Whoever thought he was a one-hit wonder will be proven wrong at the World Cup race in Leogang, Austria. Fort Willam winner Amaury Pierron is not. With third place in the qualifying race, the Frenchman showed that he is once again a force to be reckoned with. In the main race, it is then last year's overall World Cup winner Aaron Gwin who occupies the hot seat for a long time - until Pierron is on his way.

In the split times, Gwin and Pierron alternate with the virtual lead and at the second last split time, the American is in front. At the last measurement before the finish, the lead changes again and the tension is at its peak. However, there are no more changes and Amaury Pierron wins, just half a second ahead of Gwin and a further six tenths of a second ahead of Brit Laurie Greenland.

The Swiss were already unlucky in qualifying, except for Basil Weber. In 50th place, the man from Laax was the only Swiss to make it into the main race on Sunday. He finished 51st - his best World Cup result to date. "I had a few mistakes in my run, but nothing major, and in the technical passages I just rode too cautiously," Weber describes his run and adds: "Next I have to figure out how to lose less time from the start to the middle of the course, because things usually go better from the halfway point onwards. Once I'm fully accustomed to the big wheels (Weber rides on 29-inch wheels) then I'll be fine."

Atherton wins again

Tahnee Seagrave takes the lead in the women's qualification. Last year's winner thus underpins her ambitions to defend her title. Two places behind her, Emilie Siegenthaler surprises with third place. Another surprise comes from enduro specialist Carolin Gehrig. In her World Cup debut, she qualifies for the main race in eleventh place as the second-best Swiss rider, with a run that, according to Gehrig, did not offer much hope of a good result.

With Carina Cappellari in twelfth place and Camille Balanche in 15th place, four Swiss women qualified for the main race on Sunday - the highest number for a long time. Rachel Atherton, who won everything in the 2016 season without a gap, only finished 16th due to a crash, but is still in the main race due to her protected status.

The Brit then starts tenth in the main race and, as expected, takes a seat in the hot seat. She stayed there until the end, as Seagrave, the last starter, rode herself out and was even disqualified afterwards for leaving the race track. Frenchwoman Myriam Nicole comes closest to Atherton's time. She was just six tenths of a second off Atherton's throne. Australia's Tracey Hannah came third.

Emilie Siegenthaler rides a good race - her best of the season - but is somewhat muted about her performance: "I was a bit lucky today. I felt better on the wet track, but it was dry as dust today. My run was good, but I probably didn't risk enough for a better time. At the moment I feel great on the bike and I'm looking forward to the next two weeks with Crankworks and the World Cup in Val di Sole."

Carina Cappellari improved significantly in the race compared to qualifying and rode to a good ninth place. "My run was pretty good. I slowed down a bit at the top, but then I was able to make good progress at the bottom," says Cappellari, analyzing her race, adding happily: "I'm super happy to finally be back in the top 10 after not managing that for over a year."

No race despite qualifying

Carolin Gehrig's first World Cup race in eight years can be described as unlucky. The fact that she qualified for the main race in the strongest field of racers to date and without any World Cup experience is a remarkable achievement. However, the Flims native did not make it to the main race. In a fall on Sunday morning, she bruised her left hip and was barely able to stay on her feet. Despite all her efforts to be fit to race again at the start, she had to give up: "The pain was one thing, but the strength in my left leg was practically gone. So a start would have been dangerous," says Gehrig disappointedly.

Camille Balanche, on the other hand, has reason to be happy. The Frenchwoman also qualified at her first World Cup event and rode to 13th place in the race. "I'm already happy that I was able to ride the final at all. I tried to ride safely today and hit the lines that I messed up in qualifying. I made a mistake in the technical forest section and before I could think, I was on the ground. But then I jumped back on as quickly as possible and carried on. I'm very happy with my 13th place."

Klaus with best performance, Höll with third victory

In the junior women's race, Austria's Valentina Höll takes her third World Cup victory in a row. This time, however, the 17-year-old no longer believes she can win - she crashes in the "Motoway" section. Nevertheless, Höll is still 15 seconds faster than second-placed Nastasia Gimenez from France. Despite the crash, the Austrian would have finished seventh in the elite with her time.

The only rider who came quite close to Höll in qualifying with just under five seconds was Anna Newkirk from Riehen BL. In the race, however, she suffered a crash and a puncture. In the end, she finished fourth, just five seconds behind third-placed Ottilia Johansson Jones from Sweden.

In the juniors, Australian Kye A'Hern wins for the second time after Fort William and also takes the lead in the overall standings. Swiss rider Janosch Klaus improved by one place compared to qualifying and finished sixth - his best result to date. "I wasn't riding at the limit, but I was still able to push well. I only made a small mistake towards the end after which I came to a very brief standstill. But all in all, my run was very good and I'm very happy with my race," summarized the 17-year-old.

However, Klaus is not the only Swiss to make it into the top ten. Elia Saurer took a good 13th place in the qualifying. The 18-year-old improved again in the main race and finished tenth.