No quicker had the thrills of the opening round died down that the circus made the trip through the Swiss and Austrian alps to Leogang. Passing through the microstate of Lichtenstein (you can drive through the country in literally 10 minutes) the team trucks traversed the Austrian Tyrol with its rocky peaks and famous ski resorts before landing safely in the Salzburg region. Home to abundant green pasture lands and picturesque mountain views in whichever direction you looked.
The second round of the downhill series would be the first triple header of the year. DH, XC and EDR all in one place, all celebrating the simple joys of riding a bike. As such, the schedule is pretty rammed, with multiple events happening on the same day. The small town of Leogang really has been taken over by mountain biking, but despite this, the lifts remain open to the public and it’s great to see bikes of all shapes and sizes together in one place.
Day 1 took the same format as the last round; track-walk in the morning and junior practice in the afternoon. After the “all guns blazing start” of the first round, the junior men had calmed down a little and were taking things more sensibly. Perhaps they were a little tired after the first week of racing, perhaps they were a week wiser. Only they will know. Chris Hauser of The Union was looking confident with a win under his belt, but with riders such as Kuhn, Kiefer, Pinkerton and Jewett hot on his heels, he would have to keep a level head and play it smart. Frenchman Hugo Marini wasn’t present on the first day of practice, he had some school exams to pass (it’s not all rock&roll being a junior!). Given his third place in Lenzerheide, despite an altercation with a tree pad, he would be keen for revenge.
On day 2 spectators would have the choice between DH practice, junior qualifying, XCO practice, the XCC U23 short track race and, last but not least, a full day of enduro racing. Whatever they chose, they and the riders would be greeted with the same dry, dusty hard-pack conditions as the previous day. The morning started with Group B practice and the track soon started showing signs of wear and tear; braking bumps, ruts and loose gravel could be seen in key areas of the course. The Elite Women were keen to get on track and figure out some lines in the steeper sections, whereas the juniors were looking to perfect theirs and save energy for the afternoons qualifying round. Speaking of which, it was a carbon copy of round 1 results for the women, with Erice Van Leuven coming in ahead of Valentina Roa Sanchez and Lisa Bouladou. Only 0.9 seconds separated the top two. Could we see a position change come finals day? Aimi Kenyon of Pinkbike racing is looking super consistent, bettering her last round result in 4th place. For the junior men, it would be Henri Kiefer of the Canyon CLLCTV Pirelli team who came out on top, followed closely, of course, by Bodhi Kuhn of Trek Factory Racing. Teagan Cruz slotted into third ahead of Jewett and Pinkerton. Hauser would have to settle for 7th place. Was he taking it easy and saving some for finals? Back to practice, and the Group A men soon got the mountainside (and everyone trackside) covered in clouds of dust. Some are hoping for a spot of rain before finals, just to dampen things down a tad. It really wouldn’t go a miss. Things could get pretty interesting if it were a downpour though. Kade Edwards was one to get caught out by the conditions, while other teams were setting up timing to find the quickest lines. A lot of the men were having fun, throwing shapes down the motorway jumps and finding gaps in the steeps.
Day 3, where to begin. The day started out much like the others until a sprinkling of rain would sew doubt in the minds of many. Given the dust on track, the first spots of rain didn’t do any harm. They were absorbed quicker than the fastest junior men (that’s pretty damn quick). Group A and B practice went on just fine with the sun out but with clouds passing at some speed. Trackside, hundreds of local school kids were cheering on the racer. Friday is school kids day apparently; it seems like a great way of getting younger fans into the sport. The junior women were the first to ride against the clock and did so without any interruption from the weather. French junior Bouladou would claim her first world cup victory and take the leaders jersey, 5 seconds ahead of Kenyon. The Brit was riding well all week and will be stoked with her 2nd place finish. This result boosts her into third place in the overall, just 5 points off Roa Sanchez. The Transition rider failed to capitalise on last weeks second place result and rolled over the line into 4th, but would remain in second overall, 15 points behind Bouladou. Fastest qualifier Van Leuven came a cropper in the top section and unfortunately ended up with a dnf. This would mean that she dropped down to sixth in the overall standings.
For the junior men, the rain would interrupt play. Frenchman Leo Abella, 18th qualifier, would be last to come down before any major weather came in, and in doing so would secure his first world cup win, and the second French win of the day. High winds and rain brought the racing to a standstill for a good 30 minutes before William Pope would get things rolling again. For the likes of Jewett, Pinkerton and Cruz, track conditions meant it would need something special to better Abella’s time. It wasn’t until Kiefer came down into a provisional 3rd place that things got exciting. Maybe Abella could be beaten? Marini and Hauser both failed to better Abella, so it was left up to Kuhn to pick up the pieces. Putting down a solid run despite the conditions, the Trek rider managed to snatch 2nd place and jump to the top of the overall standings.
Next up was Elite Women’s qualifying. All eyes were on the weather radars, as well as last weeks winner Atherton. One by one the ladies came down with track conditions drying up nicely. You’d be forgiven for thinking it hadn’t rained. Widmann, Hemstreet, Gale, Cabirou, Seagrave; all the usual suspects were putting in decent times. But it was Hoffmann, Balanche and Holl, sitting in 3rd, 2nd and 1st respectively, that were waiting for Atherton to cross the line. It’s always a pleasure watching the women race as you can just feel the camaraderie they have for each other. They need not worry for the moment though, as Atherton only managed 6th place. There would still be time to change things around tomorrow.
I have to admit, I don’t ever remember a race being stopped due to weather. But today it happened twice. This time for the Elite Men. It would really mix things up for the semis on Saturday. Some protected riders like Minnaar would finish way down the pack, while Italian rider Davide Palazzari would qualify first, ahead of Madison Saracen rider Matt Walker and unknown Frenchman Ian Guionnet. Here’s hoping the weather holds of tomorrow and things can get back to normal for the elite men.
Day 4 – elite riders race day. After a wet night, riders would be met with a cloudy morning and slightly damp track. The first few practice runs of the morning were a little tentative, but the sun soon burnt off the clouds and dried out the track. The Austrian fans were on the hill early, bringing with them maximum support for home riders Holl and Kolb. Before we knew it, practice gave way to the women’s semi-final. Much like Lenzerheide, 15 riders would be narrowed down to 10. After putting down a good qualifying time, Seagrave would miss out on finals by a couple of seconds. Ferguson, Rønning, Parton and Newark would join her. Holl kept the top spot, with Hoffmann and Balanche around 5 seconds back. In the mens semis, it was again 60 down to 30. After the previous days qualifying chaos, the start list looked a bit more normal again, with Iles, Bruni and Brosnan at the top. Finals were epic. The Austrian duo of Holl and Kolb laid down the magic and brought home a double win for the home crowd. Legonag delivered
Leogang 2023 done and, well and truly, dusted. Time for a well earned break for the riders after two weeks of non stop racing. It will be interesting to see if any teams make adjustments to their schedules now they are a little more accustomed to the new racing format. See you all in Italy in just over a week for more of the same!