Valentina Höll and Finn Iles won the Downhill World Cup in Saalfelden Leogang in the Salzburg region. On a course that was drying out rapidly after heavy rainfall, the riders had to constantly adjust their line choices. While Höll clearly dominated the women’s race, Iles prevailed in an extremely close duel in the men’s event.

The race day also held historical significance. For the first time, the Elite Women’s final marked the conclusion of a Downhill World Cup. As a result, several hours elapsed between the final practice run and the decisive race. At the same time, the course changed significantly. The open upper section dried quickly in the sun, while the technical forest section remained wet, slippery, and difficult to predict for a long time.

Gracey Hemstreet set a strong early reference time but was overtaken shortly afterward by Lisa Bouladou. Frida Helena Rønning, Valentina Roa Sánchez, and Gloria Scarsi also held the lead at times. Myriam Nicole was three seconds faster than the competition at the second timing point, but lost a lot of time in the demanding forest section.

When Valentina Höll started, she left no doubt as to the outcome of the race. The Austrian posted the fastest time in every section of the course and beat Scarsi by nine seconds. Neither Anna Newkirk nor Marine Cabirou could threaten her record. For Höll, it was her third victory in the third World Cup race of the season. This makes her only the third woman to start a Downhill World Cup season with three consecutive wins. In the overall standings, she now leads Nicole by nearly three hundred points.

Elite Women Results

The race was much closer among the Elite Men. Amaury Pierron posted a strong time as the seventh rider and initially took the lead. A few minutes later, Finn Iles was less than two-tenths of a second faster. Although the Canadian only set the fastest time in the final section, he rode the most consistently over the entire course. This consistency earned him the second World Cup victory of his career in a total of 68 starts.

Ethan Craik was on course for victory for much of the race, but slipped in the forest and dropped back to sixth place. Henri Kiefer lost a lot of time in the upper section but still fought his way up to third place. Troy Brosnan finished fourth. Asa Vermette caused a moment of alarm when he was thrown from his bike after a jump at high speed. The American apparently survived the heavy crash without serious injury.

For Iles, the victory was particularly emotional. After a preseason marred by injuries, he had worked intensively over the winter to regain his former form. Now, in just the third race of the new season, he has managed to return to the top. Despite the narrow defeat, Pierron took the lead in the overall standings. He is twenty-nine points ahead of Iles.

Elite Men Results 

In the junior women’s and junior men’s races, which kicked off the day’s competition under the most challenging course conditions, Lina Frener and Jonty Williamson clearly dominated their fields. New Zealander Williamson prevailed in the junior men’s race with a lead of seven and a half seconds over Malik Boatwright. This margin was even greater than that of Valentina Höll in the elite women’s race. For Williamson, it was yet another success in a flawless season. He has won every World Cup race so far, maintaining a 100% win rate.

U19 Men's Results

In the Junior Women's category, Lina Frener made it to the top step of the World Cup podium for the first time after finishing sixth in the season opener and second in the following race. The Norco x adidas Race Division rider rode the difficult conditions with ease and won with a lead of three point four seconds over Aletha Ostgaard. The American took the lead in the overall standings with her second-place finish. She also benefited from the fact that the previous overall leader, Rosa Zierl of Cube Factory Racing, did not compete this weekend.

U19 Women's Results