Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) and Valentina Höll’s (YT Mob) series wins might have lacked the dominance of previous seasons, but the pair secured their spot at the top of the individual standings in Fort William, Scotland (UK) and stayed there to the final round in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec (Canada).
Downhill mountain biking is fast, furious, and extremely unpredictable. The courses on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series circuit are some of the most gnarly tracks on the planet, putting riders against technical terrain and terrifying jumps, while weather conditions can upend a finals run – wind and rain wreaking havoc on proceedings and ramping the difficulty up even more.
Putting together solid runs across qualifying, semi-finals and the finals requires supreme skill. Staying consistent across the season is nigh-on impossible. But in Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) and Valentina Höll (YT Mob), the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series has two athletes who can defy reality.
The pair were overall series winners in 2023, with Höll also the UCI Downhill World Champion, and entered this season as the runaway favourites. From strong starts in Fort William to fighting their way to podiums even on bad weekends, here’s how they retained their titles in 2024.
BRUNI BATTLES TO FOURTH OVERALL SERIES
Loïc Bruni only turned 30 this year, but the Frenchman has already been at the top of the sport for almost a decade, winning his first UCI Downhill World Championship in 2015 before adding another four rainbow jerseys and three overall series to his collection.
The reigning title holder got his defense off to the best possible start, breaking his winless run in Fort William to build a 35-point lead in the overall standings on Troy Brosnan (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team). In Bielsko-Biała (Poland), his second place was enough to extend his lead over the closest chaser, race winner Ronan Dunne (Mondraker Factory Racing), while his second victory of the season, in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland (Austria), saw Super Bruni build a seemingly unassailable lead of 320 points just three rounds into the series.
Minor blips in Val di Sole, Trentino (Italy) and Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) where he finished ninth and fifth respectively saw his lead eroded to 216 points by a resurgent Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction), who won both rounds. But fans’ hopes of a title battle reminiscent of the 2019 series were quashed by the series’ penultimate round in Loudenvielle - Peyragudes (France). Pierron couldn’t make it three in a row, finishing 10th to Bruni’s 4th, and the 2023 series winner had an uncatchable 311-point lead going into Mont-Sainte-Anne. When Pierron broke his metacarpal in training in Canada, the overall was guaranteed with no other rider within the maximum 400 points of Bruni. The Frenchman could take things easy on finals day, rolling home in 26th with nothing else on the line having already secured his fourth overall series.
HÖLL SHOWS GRIT TO COMPLETE BACK-TO-BACK OVERALL AND UCI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE
While Valentina Höll hasn’t been around as long as Bruni, the Austrian pinner has been just as dominant in the women’s field, winning two out of three overall series since 2021 and back-to-back UCI Downhill World Championships. Her 2023 was going to be a tough act to follow too – Höll only finishing off the podium once (in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie), and winning four out of eight rounds.
Her supremacy didn’t appear to have diminished after her team move to YT Mob in the off-season – Höll storming to victory in Fort William where she had clinched the rainbow jersey the previous summer. But a crash in her finals run in Bielsko-Biała and sixth-place finish put a dent in her lead in the individual standings – the top five separated by just 70 points.
Höll put her Polish disappointment behind her a few weeks later in Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland, scoring the maximum 400 points by winning qualifying, semi-finals and finals at her home UCI World Cup to put herself back in control of the overall. While her lead was cut in Val di Sole, Trentino by race winner Tahnée Seagrave (Canyon CLLCTV FMD), she still had a 229-point cushion entering the second half of the season.
The Brit got the better of the Austrian again in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie, shaving another five points off Höll’s lead by finishing third to her fifth. But Seagrave’s title challenge faltered in difficult conditions in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes. A slip in the second sector brought her race run crashing down, while Höll showed her steely consistency regardless of the weather to finish second behind Myriam Nicole (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) and clinch her third overall title with one round to go.
Unlike Bruni, the newly crowned three-time UCI Downhill World Champion didn’t take things easy in Mont-Sainte-Anne either, fighting her way to third and a sixth podium of the season to finish with a 418-point margin over next-best Marine Cabirou (Scott Downhill Factory).
