The ambitions of the Swiss riders were already apparent in the time trials to determine the starting order. Emilie Siegenthaler and Miriam Ruchti take first and third place. The men's time trial had to be postponed until Sunday morning due to a heavy thunderstorm. Lutz Weber surprisingly rides the fastest time there. Dominik Gspan is third fastest.

In the final heats, it is New Zealander Matthew Walker, who starts early, who sets a time on the track that later bites the teeth out of favorite after favorite. Slawomir Lukasik from Poland starts sixth last. The sixth-placed in the timed run improves Walker's time by over a second. Only Dominik Gspan comes close to the two, but not close enough. The Swiss athlete finishes in third place. Then all eyes are on the last starter, Lutz Weber. The man from Thun puts in a clean and fast run, but not fast enough. Weber misses out on victory by a good three seconds, but still finishes in seventh place.

Starting in the back third of the women's race, junior Tahnée Seagrave (GBR) races across the finish line with the best time. Miriam Ruchti (SUI), Zarja Cernilogar (SLO) and Emilie Siegenthaler (SUI) lined up behind each other again, but behind Seagrave's best time. Siegenthaler missed out on victory by just under two tenths of a second, but was nevertheless delighted with her podium finish. Ruchti finishes in fourth place. With Martina Brühlmann in ninth place, another Swiss woman makes it into the top ten riders.The organizers of the iXS European Downhill Cup in the small ski resort of Pila, high above the Aosta Valley, once again present a technically demanding and varied race course. The countless roots and stones demand a clean line choice even in the dry. On a wet track, it does not allow the riders to make any mistakes. If mistakes do happen, the course is very well secured to keep the risk of injury as low as possible.There are no unprotected trees on the circuit and the places where riders could fall off the track are cordoned off with safety nets. The organizers also listen to the riders when jumps and landings need to be repaired. This is a good example of the benefits of working hand in hand rather than stubbornly going against the opinions of the riders. Many an organizer can take a leaf out of the book of the organizers in Pila on these points.Full ranking list of all categories