Bike
MTB
This is what went down at the thrilling Lousã downhill World Cup finals
The 2020 Mercedes-Benz UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup concluded with a double-header racing weekend in Lousã, Portugal. Watch the action, check the replays and get the race reports here.
After packing the 2020 Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season into one month of racing, we're at the last stop in Lousã, Portugal, with a double-round for the downhillers. There's all to play for, with titles waiting to be claimed in overall World Cup standings for both the Elite Women and Elite Men.
World Cup Number 3
- Women’s DH World Cup Final 1 – watch the replay
- Men’s DH World Cup Final 1 – watch the replay
World Cup Number 4
- Women’s DH World Cup Final 2 – watch the Replay
- Men’s DH World Cup Final 2 – watch the Replay
World Cup 4 Elite Women's final
Women's DH final 2 – Lousã
Watch the second women's downhill final at the 2020 UCI MTB World Cup season finale in Lousã, Portugal.
It was all to fight for in the final World Cup of the season, as there could only be one winner in the close race for the overall title. French riders Myriam Nicole and Marine Cabirou were going head-to-head for the illustrious title, with just 50 points separating them ahead of the final race.
The track had been taped with tighter lines for this race, small but significant changes when you don't have much time for practice.
Time for the final race of the year
© Bartek Wolinski
Myriam makes her own tree gym
© Bartek Wolinski
Nicole works on her coordination
© Bartek Wolinski
Marine Cabirou was challenging Myriam Nicole for the overall title
© Bartek Wolinski
Nicole crashed heavily in qualifying, meaning that she came down the mountain very early on in proceedings. Going for her second overall title, she needed to go fast to guarantee she achieved a time faster than Cabirou. Having dominated the course on Friday, Nicole rode smoothly down the course, but her run did lack the aggression of Friday's winning ride, with speculation that she was potentially still shaken up from her qualifying crash. Setting a strong time, it looked like Nicole would be in the hot-seat for a while.
Myriam Nicole appeared early on in the standings
© Bartek Wolinski
That wasn't to be the case, though, as Nina Hoffmann put in a blistering run to knock Nicole straight off top spot, with a time three seconds faster. The German national champion was aggressive from the start, going flat out and pumping the course for all the speed possible.
It was fast and aggressive from Nina Hoffmann
© Bartek Wolinski
Getting massive air on the jumps, she flew over the finish line into an impressive first place. It would be a nervous wait now for Nicole in terms of the overall title, with Cabirou now just having to place higher than her to take the title.
Hoffmann going big on the final stretch
© Bartek Wolinski
Riders tried and failed to knock Hoffmann from her throne. It looked like retiring Tracey Hannah was going to have a final race of her World Cup career to remember, as the Australian was up at Split 2.
Tracey Hannah racedher final UCI World Cup before retirement
© Bartek Wolinski
With smart line choices and fast on the pedals, she was on her way to challenge Hoffmann until a crash halted her. On one of the final hip jumps, Hannah went big and landed in a compression, her bike loading up and ejected her off the course. It was such a shame for Hannah, who was putting in a run to remember for her final time between the tapes.
Marine Cabirou was on a mission in her pursuit
© Bartek Wolinski
Marine Cabirou was eventually the person to knock Hoffmann off the hot-seat. Hungry for the title, she was going as hard as she could. Making good line choices and keeping her riding clean and controlled, Cabirou was putting in the big run she needed. Knowing how to put it all on the line, she dug deep in the final sprint section and crossed the line 1.7 faster than Hoffmann, securing her first World Cup overall title.
It was a good run from Tahnée Seagrave, who finished in third
© Bartek Wolinski
Cabirou was able to walk away with double wins, taking the race win adnt he overall title, as final challenger Tahnée Seagrave was unable to beat her time.
Celebrating Tracey Hannah's last podium. You'll be missed Tracey!
© Bartek Wolinski
That's a wrap for the 2020 season
© Bartek Wolinski
Marine Cabirou took her first World Cup overall title
© Bartek Wolinski
World Cup 4 Elite Women's results
Position
Rider
Time
1
Marine Cabirou
4m 23.362s
2
Nina Hoffmann
4m 25.064s
3
Tahnée Seagrave
4m 25.771s
4
Myriam Nicole
4m 28.344s
5
Monika Hrastnik
4m 29.046s
World Cup 4 Elite Men's final
Men's DH final 2 – Lousã
Watch the second men's downhill final at the 2020 UCI MTB World Cup season finale in Lousã, Portugal.
