Round 9 of the 2025 UCI DH World Cup is here, and the whole circus has finally made it across their respective applicable oceans for the two North American stops that conclude the season. We're at Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, with a brand new course that has seen the light under somewhat worrisome circumstances (apparently the dog ate the homework of the people responsible for securing the necessary permits), but that has us excited as it seems to offer a lot of line choice and a great mix of tech and speed. The weather looks like it will be playing ball too, so we can look forward to some epic racing this week! To ensure you don't miss anything as the action heats up, John Lawlor and Jackie Rice are on site for us and we will have the full complement of Pit Bits (photo and video), Vital RAW and The Weekend for you.
There's plenty of drama on tap in the chase for the overall titles, with tight points gaps in many categories. Loic Bruni leads Jackson Goldstone by 100 points, and Vali Höll holds a 127-point gap advantage of Gracey Hemstreet. In the junior men's category, Max Alran leads Asa Vermette by just 22 points (although there's only 60 points on offer for the junior winners so it's a bit more substantial than the numbers would suggest).
DH qualifying is on Friday Oct 3, with all 4 finals on Saturday Oct 4.
Weather forecast says mixed clouds and sunshine with decent temperatures during the day (some pretty chilly nights and mornings in store though):
added weather forecast in freedom units : )
Course preview with none other than Aaron Gwin himself:
Vital Fantasy will be available soon!
This race is the last one this season in which points will be awarded for Q1, so the Q1 for Elites should be interesting because it could have a substantial impact on the overall standings.
Both Loic Bruni and Vali Höll have averaged more points in qualifying than the 2nd place riders (Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet) have. Loic has earned 103 more total points in qualifying than Jackson, and Vali has earned 48 more points than Gracey. Of the four, Jackson is the only one who hasn't successfully qualified in Q1 in every race. The two times where he had to qualify in Q2 resulted in his lowest points for races this year.
So dang excited i may just load up my old chevy and drive up there
drama aside, the track looks really good. nice variety, and i love the wide taping on the tech sections.
Feel like a track for Amaury. Some tech, but not too crazy, and open sections with pure speed. I think the tech being at the top hurts Jackson's chances. He usually is able to pull back time but with jumps and straightaways at the end of the track I think riders like Amaury and Loic have the advantage.
All weather reports for US races must use Freedom Units only. Many are saying these are the BEST units of measure in the UNIVERSE as I INVENTED them MYSELF.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Cathro posted a pretty good explainer about all the track build drama over at his day job. Worth a watch.
Excited for this race and supremely bummed I can't get up there for it this year.
lawlor pit bits (still adding title, thumbnail etc but forum nerds get it first)
Jeesus, the pressure on Bruni must be insane, we all know how much he loves racing and fighting for the overall but potentially missing the birth of you first child... crazy
It's not like he can just hop on a plane from Whiteface to get back to France super easy either.
The guy will become SuperDuperBruni. He loves preasure!
WynTV track walk and Troy's track walk video
I'm tired of Cathros childish schtick at this stage.
He has always done great analysis but all those stupid cutaway segments just seem foolish and boring. The dude is 37 now. It's a bit pathetic but I guess he does whatever Pinkbike tells him to do
He'd be great commentating on races as the current crew seem to have difficulty spotting which riders are on different lines
Yeah I would definitely prefer a more serious take on the analysis that what is currently being presented
I’d rather not have Cathro commentating.
I can't believe no one is warning about the GIANT crocodile here.....don't go near the water people!
bernard's day 1 vid
I think it’s fine and kind of fun. Not everything needs to be serious. There is plenty of adult sport fan content out there. It’s good there is something for the kids that’s still pretty palatable to me. No worse than a first intermission hockey segment from coatesy or coach.
42 year old here. I think the cut away jokes are fun. I enjoy his videos and feel like it's a good niche for all the stuff out there.
A few hot takes from Wyn’s amazing work this week:
-Danny Hart and Wyn will always be hilarious, but this one was particularly side splitting. 167-121=46
-Pinky not taking the bad luck of the last race too seriously was SUPER endearing. Big fan here.
-It’s unanimous: track looks sick.
-Troy just wants to go ride with his mates, like every new dad.
-Loic sounded stoked, and I think Jacko sounded congested.
jacko absolutely sounding sick... hope its just... all the fall trees or something. poor dude
I hope Jackson feels good for qualis/finals. Think the top section with all the potential weird gaps could really suit him
people not liking cathro content?? how sad can one guy be :D
cathro is the main reason i still use pinkbike!
For anyone who hasn't seen enough track walks, here's one from Fast AF* . Subtitles in English are available (not very accurate occasionally, but still...).
Lake Placid Downhill Schedule
I couldn't find a PDF to copy, so I copied this from the MTB World Series schedule page (https://www.ucimtbworldseries.com/events/lake-placid-2025) .
All times are US Eastern Time.
Thursday - Oct. 2 - Training
10:30 - 12:30 Downhill Training - Group A
14:30 - 16:30 Downhill Training - Group A (Timed Session)
Friday Oct. 3 - Qualifying Day
08:30 - 09:30 Downhill Training - Women Elite
09:45 - 10:45 Downhill Training - Men Elite
11:00 - 12:00 Downhill Training - Juniors
12:30 - 13:00 Downhill Q1- Women
13:00 - 14:00 Downhill Q1- Men
14:00 - 14:20 Downhill Qualifying - Women Junior
14:20 - 15:05 Downhill Qualifying - Men Junior
15:05 - 15:30 Q2 - Elite Women
15:30 - 16:15 Q2 - Elite Men
Saturday - Oct. 4 - Finals
11:30 - 12:00 Downhill Final - Women Junior
12:00 - 13:00 Downhill Final - Men Junior
13:00 - 14:00 Downhill Final - Women
14:10 - 15:45 Downhill Final - Men
I’m marshaling and it’s already changing in the upper woods a lot.
that's awesome @dantecusolito !
start lists just came in, working on fantasy now.
84 elite men
27 elite women
42 jr men
17 jr women
You can tell when Asa, Tyler, or Oli are coming because every single line spotter pulls out their phone. During this B practice, Asa has been by 4 times and was on a different line every time.
I hope you’re looking at the riders and track more than your phone, but honestly this is the type of on-site updating I pray for every round. Good work, and thanks!
looks absolutely awesome up there, especially this time of year. hope you have a blast! post more pics!
link to live timing and has start lists so you can see who's racing
https://prod.chronorace.be/angular/results.html#/uci/event/20251003_mtb…
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