Lenzerheide provided an incredible start to the 2023 season as it kicked off the downhill season with dramatic and exhilarating racing that will be remembered for years to come. After the long off-season, it was great to be back to proper World Cup racing and we can’t wait for the next round.
Before things kick off later this week in Leogang for round two, here are a few things we spotted from the opening round of the DH series.
The Queen of Downhill is Back
It’s impossible to imagine how hard it must have been for Rachel Atherton to make her return to the tape this weekend in Lenzerheide after already achieving so much and being one of the sport’s greatest riders. While Rachel has admitted she found it hard last week, the speed was clearly there when tested against the clock as she secured 2nd in both qualifying and semi-finals behind hard-charging 2022 series champion Camille Balanche. When it came to finals you could have thought we had gone back to Rachel’s dominant period in downhill as she looked unstoppable on the Swiss course and held the overall lead through every split to the bottom and take home the win in incredible fashion. We can’t wait to hopefully see more of Rachel at races this year.
A Lot of Time Was Left on the Track
One stat we spotted while analysing the potential perfect run in Lenzerheide was the large amount of time that could have been picked up by the riders. In the Elite Women’s race, the top three were separated by just 0.787 seconds and from combining the fastest split times we found there to be a perfect run that was 2.809 seconds fastest than the final winning time of Rachel Atherton. The largest amount of time seems to have been lost in the final three splits where none of the top three Elite Women held the fastest time. It was first-year Elite Gracey Hemstreet who seemed to master the bottom splits as she went fourth at split three before winning the final two splits. Split times in finals could be very interesting to follow this season as riders become fatigued from the short rest time between semi-finals and finals.
Looking at the Elite Men’s racing we see slightly different results as the eventual top three traded bows down the course with Loic Bruni winning split one and three, Jordan taking split two and five then Loris Vergier going quickest at split four. Overall there was a 1.409-second gap between Jordan’s winning time and the perfect run, as the top five were separated by a second this is not an insignificant amount of time. One similarity to the Elite Women is that Jordan’s performance in the final splits seems to have been what clenched him the win. Jordan went 2nd in sector four before winning the final part of the track to the finish line. Whether this is fatigue from multiple race runs or just Jordan being better suited to this part of the track will be tested in Leogang this weekend. Riders will have to face a similar tough schedule but on a track that is a decent bit longer than the course in Lenzerheide.
You can view our full analysis of the Elite’s racing in Lenzerheide here.
Jordan Williams and Jackson Goldstone are the Real Deal
A lot of the discourse heading into this season was whether Jordan Williams and Jackson Goldstone were real threats for the usual top Elite riders. Past years have seen the two young riders come close and even beat the fastest Elite times, but given the different timing of the Junior races we were never given a true direct comparison. Lenzerheide finally got the two rapid first-year Elite riders up alongside the World’s best and they truly delivered with Jordan winning finals along with taking 6th in Qualifying and 9th in semi-finals. Sadly we weren’t able to see a fully up-to-speed Jackson. Given the young Canadian is not at 100% an 11th in qualifying followed by 7th in semis and 6th in finals shows he is going to be right up there with Jordan once he is back to full health. Jordan has already reached the heights of Nico Vouilloz as he took the win during his first Elite year and we are excited to see where he goes from here.
A Great Weekend for Specialized
Similar to the Yeti team’s dominance at the second round of the Enduro World Cup in Derby the opening round was very much Specialized’s weekend as they took the win in the Elite Men’s semi-final followed by 1st, 3rd and 5th in finals. It was interesting to see that race winner Jordan Williams is not yet on the top-secret prototype being ridden by Loic Bruni and Finn Iles although we have heard he is riding a slightly modified version of the current Demo.
Juniors Finally Get Broadcast Coverage
After years of Junior downhill racing being represented by numbers on a screen, it was amazing to finally have a live broadcast. While for some the jury is still out on the new production from Warner Bros. Discovery you have to give them credit for finally offering a chance to watch the Juniors, and at no cost. The new schedule does make it a tough week for the younger riders having practice straight after the track walk and being the first riders going against the clock with a Thursday qualifying session. Having a Junior rider on a team does seem pretty useful this season as they get to try out the course a day before the Elites. Hopefully, this may see more of the top teams bring on a few more younger riders in the coming years.
