The 2026 Leogang World Cup is here with DH / XC / EDR races this weekend. Weather (for now) is looking generally damp but not a total washout.
Lawlor will be there with the video goods, Luca Shaw is coming off of his first-ever win and for the first time, Elite Women will close out race day, dropping in after Elite Men. Should be a good one.
Weather as of Tuesday
Rider entry list below (these are pre-registered teams/riders and aren't necessarily racing).
PDF placeholder - leog_dhi_entries.pdf
We'll open Vital DH Fantasy after the qualifying start lists drop.
🤟🏻😝🤟🏻
Previous Leogang Elite winners (last 5 years only) who are on the entry list and aren't injured or retired:
Notable previous Junior winners:
* Bruni won the men's race in 2024
**Balanche won the women's race in both 2021 and 2022
Notes:
PIT BITS vid from Lawlor is in. He said it started dumping after filming.
WynTV Leogang Track Walk
based on interview w/ amaury in wyntv, didn't realize elite men have the first practice at 830am local time tomorrow. that's SO early LOL. curious if the "cutting in the track" strategy works.
also vali at around 32:30 discussing rider field #'s and team expenses etc is interesting. she implies that she and andi kolb as rider reps are pushing for bigger finalists fields but that request is falling on deaf ears.
Yes! It’s great the men will have to practice in that first session! Just like the removal of protection and the euros having to deal with Korean jet lag, it’s nice to switch it up. The women’s racing is definitely the best it’s ever been, they deserve the spotlight. And it’ll be interesting to see how the colder wetter shorter (?) less dialed practice affects which men how…
8:30 practice? All the dad's in the WC field will be eating it up.
Brosnan gonna show up with donuts
Did you see Myriam in the background…. 😂
Details forthcoming but looks like the Ride Companion crew are going to do a watch along with Rob Warner.
I just took a quick look at the timed training that's currently underway. Right now the Junior men and women and the Elite women are all on the track, with a little more than an hour left in the session, and either there's something not right with the timing or the track conditions have deteriorated like crazy since the Elite Men had their runs.
In the Elite men's timed training Williams, Coulanges, Thirion, Meier-Smith, and Craik posted the top 5 times, which were all pretty decent. Twenty-five riders were within 10 seconds of Jordan Williams' time of 3:18.996. (Compare: The current 2nd fastest Elite women's time is more than 1 1/2 minutes behind the fastest time posted so far. WTF?)
Timed training is your fastest run of the practice session so they could still be stopping and looking at sections
link to timed training runs - https://prod.chronorace.be/angular/results.html#/uci/event/20260611_mtb…
jackson's leogang POV, riding Wet Screams.
Leogang Enduro course preview
Timed training for Elite women and all Juniors:
Leogang Pit Bits photos - https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/pit-bits-2026-leogang-world-cup-downhill
Dakotah Norton / GoPro already posted a POV from timed training.
Note the caption for the video: "Crazy chaingin weather in Leogang today, Dakotah Norton just got a Run in before the Storm hit the Track again. "
No idea how long the storm lasted, but it seems it might indeed have affected conditions for the Elite women and Juniors.
Fresh race rigs from Orbea FMD.
-------------------------------
ORBEA FMD RACING UNVEILS NEW RALLON DESIGNS FOR LEOGANG
The team will race with two exclusive concepts showcasing Orbea’s customization capabilities.
This weekend, at the UCI Downhill World Cup in Leogang, Orbea FMD Racing will debut two exclusive bike designs created specifically for the event, highlighting the extensive customization possibilities offered by Orbea. Tahnée Seagrave will race with a unique graphic designed exclusively for her, while Martin Maes, Phoebe Gale and Oli Zwar will compete aboard bikes featuring a second design developed for the rest of the team.
Both concepts were created specifically for Leogang and form part of a creative exercise aimed at exploring new aesthetic possibilities within Orbea’s customization universe. More than simple paint schemes, these bikes reflect the brand’s ability to develop unique proposals tailored to each rider, strengthening the connection between product, personality and competition. These graphics were developed as part of a special project for the Leogang World Cup, and will not be available to the public at this time. Their purpose is to inspire, experiment and demonstrate how far creativity can go when performance and design work together.
With this initiative, Orbea once again demonstrates that innovation extends beyond the technical development of its bicycles. It is also expressed through design, identity and the ability to create unique experiences for its riders and for the community that follows the World Cup weekend after weekend.
dakotah's timed training POV
Fast AF* Raw training video (I don't think it's timed training).
A quick chat with John Lawlor at 14:27 in the video.
Vital RAW from Lawlor
Moimoi's vid had a bit talking about some crash on the motorway, someone's axel broke and another rider (Troy) hit their bike or something? Both taken out by medical staff.
From youtubes ai thing:
Wyn discusses this incident at (21:11 - 21:32). He mentions that a rider's axle snapped on the motorway section of the track, leaving the bike across the path. He notes that Troy (presumably Troy Brosnan) was involved in the aftermath of the incident, which required multiple ambulances to attend to the riders.
Stump section looks absolutely brutal in the wet. Love it
Troy said he was ok
Jeez he was cookin too. Good to hear he is okay
What happened there? No marshals, no one close to the track but the bike just laying there, so weird.
Rider had just crashed. He’s off to the left when Troy is in the air. Bike unfortunately stayed on the track
The part where Moi Moi is filming the stump section while eating a snack was giving THIS energy so hard...
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