Dunne triumphs ahead of Maes and Kolb

Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) felt the pressure of being the overall leader for the first time in France. After a crash in qualifying, he had to enter the final via the second qualifying run. However, he crashed again there and only finished in sixteenth place.

First, Troy Brosnan from the Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team set the first mark. The Australian, who was competing in his hundredth World Cup race, took great risks on the course and took a clear lead.

However, Austrian Andreas Kolb from YT Mob was able to undercut Brosnan. But then Martin Maes from the Orbea FMD Racing Team looked set to take the win. With a strong finish, he narrowly ousted Kolb from first place.

However, Ronan Dunne topped the times of his predecessors in the upper section of the course and stormed to his second World Cup victory. Maes finished second behind Dunne, with Kolb in third. Loic Bruni (FRA, Specialized Gravity) had to settle for fifth place, but remains Goldstone's closest pursuer in the overall classification.

Results

Hemstreet once again prevails against Höll

Marine Cabirou took advantage of the early starting conditions and took the lead in the meantime. And that is impressive, as the Frenchwoman had just returned from her injury break to merely "give it a go" in Les Gets. Tahnée Seagrave (GBR) from the Orbea FMD Racing Team then attacked strongly and was three seconds ahead of Cabirou, but lost a lot of time in the lower section and dropped back.

Nina Hoffmann (GER) from the Santa Cruz Syndicate and Jess Blewitt (NZL) from the Cube Factory Racing Team crashed and were unable to intervene in the decision. It once again came down to a duel between Hemstreet and Höll.

The reigning world champion Valentina Höll produced a strong ride through the upper section of the course, but was unable to maintain her lead in the final part. Hemstreet took her fourth win of the season with a furious finish, Cabirou came second and Höll dropped back to third place just behind her.

Höll is still in the lead in the overall standings, but only 59 points ahead of Hemstreet.

Results

Alran with best time of the day

Rosa Zierl showed nerves of steel in the junior women's race. After setting a clear best time, it looked as though Aletha Ostgaard from the Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team could still beat her. However, the American lost her bearings in the lower section and had to come off her bike, dropping back to second place. Cassandre Peizerat was also unable to keep up. The victory thus went to the young Austrian ahead of Ostgaard and Peizerat.

With Lina Frener in fourth place, another Austrian showed a solid performance, as did Gianna Nef. The Swiss racer finished in fifth place.

Results

In the junior race, Max Alran celebrated an impressive victory. The Frenchman was in front at every stage and rode to the finish four seconds faster than Asa Vermette (USA) from the Frameworks Racing Team. Third place went to the New Zealander Tyler Waite from the Yeti Fox Factory Race Team, who fought back after a weak qualification. Alran completed the course in 3:56.199 minutes and was even faster than elite winner Dunne with 3:56.586. Even if the time differences and the number of riders make these times not quite comparable, Alran's performance is still huge and shows what the U19 riders are already capable of.

Results

With his victory, Alran further extended his lead in the overall standings, with Zierl now 65 points ahead of Ostgaard at the top of the junior rankings.

Outlook

After the thrilling races in Les Gets, the next stage of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series follows in a few weeks' time. The riders will first compete at the World Championships in Valais before the next World Cup points are up for grabs in Lenzerheide in the Swiss Bike Kingdom.

mtbworldcup.ch