Like the women's series, there was all to play for in the race for the overall World Cup title as the men started their final runs. Any one of Matt Walker, Loïc Bruni, Thibault Daprela, Loris Vergier and Greg Minnaar could still take the title. If Walker, the new series leader after Friday's race, finished in first place, he'd be crowned the World Cup champion. The Britain's nearest challenger for the title was Vergier, with the Frenchman only 14 points behind him.
Matt Walker was the overall series leader going into this last Lousã race
© Bartek Woliński
The Elite Men's racing began in dry conditions and the track, with its slight adaptations from the first race here in Lousã, was running fast. Two Brits set the benchmark times early on. Phil Atwill only had a brief moment in the hot-seat before his time was beaten by the next man down, Jamie Edmondson.
Phil Atwill gets around the tightly taped Lousã course
© Bartek Woliński
Edmondson, who'd finished 10th in the first race on Friday, had the run of his life and his time of 3m 56.332s was so good that even young French hotshot Daprela, who was starting a bit way down the field due to a poor qualifying ride, couldn't match it.
Jamie Edmondson won't forget this Lousã run in a hurry
© Bartek Woliński
With the last 20 riders due to come down, rain began to fall on top sections of the course. Times immediately became slower and while the rain wasn't heavy, it was making the top part of the course slippery. Austria's David Trummer was one rider who closely matched Edmondson's pace under the new course conditions, but was nearly a second outside the 19-year-old's time at the finish.
Thibaut Daprela can be pleased with his efforts in his first senior season
© Bartek Woliński
Another credible performance from David Trummer
© Bartek Woliński
Riders had to work their bikes harder in the changing weather conditions
© Bartek Woliński
No one was getting anywhere near Edmondson's time and it seemed increasingly likely he was going to get an unexpected win due to the change in the weather conditions. The focus of all watching in Lousã began to change towards not who would win this round, but on the riders involved in the overall title that were still to go down.
Finn Iles, like many, found the course was slower due to the rain
© Bartek Woliński
Vergier, Walker, Minnaar and Bruni still had to race and thankfully the rain had stopped before their runs. They would be racing under the same conditions, making it a fair fight. Of those four, Vergier was first to go and he was visibly disappointed to record a time that placed him 14th at the time. This made Walker the clear favourite for the overall, providing he placed better than Vergier on his run.
The Lousã races haven't been kind to Loris Vergier
© Bartek Woliński
The last three riders down the hill were Walker, Minnaar and Bruni. Walker attacked the course from the start hut and remarkably managed to go under the time Edmondson had recorded an hour earlier in dry conditions. When Walker crossed the line, the news filtered through that even if Minnaar or Bruni managed to win the race they wouldn't be able to overhaul him at the top. The young Brit was the overall 2020 World Cup champion.
Walker has been Mr Consistent this season
© Bartek Woliński
Walker wouldn't be celebrating a maiden World Cup win however, as Minnaar beat his time by 1.245s. The race had suddenly exploded into life from out of nowhere and there was still Bruni to come.
Greg Minnaar can still pull out times from nowhere
© Bartek Woliński
Minnaar watched nervously as Bruni started his run. He had good reason to, as the Frenchman was in touch with the South African's splits on the course. Bruni began to the overhaul Minnaar's time in the motorway pedalling section and, to the disbelief of everyone, Bruni crossed the finish line inside Minnaar's time to take the World Cup win by just 0.170s.
Loïc Bruni's lookback to his winning time
© Bartek Woliński
The excitement of the last three runs was a fitting end to this most unconventional of World Cup seasons and for Bruni and Walker there was much to celebrate.
Bruni overcome with the emotion of the win
© Bartek Woliński
Winning the World Cup overall begins to sink in for Matt Walker
© Bartek Woliński
Bruni and Minnaar discuss where the race was won and lost
© Bartek Woliński
Bruni is all smiles underneath that mask
© Bartek Woliński
World Cup 4 Elite Men's results
Position
Rider
Time
1.
Loïc Bruni
3m 54.288s
2.
Greg Minnaar
3m 54.458s
3.
Matt Walker
3m 55.703s
4.
Jamie Edmondson
3m 56.332s
5.
Phil Atwill
3m 56.353s
Watch the World Cup 4 winning runs from both Marine Cabirou and Loïc Bruni in the video below:
6 min
DH winning runs – Lousã race 2
Watch Marine Cabirou and Loïc Bruni win race 2 at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Portugal.
World Cup 4 qualifying
Dry autumnal weather meant a fast track for the second qualifying races in Lousã, but not an easier one, as a few small but significant changes to the track combined with not a lot of practice meant some creative line choices.
