Aaron Gwin riding during the Leogang round of the MTB World Cup on June 14th, 2015.
© Bartek Woliński
Bike

Who needs a chain? Leogang results and race action

Leogang produced one of the most breathtaking, nail-biting and spectacular races of the season.
Written by Faye Brozek and Renners
3 min readPublished on
Sunday, June 14 2015, Leogang, Austria. This was the scene of the greatest World Cup Downhill race victory of all-time. We've had big winning margins and wild riding but never have we seen a rider snap a chain at the start of their run only to go on and take the victory.
Leogang produced one of the most breathtaking, nail-biting and spectacular races of the season. Scroll down for all the full results and race action.

Men’s Race

With Aussie pinner Connor Fearon putting in the run of his life, many in the grandstand thought the day's drama was done. Little did we know we were about to witness history in the making from Aaron Gwin.
Sometimes words just aren't enough. Watch the action unfold in the player below.

4 min

Aaron Gwin's winning DH run – Leogang

Watch Aaron Gwin's winning World Cup downhill run at Leogang, Austria.

French flyer Loic Bruni set the early pace, and as more riders crossed the line his time, which initially didn't look fast enough to secure victory, began to hold more and more promise. It wasn't to be Bruni's day however. As the last ten took to the track, times began to tumble.
Pre-race talk was of Bruni's countryman Remi Thirion hitting some crazy lines for a second World Cup win and he did not disappoint. However, Australia's Fearon, who'd previously never finished higher than ninth in his relatively short career, put in a storming run to take the lead and the hot seat. This left one man, Aaron Gwin, with it all to do. Just how much that would turn out to be will go down in downhill mountain biking history.
See Connor Fearon’s race run below

2 min

Leogang 2015 - Connor Fearon 2nd Place Run

Connor Fearon's 2nd Place Run at the Leogang World Cup.

Behind incredible victor Gwin, Fearon and Thirion, another Aussie, Troy Brosnan, put in a sterling run to finish in fourth place, burying unhappy memories of racing in Leogang, where he ruptured his spleen in 2012.
Canada's Stevie Smith, who had his fair share of injuries in 2014, was looking to get back on the podium here but slid out of contention near the top of the track, leaving the familiar faces of Greg Minnaar, Gee Atherton, Josh Bryceland, Loic Bruni, Brook Macdonald and Marcelo Gutiérrez to round out the top ten.

Women’s Race

It was another spell of bad luck for defending World Cup champion Manon Carpenter, with a similarly unlucky repeat of last weekend's bad luck. Carpenter was set to take the hot seat but less than a second from the finish-line, on the final jump of the track, she misjudged her landing and ended up riding off course – resulting in a disqualified run.
See the mistake that caused Carpenter to be disqualified.

1 min

Leogang 2015 - Manon Carpenter DQ

See the incident that led to Manon Carpenter's disqualification at the Leogang World Cup.

Swiss rider, Emilie Siegenthaler held onto the hot-seat and managed to hold off advances from Tracey Hannah and Jill Kintner. Her reign ended when young British rider Tahnee Seagrave sped into the finish with an impressive seven-second lead.
There were only two ladies left at the top of the hill who could steal from her the chance of her very first World Cup win. Emmeline Ragot looked confident and fast on the course but couldn't keep up with the Brit, who managed to maintain her hotseat. There was only one woman left at the top of the hill, another British rider and last weekend's winner; Rachel Atherton
Atherton put in a faultless run, making spectators and commentators gasp at her brave line choices. Speeding into the finish she took her first ever win at Leogang with a three-second margin. It's safe to say she was pretty pleased with it.
Sh*t!! Nearly went down hard up top but held her upright & took the win!! BUZZZATRON!! Another 1-2-3 for me, Tahnee Seagrave & Ragot!
– Rachael Atherton
Watch her winning run in the player below.

2 min

Leogang 2015 - Rachel Atherton Finals Run

Rachel Atherton's winning Finals run from the 2015 Leogang UCI DH World Cup round.

Part of this story

UCI MTB World Cup, Austria: DH 3

The 2015 World Cup continues in Leogang for the third round of the downhill competition.

Austria

Rachel Atherton

With a record number of overall World Cup wins and the only perfect season in MTB history to her name, Rachel Atherton is the queen of downhill racing.

United KingdomUnited Kingdom

Aaron Gwin

Once an aspiring motocross racer, American Aaron Gwin is a five-time overall UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup champion and a legend of the sport.

United StatesUnited States

Gee Atherton

A multiple world champion, World Cup winner and Red Bull Rampage podium finisher, Gee Atherton is one of the greatest MTB riders of his generation.

United KingdomUnited Kingdom

Brook Macdonald

A downhill mountain biker from New Zealand, Brook Macdonald is known for his never-say-die attitude and hard-charging style.

New ZealandNew Zealand

Loïc Bruni

A five-time elite world champion, French rider Loïc Bruni is already one of the all-time great downhill mountain bike racers and he's not finished yet.

FranceFrance