Tahnée Seagrave and Loïc Bruni won the elite races at the opening round of the UCI DH World Cup in Poland
Tahnée Seagrave of Orbea/FMD Racing and Loïc Bruni of Specialized Gravity claimed the elite wins in the first round of the 2025 UCI Downhill World Cup. With epic conditions and plenty of talking points, Poland’s second time on the calendar didn’t disappoint.
It was the first race weekend featuring the new qualifying format, with some big names almost not making the cut. Here’s how it went down in Bielsko-Biała.
Myrium Nicole tackles the muddy conditions. Credit: WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series / Red Bull Content Pool
Qualifying
Elite women
It looked like business as usual for Vali Höll (YT Mob) in the elite women’s category as she stormed to the top of the leaderboard in Q1, with Seagrave on her Orbea prototype over 1.5 seconds behind. Harriet Harnden (AON Racing – Tourne Campervans) was a surprise third in Q1 as she followed up on her win in the Enduro World Series last week with a strong showing here.
In Q2, the fight for the 5 remaining spots was on. With the rain setting in for Q2, riders were treated to slightly different conditions compared to Q1, although it would pre-empt the conditions riders would see on race day. Lisa Baumann (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres), European champion topped the Q2 leaderboard, with Anna Newkirk (Frameworks Racing/5DEV) and Veronika Widmann (Mondraker Factory Racing DH) within 8.5 seconds of her.
Bruni starts his season with a dominant win. Credit: Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series
Elite men
The men’s Q1 offered a few more upsets than the women’s, with 10 previous World Cup winners not making it through to finals immediately. Super Bruni topped the table with Oliver Davis (Trek Factory Racing DH) and Ryan Pinkerton (Mondraker Factory Racing DH) within 1.5 seconds of the Frenchman.
But big names like Troy Brosnan (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team), Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity), Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Muc-Off By Riding Addiction) and Loris Vergier (Commencal/Muc-Off By Riding Addiction) had to fight through Q2 to earn their spots in the finals.
The Orbea prototype bike broke cover today. Credit: WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series / Red Bull Content Pool
Elite women
Move over sunshine, Poland decided to show off its best fake winter in the middle of May for finals day. Riders were treated to freezing cold temperatures, rain, a bit of snow, and barely any visibility – particularly earlier in the day for the elite women.
American Anna Newkirk was fourth rider on the track and she remained in the hot seat with a 3:36.051 until second-to-last Seagrave put down a stellar time with her new Orbea – which, she later unveiled beneath the cover on the podium. Seagrave didnt’ have a plain sail to victory, though. She lost over a second in the fourth sector but managed to hold on despite her brakes suffering in the muddy conditions and take her first victory of the year.
Seagrave celebrates her first win of 2025. Credit: Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series
“Because of the conditions my brakes weren’t working very well so I think that helped,” she said. “You’ve just got to make the best of it, I kept pumping the brake to make it work. I had a little sketchy moment at the end because I forgot to do that, but glad I managed to put it together.”
Nina Hoffmann (Santa Cruz Syndicate) finished 4.7 seconds back to round out the top 3, but pre-race favourite Höll could only manage 5th place at 7.4 seconds back.
But perhaps the bigger story was the ‘what could have been’ from Harriet Harnden. She qualified with the 3rd fastest time in Q1, and when it came to her race run she was somewhat hampered. First by a crash, but after she got back on her bike she was then impeded by someone running down the track in front of her. Sadly she wasn’t given a second attempt at a race run, but it’s good to see she’s in good form for the rest of the season.
Full results:
- Tahnée Seagrave: 3:34.340
- Anna Newkirk: +1.711
- Nina Hoffmann: +4.735
- Camille Balanche: +5.495
- Vali Höll: +7.477
The men’s elite podium. Well, the top 3. Credit: Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series
Elite men
The track began to dry for the men but by dry we mean it went from ‘bog’ to ‘mud’. If it was a horse racing meet, the guy with the stick would have declared the ground soft to soft in places. After a controversial qualifying where he appeared to ride outside of the track briefly, Pierron set a super fast time, having to wait for Irishman Oisin O’Callaghan (YT Mob) to set a faster run.
Several riders looked like they were on for heater runs, like Ronan Dunne (Mondraker Factory Racing DH) but an unfortunate crash took him out of the running.
And the only man to go faster than Mr. Mud, O’Callaghan? The one and only Super Bruni, who didn’t seem to put a foot wrong. Also worth noting is the return to the World Cup and podium for Richie Rude (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team).
O’Callaghan spoke about Bruni’s race-winning run after the event, and said:
“It definitely gets the heart racing more than the run. Woah it was tight, I was on the edge of the seat but good start, can’t complain really.”
Full results:
- Loic Bruni: 3:04.867
- Oisin O’Callaghan: +0.156
- Amaury Pierron: +0.808
- Richie Rude: +1.596
- Thibaut Daprela: +2.019
The next round of the DH World Cup will take place in Loudenvielle – Peyragudes on 30 May.