Marine Cabirou has her eyes on the prize
© Bartek Wolinski/Red Bull Content Pool
Tahnée Seagrave took the fastest qualification time
© Bartek Wolinski
Tracey Hannah rides her last pro World Cup qualifying
© Bartek Wolinski
Myriam Nicole crashed in her qualification run
© Bartek Wolinski
Tahnée Seagrave put in the quickest time in the Elite Women's qualification, followed by Marine Cabirou and Tracey Hannah. A bad crash on her run saw Myriam Nicole, winner of the Friday's race, drop down the rankings to eighth.
Can Greg Minnaar add another win in Round 4?
© Bartek Wolinski
Matt Walker took third place in qualifications
© Bartek Wolinski
Can Loïc Bruni turn his qualification victory to a win in the finals
© Bartek Wolinski
In the Elite Men's qualification race, Loïc Bruni regained poll position, with a tiny lead over Greg Minnaar. Minnaar won the previous round, taking his total World Cup wins tally up to 22, and his chances of making it 23 in the second final are high. Matt Walker finished off the qualifying podium in third place.
World Cup 3 Elite Women's final
Women's DH final 1 – Lousã
Watch the first of the women's downhill finals at the 2020 UCI MTB World Cup season finale in Lousã, Portugal.
Myriam Nicole decimated the Elite Women's field in qualifying, with a run that was nearly five seconds faster than the competition. Lining-up in the start hut, everyone knew they had to go flat out in order to compete with the French rider.
Tahnée Seagrave fuels up before her run
© Bartek Wolinski
Getting into the zone
© Bartek Wolinski
Drills for Tracey Hannah
© Bartek Wolinski
Myriam Nicole spins her legs
© Bartek Wolinski
Maribor's winner Nina Hoffmann was on the hot-seat when Marine Cabirou hit the track.
Nina Hoffmann briefly held the hotseat
© Bartek Wolinski
The dynamic French rider was super fast right out of the gate and with a time that was seven seconds ahead of Hoffmann by Split 2, it was clear she was going all out. Keeping her brakes off and flying across the finish, Cabirou stopped the clock five seconds faster than Hoffmann.
Marine Cabirou was a blur of blue on the course
© Bartek Wolinski
Tahnée Seagrave was next on track and her smooth, clean style kept her in line with the pace Cabirou had set. Looking strong and sprinting in the final flat section, it seems a slight hesitation on the brakes in the final descent was all that kept Seagrave off Cabriou's time, with the Brit crossing the line a mere 0.67s slower.
Smooth and steady for Seagrave
© Bartek Wolinski
This was the penultimate World Cup race for Australian rider Tracey Hannah and speaking before the race, she said her aim for the weekend was to have as much fun between the tapes as possible. She wasn't able to challenge Cabirou's time, but finished her run on the podium in fourth place.
Tracey Hannah having fun between the tapes
© Bartek Wolinski
All eyes had been on Myriam Nicole since she set the incredible qualifying time and as she took to the start gate, it was clear that she had this course under her command.
Myriam Nicole dominated the course
© Bartek Wolinski
Smooth, clean and fast, Nicole delivered a calculated run to preserve energy and keep a strong pace from top to bottom. Lighting up the splits green, Nicole crossed the line with a dominating 4.3-second lead on the field.
Nicole takes her first UCI World Cup win of 2020
© Bartek Wolinski
The fastest women of the day
© Bartek Wolinski
Tahnée Seagrave came home in third place
© Bartek Wolinski
Myriam Nicole's winning Commencal Supreme
© Bartek Wolinski
I'm pretty stoked about my run. I think I had a good strategy on this kind of track, I’m loving it. I'm just enjoying this track, it's real DH like I learned to ride
World Cup 3 Elite Women's results
Position
Rider
Time
1.
Myriam Nicole
4m 26.325s
2.
Marine Cabirou
4m 30.772s
3.
Tahnée Seagrave
4m 31.400s
4.
Tracey Hannah
4m 34.615s
5.
Nina Hoffmann
4m 35.589s
World Cup 3 Elite Men's final
On a drying track, times were expected to dip below the 3m 59.487s fastest qualifying time of Loris Vergier from the day before. Britain's Greg Williamson, one of the early starters, came closest to that time, as he also dipped under four minutes. Williamson would sit in the hot-seat for quite a time, still sitting there when the top 20 riders started.
Martin Maes was an early starter
© Bartek Woliński
Greg Williamson showed plenty of power and poise on his run
© Bartek Woliński
The faster men were warming up by any means necessary at the start area
© Bartek Woliński
Finn Iles visualises a part of a track
© Bartek Woliński
Aaron Gwin finally unseated Williamson with a run that suggested the American was back to his best. Gwin was majestic in the technical, steep root sections early on the course and though he was losing time to Williamson in the long pedalling section at the bottom, he was still up on the Brit's time by 1.5s at the finish, stopping the clock in a time of 3m 58.301s.
