Höll and Bruni successfully defend overall Downhill titles
Austria’s Valentina Höll and Loïc Bruni of France both successfully defended their UCI MTB World Cup Downhill titles in Loudenvielle as Myriam Nicole celebrated her first victory in more than two years.
Höll and the other riders were met with tough conditions on Sunday as there was thick cloud cover at the top of the course but that didn’t stop Phoebe Gale from delivering a stunning run, going three seconds faster than Tahnee Seagrave’s top qualifying time.
Austria’s Höll, who last week became a three-time world champion with victory at the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, then set the time to beat as she went 3.6 seconds faster than Gale. That proved too quick for both Nina Hoffman and Marine Cabirou who were unable to find the same kind of speed.
Next up was Nicole who gradually built momentum throughout her run, putting together a remarkable lower section as she went 1.1 seconds faster than Höll to claim the hot seat with just two riders remaining.
Elise Empey never looked like threatening the lead as she had to settle for seventh, while Segrave was fastest through the first split before suffering a crash and being unable to recover time in wet conditions in Loudenvielle.
That meant Nicole was able to claim victory on home soil. There was also plenty for Höll to celebrate as her second-place finish was enough for her to win the overall downhill title for the third time in four years and with one race to spare.
In the men’s elite event, Benoit Coulanges claimed a second World Cup victory as he went 2.2 seconds faster than Reece Wilson who had to settle for second. Andreas Kolb claimed third place, while Bruni finished in fourth.
That was enough for the French rider to claim the overall series title for a fourth time, having also won it in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Header image: Vali Höll performs at UCI DH World Cup in Loudenvielle, France on September 08, 2024. Credit: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
