Marine Cabirou (Scott Downhill Factory) and Oisin O’Callaghan (YT Mob) tamed the savage rocks and roots of Snowshoe, USA to taste victory in the penultimate round of the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup.
But in the women’s race, a third place for World Champion Valentina Höll (Rockshox Trek Race Team) was enough to secure the Austrian the 2023 World Cup series title ahead of the final round in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada next weekend.
On the day though it was Cabirou who made it two World Cup wins in a row with a faultless performance that saw her cross the line just three-tenths of a second ahead of Nina Hoffman (Santa Cruz Syndicate). The French rider’s win leaves her third overall in the series but narrows the points gap to second-placed Hoffman to just 29 with 250 points on offer in the season finale.
And in the men’s race it was a stunning debut elite win for Ireland’s Oisin O’Callaghan whose impressive victory makes it seven winners in seven races so far in the 2023 season.
A breathtaking run for O'Callaghan's countryman Ronan Dunne (Continental Nukeproof Factory) clinched an historic one-two for Ireland. The USA’s Dakotah Norton (Intense Factory Racing) ended up third after crossing the line to a rapturous reception from the frenzied home fans.
Fastest in qualifying and the semi finals, last man down the hill Loic Bruni (Specialized Gravity) crashed in the critical lower rock garden and ended up in 26th. The Frenchman still leads the series going into the final round next weekend but with 250 points still on offer the title battle will go down to the wire with four riders still in the running.
Full results and standings are here
The juniors raced yesterday and it was an impressive win for UCI World Champion Erice Van Leuven (Commencal Les Orres) who held onto a wild run to beat the USA’s Taylor Ostgaard (Transition Factory Racing) by just under six seconds. Ostgaard’s Transition team mate Colombian Valentina Roa Sanchez was third. Roa Sanchez leads France’s Lisa Bouladou by just 15 points going into the final round of the series at Mont-Sainte-Anne.
And in the junior men, the home nation’s Ryan Pinkerton (GT-Continental Factory Racing) secured the 2023 series overall title with his fourth win in four World Cups. The 18-year-old was just three-tenths of a second faster than countryman Evan Medcalf (Evolve Racing) who was imperious through the super-technical lower rock garden. In third was France’s Mylann Falquet (Pinkbike Racing).
Full results and standings are here
The downhill stars will be back in World Cup action next weekend in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada with racing starting on Thursday, October 5.
The Snowshoe World Cup continues on Sunday with the Cross-country Olympic races starting with the U23 men at 9am.
You can follow the U23 action live on UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel: from 08:45 EDT and then the elite racing live on GCN+ globally, and across Europe on the Eurosport app and discovery+ from 12:45 EDT