This Lousã track suits Aaron Gwin's abilities
© Bartek Woliński
Gwin didn't really see a challenge to his leading time as the next few racers came down. Fellow American Dakota Norton was agonisingly close and finished 0.011s outside Gwin's time, while Finn Iles was super aggressive on his run and on pace with Gwin, but then crashed. Another young rider, Thibaut Daprela, was also on pace with Gwin's time as he came down the hill, but some small mistakes cost him dear and the Frenchman would finish just under half-a-second down on Gwin and Norton's times.
A best-ever World Cup finish for Dakota Norton
© Bartek Woliński
Finn Iles pushed a bit too hard and went down
© Bartek Woliński
Thibault Daprela is a Frenchman in a hurry to do well
© Bartek Woliński
Benoît Coulanges is another French rider who's impressed this season
© Bartek Woliński
Gwin's hopes of a 21st World Cup win were dashed as Loïc Bruni smashed the course to take the lead with a time 1.2s faster than Gwin's. It was by no means a clean run by Bruni, with the Frenchman distracted by looking down at his bike a couple of times as he came down.
Bruni bounding into the finish area
© Bartek Woliński
Next up after Bruni was Greg Minnaar. The South African had been focused all week in the lead up to the race and his run was fast and calculated. A man of Minnaar's experience knows where to attack on course and when to play it safe. All the way down the course he was up on the splits of Bruni's time and, astonishingly, was just under two seconds faster than Bruni when he broke the finish timing beam.
Minnaar makes winning look so easy
© Bartek Woliński
Minnaar wouldn't be denied yet another World Cup and he last two riders down the course – Matt Walker and Loris Vergier – failed to unseat him. Walker was up on Minnaar's time splits early on, but then the Brit faded in the bottom half of course, where he couldn't compete with the pedalling speed generated by Minnaar. His time was still fast enough to slot into second place and put Bruni into third. Vergier's challenge to Minnaar never got going, as a punctured front tyre saw him limp home in last place.
Matt Walker probably doesn't want this season to end
© Bartek Woliński
At the age of 38, Minnaar is a World Cup winner again, his 22nd victory in an illustrious career that's still going strong.
Mutual respect between two of downhill's greatest ever riders
© Bartek Woliński
Vergier's unfortunate bad luck also means he's dropped to second in the race for the Elite Men's overall World Cup title. Matt Walker now leads on 517 points, with Vergier on 503 and Minnaar back in third on 427. Going into the weekend's second race on Sunday, the final World Cup of 2020, there's everything to play for.
Puncture disappointment for Vergier
© Bartek Woliński
I was pretty tired going into today so I'm glad I had the legs to push through it. You just push yourself when you race, into another mindset, another level and I think that's the addiction of racing
World Cup 3 Elite Men's results
Position
Rider
Time
1.
Greg Minnaar
3m 55.239s
2.
Matt Walker
3m 57.072s
3.
Loïc Bruni
3m 57.199s
4.
Aaron Gwin
3m 58.301s
5.
Dakotah Norton
3m 58.312s
Watch the World Cup 3 Winning Runs from both Myriam Nicole and Greg Minnaar in the video below:
6 min
DH winning runs – Lousã race 1
Watch Greg Minnaar and Myriam Nicole's winning runs from race 1 of the downhill World Cup in Portugal.
World Cup 3 - Qualification
A considerably dryer track for the final World Cup venue and penultimate race of the year has seen riders up their speeds, firm up their suspension and get stuck in.
Tahnée Seagrave showing off her new custom Fox kit
© Bartek Wolinski
Tracey Hannah gets airborne over Lousã
© Bartek Wolinski
Myriam Nicole was on top form during qualifying
© Bartek Wolinski
Matt Walker raced into 2nd in qualifying
© Bartek Wolinski
Qualification saw Myriam Nicole take a decisive lead in the Elite Women's class, nearly five seconds ahead of Tracey Hannah, for whom this is the penultimate race of her pro career. Tahnée Seagrave placed third.
Luca Shaw throwing shapes on the track
© Bartek Wolinski
In the Elite Men's qualifications race, Loris Vergier was fastest, but hot on his heels, with barely 0.1s between them, was Matt Walker. Luca Shaw added to the Santa Cruz Syndicate podium presence, taking third place.
World Cup 3 - Practice highlights
11 min
Lousã practice with Rob Warner
Rob Warner takes us behind the scenes at the 2020 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Lousã, Portugal.
