The opening round of the World Cup DH, nutshelled for you
Tahenne Seagrave and Loic Bruni were the winners at the opening round of the 2019 UCI World Cup Downhill series in Maribor, Slovenia.
>>> 11 things to look out for during this UCI MTB World Cup DH series
Here are their winning runs above and below we’ve put the top 10 results in every race category…
Maribor World Cup DH results: elite men
- Loic Bruni 2:58.839
- Danny Hart 2:59.243
- Troy Brosnan 2:59.603
- Charlie Harrison 2:59.767
- Matt Walker (GBR) 3:00.449
- Aaron Gwin 3:00.734
- Amaury Pierron 3:00.896
- Mark Wallace 3:01.143
- Laurie Greenland 3:01.218
- Dekotah Norton 3:01.890
Maribor World Cup DH results: elite women
- Tahnee Seagrave 3:25.888
- Rachel Atherton 3:26.743
- Tracey Hannah 3:28.526
- Marine Caribou 3:29.430
- Monika Hrastnik 3:30.213
- Nina Hoffman 3:31.736
- Eleonora Farina 3:35.188
- Veronika Widmann 3:36.259
- Sandra Rubesam 3:38.005
- Carina Cappellari 3:38.234
Maribor World Cup DH results: junior men
- Thibaut Daprela 3:05.557
- Ethan Shandro 3:08.598
- Kye A’hern 3:09.823
- Lucas Cruz 3:11.811
- Goncalo Bandera 3:13.846
Maribor World Cup DH results: junior women
- Valentina Hoff 3:35.775
- Anna Newkirk 3:45.718
- Millie Johnset 3:45.885
- Lauryne Chappaz 4:10.125
- Ottilia Johansson Jones 4:15.406
- Leane Chardonnieras 4:17.625
Perfect start for Tahnee Seagrave
Red Bull athlete Tahnee Seagrave is revelling in her perfect start to the UCI MTB Downhill World Cup campaign, winning gold in the season opener in Maribor as she upset compatriot and reigning World Champion Rachel Atherton.
The 24 year old Brit qualified for Sunday’s final in third, but clocked 3:25.888 to claim victory by over a second from silver medallist Atherton, and well ahead of third placed Hannah Tracey.
Tahnee Seagrave, who finished second in the overall World Cup standings last year, banks 200 points in the season long campaign. Rachel Atherton, who rode on her new Atherton Bike, received 160 points for her efforts.
Bruni has won the downhill World Championship title three times, however had only won two World Cup races coming into the season opener on a drying track.
American Aaron Gwin was out to equal Greg Minnaar’s record of 21 World Cup wins, however it was two-time world champion Danny Hart that put down a storming run ninth out the gate to post a brilliant time.
Riders tried and failed to beat the Briton until Bruni started out strong to go 0.471 up on Hart after split three and 0.893 up by split four leading into the finish where he managed to pip Hart by 0.404 of a second.
Canadian Finn Iles was on for a quick time until he slid off with Gwin and leading qualifier Mark Wallace also failing to deny Frenchman Bruni his third World Cup win.
Bruni, 24, said: “From last year in Croatia when I got injured to this one, it is redemption big time. I am super happy. I normally don’t do back-to-back. Obviously the new bike is working as Finn was flying all weekend too. 29-inch front wheels are bringing me some good luck.”
In the women, Australian Tracey Hannah qualified fastest with France’s Marine Cabirou leading from home rider Monika Hrastnik heading into the final few.
Briton Seagrave was already four-and-a-half seconds up on Cabirou after split two as she went on to post a superb time of 3:25.888 that compatriot Rachel Atherton fell just short of – despite leading at split three – as Hannah dug in last down to grab a podium place.
Seagrave, 23, said: “It is an amazing feeling. Watching Rachel come down, it was so tight. You can’t go flat out into sections. It was really hard for me to remind myself to go smooth in and fast out.”
Six-time World Cup champion Atherton added: “Second race on the new bike. I have changed a lot on my set-up from the winter. Tahnée and I were really close all the way down. It was a good start to the season and it looks like it will be a pretty intense battle.