ride on Saturday, he’ll have to watch from the sidelines as the race goes on without him.
New battle brewing for Saturday
With Daprela out of the series, there will be a new overall leader walking away with the title on Saturday. Loris Vergier is the new virtual leader with 752 points. Loic Bruni isn’t far behind with 702. With his win on Wednesday, 2020 world champion Reece Wilson is still in with a mathematical chance to take his first series title, with 627 points.
Loic Bruni goes into Saturday the favourite. Bruni qualified fastest on Friday. He was also second behind Wilson in Wednesday’s World Cup round, held on a track that shared most sections with Saturday’s course. Vergier qualified fourth on Friday with Wilson close behind in fifth.
Since UCI rules dictate that no points are accrued in qualifying, unlike all other rounds, finals will be worth more. Friday’s qualifying results don’t impact the overall standings. Instead, it’ll all be on the line in Saturday’s race.
Almost heaven, always dramatic
This isn’t the first time Snowshoe has seen high drama as the World Cup finals venue. In 2019, Amaury Pierron and Loic Bruni were locked in a neck-and-neck race for the overall. Danny Hart, the last man down the mountain that year, ended up being the deciding factor. His win at that race ended up giving Loic Bruni his first World Cup overall title.
With Friday’s upheaval in the points race, Bruni could, once again, see a chaotic Snowshoe race work out in his favour.
