Youth took centre stage as the UCI Downhill World Cup made its highly anticipated debut at Whistler Mountain Bike Park in British Columbia, Canada, with Asa Vermette (Frameworks Racing / TRP) and Lisa Bouladou (Santa Cruz Burgtech by Goodman) topping the timesheets on a dramatic day of qualifying in the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series.
With a combined age of just 40, the pair upstaged newly crowned UCI World Champions Valentina Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) and home favourite Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate). Goldstone endured a particularly tough day on home soil, crashing on his opening qualifying run before falling short in Q2 and agonisingly missing out on Sunday’s final.
Höll likewise hit the deck at Whistler, but had already done enough to secure automatic qualification for the final. Meanwhile, Jordan Williams (Specialized Gravity) saw his lead in the Elite Men’s UCI Downhill World Cup overall standings reduced by Vermette, setting up another high-pressure showdown on Sunday.
In the junior ranks, the absence of injured Junior Men’s UCI Downhill World Cup overall winner Jonty Williamson (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) opened the door for Whistler local Jack McCredie (Frameworks Racing / TRP), who made full use of his home-track knowledge to go fastest. Aletha Ostgaard (Canyon DH Racing) led the Junior Women’s field, putting herself in the perfect position on a weekend that could see her crowned UCI Downhill World Cup overall winner.
VERMETTE TURNS UP THE PRESSURE ON WILLIAMS
If Williams listened carefully above the roar of the British Columbia crowds, he might just have heard Vermette breathing down his neck, with the battle for the Elite Men’s UCI Downhill World Cup overall title threatening to go all the way to the wire.
Even before Pivot Factory Racing’s Dylan Maples became the first man to roll down the start ramp, Whistler had already lost one of its biggest names. Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) confirmed that he would not compete as he continues his recovery from a wrist injury.
Henri Kieffer (Canyon DH Racing) set the first serious benchmark of the day with a 3:39.683, and the German held firm as a string of bigger names crossed the line. Till Alran (COMMENCAL / MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction), Luca Shaw (Canyon DH Racing) and Andreas Kolb (Santa Cruz Syndicate) all failed to dislodge him, with Kolb admitting he was “absolutely gassed” at the finish after describing the 1199 track simply as “so hard”.
Max Alran (COMMENCAL / MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) soon went one better than his brother, finding three-quarters of a second on Kieffer to move into the hot seat. Then came the most dramatic moment of the afternoon.
Goldstone was not on course to challenge Alran’s time, but looked comfortably set for a top-10 finish until the penultimate corner, where a mistimed landing sent him skidding across the track, drawing groans from the packed finish-area crowd.
With the finish line just metres away, Goldstone spent agonising minutes trying to fix his front wheel before eventually completing his run. He even found time to stop and cheer on compatriot Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity) from beside the final jump before finally crossing the line himself.
Iles also finished well down the order, capping a disappointing qualifying session for the home favourites, with no Canadian Elite Men securing direct qualification for Sunday’s final.
Williams had arrived in Whistler with a slim chance of wrapping up the Elite Men’s UCI Downhill World Cup overall title before the final round, but that prospect now appears increasingly remote after he could only manage 10th in qualifying.
The Brit conceded 35 points to Vermette, who remains his only realistic challenger for the overall title. Max Alran and Amaury Pierron (COMMENCAL / MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) also gained ground as they fight to remain mathematically in contention heading into the final round, while Troy Brosnan (Canyon DH Racing), Benoît Coulanges (Scott Downhill Factory) and Goldstone saw their title hopes officially come to an end after failing to reach the final.
There will still be plenty of maple leaves at the start gate on Sunday, however, with Jonathan Helly and Giant Factory Off-Road Team brothers Dane and Jakob Jewett flying the flag for Canada.
Oisin O’Callaghan (Trek - Unbroken DH) and mud specialist Charlie Hatton (Continental Atherton) also booked their places in their third and fourth finals of the season respectively.
BOULADOU STEALS THE SHOW IN WHISTLER
In a sign of just how treacherous conditions were, Saturday’s first starter, Valentina Roa Sánchez (MS-Racing), failed to make it to the finish, leaving Sacha Earnest to set the first ever Elite UCI Downhill World Cup time at the spiritual home of downhill racing.
The Kiwi stopped the clock at 4:46.702, an early indication of just how difficult it was to find speed on the muddy 1199 trail. Moments later, Gracey Hemstreet (Norco X adidas Race Division) gave the home crowd something to cheer about, going 7.5 seconds faster than Earnest to set the first truly competitive benchmark of the day.
Harriet Harnden (AON Racing) admitted to making plenty of mistakes on her run, but still did enough to slot into second behind Hemstreet. She held that position when Valentina Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) crossed the line in provisional third, remarkably keeping her run alive despite the UCI World Champion sliding out earlier on the course.
Several riders threatened Hemstreet’s advantage, going faster through the opening two time checks only to lose time or crash further down the mountain. Lisa Bouladou finally pieced it all together, carrying her advantage all the way to the finish to take over the hot seat by more than three seconds.
A number of big names followed the Frenchwoman, including Orbea FMD Racing duo Tahnée Seagrave and Phoebe Gale, but only Eliana Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Syndicate) managed to get within a second of Bouladou, who topped an Elite UCI Downhill World Cup qualifying session for the first time.
Hulsebosch also recorded the best qualifying result of her career, meaning the final two riders down the ramp on Sunday will both find themselves in unfamiliar territory. They will know, however, that qualifying is only half the battle. Höll had been almost four seconds faster than anyone else at the final time check before losing time later in her run, a clear warning of the pace the UCI World Champion could bring to the final.
Elite Women’s Q2 proved considerably less dramatic than the men’s, with all of the biggest names safely progressing to Sunday’s final, led by Seagrave.
OSTGAARD EYES THE CROWN AS MCCREDIE SHINES AT HOME
Aletha Ostgaard will be crowned Junior Women’s UCI Downhill World Cup overall winner on Sunday unless Lina Frener (Norco x adidas Race Division) can reduce her 85-point deficit to within 60 points of the American.
Ostgaard made the perfect start to the weekend in Whistler, topping qualifying by 1.6 seconds from Tilly Boadle (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres). Frener could only manage ninth, while the only other rider still in mathematical contention, Rosa Jensen (Specialized Gravity), was absent with a thumb injury.
Also missing from qualifying was Jonty Williamson (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team), who has already secured the Junior Men’s overall title but is sidelined after fracturing his wrist at the UCI World Championships. His absence opened the door for Whistler local Jack McCredie (Frameworks Racing / TRP), who used his home-track knowledge to full effect in a fiercely contested session.
McCredie edged Levin Klausmann by just a quarter of a second, despite the German leading at three of the four intermediate splits, while Noé Forlin finished only half a second off the pace.
There will be little time to celebrate for Bouladou, Vermette, McCredie and Ostgaard, however, with all four back in action on Sunday for the penultimate UCI Downhill World Cup finals of the season.
The Junior Women get an action-packed day underway at 11:30 local time, before the Elite Men bring the weekend to a close at 14:10 (local time).
For full broadcast details and start times, click here.
