Schurter with victory number 35, Goldstone wins Downhill
Nino Schurter puts the pressure on right from the start. In the first of six laps, a four-man lead group forms around him with Alan Hatherly (RSA), Luca Schwarzbauer (DE) and Sam Gaze (NZL). At the end of the second lap, Gaze and Schwarzbauer fall victim to Schurter's pace dictates, only the South African Hartherly is able to follow him. Behind the German-New Zealand chasing duo, the other chasers lined up like a string of pearls. Among them are numerous Swiss, such as Lars Forster, Mathias Flückiger, Vital Albin and Thomas Litscher. Gaze now mixes with the large group, in which Flückiger is now putting more and more pressure on, and soon Schwarzbauer is also caught.
The two leaders are over 40 seconds ahead of their rivals at the start of the fourth lap, but now Hatherly is no longer able to keep up with Schurter. Almost at the same time, Flückiger says goodbye to his rivals and replaces Hatherly as the first chaser one lap later. Even if Flückiger is able to shorten the gap a little, world champion Schurter rides to World Cup victory number 35. The strong Vlad Dascalu (ROU) sprints to third place behind Flückiger, with Hatherly still in fifth place. Lars Forster takes ninth place, Luca Schwarzbauer drops out of the top 10 due to a defect.
"After my victory in Lenzerheide, everything was a bit too much, which is why not much was possible in Leogang. But I knew that my form is very good, my equipment is at an incredibly high level and everything can come together again here on this technical course," says Schurter, while Flückiger talks about a starting position: "As in Leogang, I had a bad start, but I didn't think it would turn out so well. But I just rode my pace, taking it lap by lap, which was the key to this success."
Pieterse doubles up
Puck Pieterse (NED) is unstoppable in the women's race in Val Di Sole Trentino. The 21-year-old leads for almost the entire five-lap race. By the second lap, her pursuers Pauline Ferand-Prevot (FRA), Italy's Martina Berta and Laura Stigger (AUT) were already more than 40 seconds behind, with Rebecca Henderson (AUS) and Alessandra Keller a little further back.
While the Dutchwoman is doing her laps alone, Henderson catches up with Stigger. World champion Ferran-Prevot drops back to fifth place and tries to recover from her crash alongside Keller. But the two are joined by Jolanda Neff, her teammate Evie Richards (GBR), Jenny Rissveds (SWE) and Mona Mitterwallner (AUT).
Martina Berta tries to defend her lead of almost 20 seconds against Stigger and Henderson in the final lap. The fact that Pieterse loses around 15 seconds to Berta is no longer relevant. Nevertheless, she wins with a clear lead over the Italian and Rebecca Hendeson, who is back on the podium. Jolanda Neff is rewarded for her race to catch up after a defect with sixth place, while Alessandra Keller has to make do with eleventh place.
"I decided to press on the gas from the start. This tactic sounds banal, but it worked very well. On the last lap, I still had difficulties on the difficult climb, but luckily I had enough of a lead," recaps Pieterse, who didn't even mind missing a water bottle.
From child star to World Cup winner
Who remembers the video of little Jackson Goldstone who once rode his kickbike to kindergarten? This very Jackson Goldstone wins his first elite World Cup race in Val di Sole!
There are few race courses more intimidating than the infamous "Black Snake" of Val di Sole, and on Saturday it showed its teeth again in the third round of the UCI Downhill World Cup.
The elite women are enjoying the best conditions as the Valley of the Sun lives up to its name. Valentina Höll (AUT) shows the rest of the field how to tame this notorious course. After riding the fastest time in the semi-final, she also impresses in the final with a lead of almost three seconds. Swiss champion Camille Balanche was unable to keep up with her pace and had to settle for second place, while Jess Blewitt (NZL) achieved her best race result to date with third place.
Switzerland's Lisa Baumann rides into the top 10 for the first time with eighth place, after surprising with fifth place in qualifying and confirming her performance with seventh place in the semi-finals.
With five races still to go this season, Balanche continues to lead the overall standings ahead of Höll in second place and Rachel Atherton (GBR) in third place.
No decisive change in the weather
In the afternoon, rain showers caused a stir in the elite men's race. Bernard Kerr (GBR), who starts the race early, enjoys a long time in the hot seat after a heavy downpour makes the middle section of the course particularly challenging. But when the sun comes out again, the times tumble again.
It is Canadian Jackson Goldstone who makes the most of the rapidly changing conditions to take his first victory in the elite class. His compatriot Finn Iles comes close to him, but misses out on victory by a good two seconds in the end. Frenchman Thibaut Daprela completes the top three with a very wild ride, narrowly avoiding a crash.
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.