The final race of the 2022 Downhill World Cup will be a test of nerves for Camille Balanche. The Swiss rider has a 119-point lead over world champion Valentina Höll. If the latter were to win, the Swiss rider would have to finish fourth to take the overall victory. Although she narrowly missed out on a medal after her collarbone operation at the World Championships, an improvement or the same result was far from guaranteed. Especially not when the extremely demanding course puts additional strain on the damaged muscles in her shoulder area.

In the race, however, it is not Höll who will be setting the fastest times on the difficult course near Commezzadura. France's Myriam Nicole is ahead in all intermediate times and delivers the World Championship revenge in pure form. She wins the final by over four seconds ahead of Nina Hoffmann and six seconds ahead of Höll. "It was a tough season, so this victory feels all the better. And I was also able to help Camille win the overall standings. But now I know what I need to work on for next season," says Myriam Nicole.

Balanche managed to hold her nerve and deliver a relatively clean run into the valley. She finished in last place on the podium, which on paper is her worst result of the season, but probably her most important. This secured her the overall victory, 60 points ahead of Nicole, who moved ahead of Höll with her win.

"I am overwhelmed! I had the number one starting position from the very first race and I kept it throughout the season, right to the end. It was the perfect season for me, even though I got injured, gave everything and put up with pain to achieve this. Now I'm totally empty and I'm glad it's over. It will certainly take a while to realize it all," recaps Camille Balanche.

In addition to Balanche, another Swiss rider made it to the final. Enduro Swiss champion Lisa Baumann finished eighth in the qualifiers and rode to 14th place in the final, which is also her best result in the Downhill World Cup.

Race results
Overall results

Nearly missing the sensation

In the men's race, all eyes are on qualifying winner Andreas Kolb. But before that, Britain's Bernard Kerr burns a time of 3:44.806 into the track that people like world champion Loic Bruni fail to match. Only Aaron Gwin, who finished fifth last, takes Kerr off the throne. However, Gwin does not stay in the lead for long, as his US compatriot and team colleague Dakota Norton is a good second faster.

As if things could hardly get any faster, Frenchman Loris Vergier chases down the course even faster, extending his lead from one split time to the next until the clock stops a good three seconds earlier and he wins the race. "We inspected the track very carefully and analyzed where to place the bikes so as not to make any mistakes. The next difficulty was putting the whole puzzle together in the race, which often doesn't work out perfectly - it worked out perfectly for me - I'm super happy," says Vergier.

Austrian Andreas Kolb is the last man to start the downhill and he lags behind. Initially only in fourth position, Kolb dares a lot. He skied crazy lines and actually caught up again, riding past the first Austrian men's World Cup victory at the finish, which would have been a sensation, but it was second place. And this is, after all, his personal best. It puts him in fourth place in the overall standings, ahead of Bernard Kerr and behind Finn Iles (CAN), Loris Vergier and Amaury Pierron (both FRA).

Swiss rider Lino Lehmann finished in 34th place, achieving his personal best, but putting it into perspective: "I didn't ride that well today, but the weather played into my hands. After this mixed season, that's quite ok."

His namesake Janis Lehmann was right behind him and described something similar: "I bent the pedal during my run, without it there would have been more in it. But I also had a bit of luck with the weather."

The third Swiss in the final is Yannick Bächler. It's his first World Cup after his injury break - he finishes in 42nd place with a solid run.

Race results
Overall results