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The final European round of the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill concluded with race results that separated winners and losers by milliseconds. Sven Martin and Dan Hearn deliver the photographs and audio interviews capturing an intense weekend of MTB racing. The season concludes with a double-header event in Snowshoe, West Virginia starting early next week.
You can listen to all audio interviews in a continuous stream on our podcast channel, which is available below this show.
What a moment. Emilie Siegenthaler's very last race here in her home county of Switzerland. Plenty of high points in her long, successful career, but she's now ready to help develop the next generation of talent. Cheers. -Sven Martin
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The DH girls celebrate Emilie's final World Cup at home after track walk. -Sven Martin
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Myriam Nicole continued her winning ways with another commanding 2.6 second margin. -Dan Hearn
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Pompon takes another win. Green, green, green, Green. P1. Stay Wild. -Sven Martin
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Even if you are the favorite, the wins don’t come easy. -Sven Martin
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Maxime preps Myriam's bike for the race run. She took the win on a different rear shock to what she rode at World Champs the weekend. before. -Sven Martin
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Pom Pon took her time in training to scope the widened upper track for possible inside lines. -Dan Hearn
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Early morning race day warm ups before the sun has even risen. It takes years of dedication and preparation to earn the number one plate and a team to earn the yellow number one board. -Sven Martin
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Loris Vergier fully committed to the final corner before plummeting to the finish. This tricky, slick flat corner decided the fate of many a racer today and Loris greased it. First place by .197 -Dan Hearn
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What an exciting run. Rollercoaster of emotions for booth Loris and the guys on the hot seat. -Sven Martin
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There hasn’t been a race this close for a while. Loris Vergier goes all green and takes the win in Lenzerheide. -Dan Hearn
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As Boris would have said if he was here, YEOWWWWWW! -Sven Martin
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P.A. and Loris have a close relationship that enables them to fine tune things beyond levels most could perceive. -Dan Hearn
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The crowd was huge, and they were rewarded with exciting racing. -Sven Martin
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The French are unstoppable again. -Sven Martin
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Ryan Bodge, Head of Trek Racing, had quite the weekend here in Lenzerheide with no less than three wins to celebrate. -Sven Martin
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Izabela Yankova with another win. Not ten seconds this time, but impressive nonetheless. -Sven Martin
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Back-to-back wins at Worlds and now Lenzerheide for junior Izabela Yankova. -Dan Hearn
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World Champ and race winner, Izabela Yankova, out for a sunrise lap in the morning. The juniors do really get the worst of the training conditions. -Sven Martin
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There aren’t many World Champs or even World Cup winners for that matter that can style it up like Jackson Goldstone. A little play before work. -Dan Hearn
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Jackson Goldstone is not perfect. Thankfully. The quali run error that cost him P1. A mistake he corrected when it counted. -Sven Martin
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Another trophy in the bag for Jackson Goldstone who is rapidly increasing his baggage allowance for the flight home. -Dan Hearn
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How Dan and I felt Monday morning after pulling double duty here in Lenzerheide. First World Cup win for the new World Champion, Evie Richards. -Sven Martin
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As photographers, we really only come to Lenzerheide to capture Nino’s iconic kickout on the first lap of the XC race. - Dan Hearn.
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Loic levitating like only Jesus could. If he was this much further forward he might have taken the win. -Sven Martin
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Loic took about 45 minutes longer than anyone else to get back to the pits after the podium. He also arrived nearly naked after giving almost his entire race kit away. For the fans. -Sven Martin
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Gracie Hemstreet took 2nd in junior women’s, 3.5 seconds off the pace. -Dan Hearn
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Pau Monoyo won the qualifier and was only two seconds off the win in the final. -Sven Martin
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Last Junior man down the hill. Pau Menoyo was leading at the first split but lost some time and had to settle for second. -Dan Hearn
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Vali Holl has always been fast in training and qualifying but made it count in finals too. -Dan Hearn
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Vali Holl was stoked to keep it rubber side down in finals and to climb onto the podium in in 3rd spot. -Dan Hearn
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Thibaut Daprela only has one speed. This time it wasn’t quite enough for the top spot. -Dan Hearn
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Daprela navigating this tricky woods section. -Dan Hearn
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Nina Hoffman is finally healing up and makes her long-awaited return to the podium. This will give her confidence for the rest of the season. -Sven Martin
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Using what we can only imagine is witchcraft, Amaury Pierron came back from a potential 6-month recovery period in just two and took 4th at a World Cup. Not to mention that was under a second off the win. Madness. -Dan Hearn
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Camille Balanche couldn’t quite find the last few seconds on a home track and had to settle for 5th place. -Dan Hearn
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Amaury Pierron against all odds (and even some doctor's orders) made an early return to racing, and it didn’t take him long to challenge for the win again. 4th place. Expect him to want to emend the season with a win. -Sven Martin
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Tahnee Seagrave makes a giant leap closer to her expected level of performance and result. With her signature style, too. -Sven Martin
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Tahnee standing tall and stable in the big mountains on the first day of training. -Sven Martin
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A season of ups and downs for Tahnee, but she’s right up in the overall in 3rd. Time for a chill week to spend some winnings before kicking off in Snowshoe. -Dan Hearn
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Such a scary scene for everyone. Thankfully Brendan will be alright. It's just wheelchairs and walkers for the next few weeks. He joins the 100 club. 100 Stitches. -Sven Martin
