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The 7 moments that mattered from the Snowshoe DH World Cup
The downhillers got down to action in Snowshoe, West Virginia, as the Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup went Stateside. Catch up on the talking points from the racing here.
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Catch up on all the downhill action from the Snowshoe Mercedes-Benz UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup. The full replay of the races can be watched via the links below.
Get the downhill results from Snowshoe and the latest World Cup overall standings by clicking here and scroll down for things you might have missed from the racing.
01
Conditions made it the toughest Snowshoe track we've seen
The track hadn't been dry since the riders arrived in Snowshoe, presenting the UCI cohort with conditions they'd never seen at the USA round. When it came to race day, bright sunny spells had begun to dry up some of the top sections, while leaving the wooded sections hazardous, with claggy mud and slippery rocks.
Mud blocked up the tyres pretty quickly
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
The conditions made the course difficult, with riders struggling to keep speed as the mud sucked at their tyres and the rocks pin-balled them down the track. There were plenty of crashes and dabs, as riders tried to keep their bikes upright. Many said that it's the hardest track they've ridden in a long time.
5 min
Downhill course preview – Snowshoe
Laurie Greenland takes us through the technically-challenging downhill track in Snowshoe, West Virginia, USA.
02
Camille Balanche had staying power
While most of the women's field fought against the Snowshoe track and came a cropper a number of times, both in their race runs and during practice, Camille Balanche walked away from the US race with no crashes to her name and a first-place position. A miracle really when you saw how many of the riders were taking frequent falls and knocks. Myriam Nicole said she crashed five times during her training runs and also took a crash during her race run – and she still clawed back enough time to secure second place.
Myriam Nicole crashed on the rocks but still placed second
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
But for Balanche, it seems like her previous ice-hockey career had come into play as she glided down the slippery track. After the race she talked about the relief of getting through the weekend without any crashes and that despite the course being super-hard, it suited her riding and she was stoked to be on a technical downhill track again.
Camille Balanche keeping her cool
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Camille Balanche took the win at Snowshoe
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Myriam Nicole took a lot of crashes over the weekend on the Snowshoe course
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
An aggressive run and third place for Nina Hoffmann
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
03
The Qualifiers were chaotic, but Jackson Goldstone put in a time as fast as Amaury Pierron
Keeping momentum and getting down the course without crashing were easier said than done during the Snowshoe qualifying. Dabs, legs out and riders covered in mud from being propelled over the bars was a common sight. One of the biggest talking points from qualifying was the time that junior rider Jackson Goldstone put down (3m 51.371s), as it was just a few hundreds of a second slower than the Elite men's time set by Amaury Pierron (3m 51.056s) and faster than the second-fastest qualifier, Thibaut Daprela. He's definitely marking himself as a force to contend with before he joins the Elite category next year.
Crashes were a common sight
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Amaury Pierron set the fastest Elite time in qualies
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Goldstone battled the elements to put in a lightning fast run
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Goldstone's currently dominating the Junior scene
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
04
Men’s race winner Amaury Pierron almost didn’t take part
A finals and qualification win made it a perfect weekend of joy for Amaury Pierron, and boy was he ecstatic when he realised he'd won. Those emotions came from somewhere. The Frenchman arrived in Snowshoe with his Commencal team uncertain on whether he would even take part in riding practice.
7 min
Downhill winning runs – Snowshoe
See the winning runs from Camille Balanche and Amaury Pierron on the technical course in Snowshoe, USA.
Pierron had been banged up from a finals day practice crash at the last round in Vallnord and he wasn't 100 percent fit. His team didn’t want him to race, but with Pierron being the leader of the men’s World Cup overall series, he decided to take part anyway to secure as many points as he could. Being the true competitor he is, he rose to the occasion when the heat of the competition was on in the finals, to record his fourth World Cup win of the season.
Pierron races every World Cup race like it's his last
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Pierron is only one of four athletes to have won 4 World Cups in a season
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
05
A drying track saw times a tumble for the men
As mentioned above, rain over the preceding days had made this track very difficult to ride in parts, particularly the technical forest section that was littered with rocks. The men had the better of the drying conditions and as the track dried out, traction became better, and times began to tumble down. From the last 20 men who went down we saw the fastest time change seven times and an ever-changing game of musical chairs at the top seat of the podium was the result. Austrian, Andreas Kolb, who finished third, and British racer Bernard Kerr (who finished second) were in the last five to take their runs and both must have thought they'd recorded the winning times. Kolb was usurped by Kerr only for Kerr to lose out on the win to Pierron by 0.414s.
After 15 years of World Cup racing, a first top three placing for Kerr
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Kolb collapses in disbelief at his then-leading time
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Kolb, Kerr and Dunne wait nervously for the outcome of Pierron's run
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
06
It'll be a week that Ronan Dunne won't forget in a hurry
Not many downhill fans or even some of the athletes had heard of Irish downhiller Ronan Dunne before this week. They will have now! Incredibly, Dunne, finished fourth in the finals to back-up a qualification result that saw him place fifth and a timed training placing of eighth. Dunne's a relative unknown, who started racing elites in 2021 and so far on his sparing World Cup appearances he'd not shown any indication that he had such a run in him – a 17th in Les Gets in 2021 was his previous best finish.
It sure beats working on the family farm
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Remember the name – Ronan Dunne
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
07
Greg Minnaar notched up his 150th World Cup appearance
When you’ve been involved in downhill racing for as many years as Greg Minnaar you’re bound to reach racing milestones every so often and this race represented another one for the South African. It was his 150th World Cup race. Minnaar has not had the greatest of seasons so far, but here in Snowshoe he was back to his best. At one point he was on top of the podium, but then, as times became faster later on, he found himself pushed down to fifth.
Minnaar rolling back the years (again)
© Bartek Wolinski/@wolisphoto
Another rider who was celebrating a milestone was Florent Payet. This was the Frenchman’s 100th World Cup race, and he was allowed to have the 100 plate on his bike in recognition.
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