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Love and healing vibes to Brendog who was airlifted out before qualifying with a suspected compound femur fracture. Luckily he escaped with “just” a 15cm gash in his quad muscle and 100 stitches to show for it. Gnarly. -Dan Hearn
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Kade Edwards twerking where others were jerking. -Sven Martin
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Kade gets a lot of shots in these slideshows. They are shows after all. -Sven Martin
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Greg Minnaar struggled on the Swiss slopes with a back issue and couldn’t find the pace to match his 2nd last time we were here. 19th spot which was only 6.4 seconds off. -Dan Hearn
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Troy didn’t have a good day slipping back a whole heap in the overall. DH is a cruel sport. -Sven Martin
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Poor Jordan Williams took a spill in his race run right in front of me. I counted six seconds. He finished in 4th only 4 seconds back… -Sven Martin
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Jordan Williams was on a heater of a run before a big crash. Despite that he still got 4th place. It’s easy to forget these juniors have so much less experience than the veterans of the elite category and have to learn these things the hard way. -Dan Hearn
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Matt Walker. Sideways is forwards. Race run. -Sven Martin
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Eddie Frankenstein. -Sven Martin
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There are several fast Kiwi juniors on the circuit, but it was James Macdermid that took his first podium spot in Lenzerheide. -Dan Hearn
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Reece Wilson happier with his performance than in Maribor. Eighth place and two seconds off the podium. -Sven Martin
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Angel Suarez goes 13th. Steadily improving his overall. -Sven Martin
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Marine Cabirou was gutted to miss the podium by a second. -Dan Hearn
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Laurie Greenland happy to be back on the box. The lone L’Etranger on the French podium. -Sven Martin
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Dak Norton may lose his peak every other race run, but he is one of the fastest out there and definitely one of the most exciting and stylish to watch. -Sven Martin
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Mark Wallace with a solid 16th up top in the dry, rough corners. -Sven Martin
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Young ones will be battling the next two races. Can someone keep Jackson in check? -Sven Martin
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Laurie is such a G. -Sven Martin
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A mere mirror reflection just won’t cut it if you are in Switzerland. -Sven Martin
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Canyon has Fabien Barel, and the Syndicate has Steve Peat. The Union has Uncle Sven. Whose lines would you trust? -Dan Hearn
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Mille Johnset conquered some fears to take 7th on the day. -Dan Hearn
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Danny Hart with a whip reminiscent of Champery. -Sven Martin
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Kaos and Kade, the praccy dream team. -Sven Martin
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Team of the day. They reclaimed their spot from Dorval who have stood in while Amaury was away. -Sven Martin
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Nics Arschoot plays an important background roll in both Myriam and Loic’s success, looking after their form and training. The jerseys and medals are proof of a winning combination. -Sven Martin
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All the essential fluids in the pits. -Sven Martin
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Brook absolutely steamrolling down the track. -Sven Martin
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Danny, one of the best in the business for functional scrubs. -Sven Martin
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The Swiss crowds were out in force to celebrate all their World Champs past and present. They have a lot of them. Cammie gives out the high fives. Full proof of vaccinations or Covid tests were needed in order to enter the arena. -Sven Martin
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Loic's facetime track walk on Thursday. He was barely able to walk, so it's a small miracle that he was able to race, nevermind almost win. Drone FPV track walk for West Virginia. -Sven Martin
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Wyn Masters unable to race three weeks and out with a broken hand, rode from Val Di sole to Lenzerheide. Over 5000m climbing and 180km. Chris Seager may have cheated with a sticky bottle on at least one mountain pass. -Sven Martin
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Mille making most of the men look bad on the whip jump. -Sven Martin
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After World Champs, there was lots of massaging to be done for both riders and their bikes. -Sven Martin
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Leaving rainbow memories behind in Italy, we crossed some passes to arrive in Lenzerheide. -Sven Martin
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Kade had a crash early on in his run and decided to have some fun for the crowd. -Dan Hearn
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After looking comfortable and stylish all week, Luca Shaw had a big crash in finals and is feeling a bit battered. -Dan Hearn
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Another solid performance from Andreas Kolb who took 15th. -Dan Hearn
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1st Izabela Yankova, 2nd Gracey Hemstreet, 3rd Kine Haugom. -Dan Hearn
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Finn Iles had a great qualifying and backed it up with a 10th place in finals. 3.3 seconds separated him and Loris. Tight! -Dan Hearn
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Ethan Craik was looking on form all week but a flat in finals took him out of contention. -Dan Hearn
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Charlie Harrison speeding through the crowds. -Dan Hearn
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The middle of Elite Men's suffered a quick rain storm which took out more than one. -Dan Hearn
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Mark Wallace had another solid top 20 performance in Lenzerheide. -Dan Hearn
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Antoine Pierron dropping into the finish area. -Dan Hearn
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Adam Brayton took his own approach to the steepest part on the track with a big gap in and wild levels of commitment. Fair play. -Dan Hearn
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It’s almost becoming normal again to have crowds at races. And we couldn’t be happier. -Dan Hearn
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Loic’s mental game is far more solid than this berm, having to deal with an injured leg all week and conserve enough energy for race day. -Dan Hearn
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Myriam Nicole on the lookout for a route through the slippery first off-camber. -Dan Hearn
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Benoit Coulanges couldn’t make it stick in Lenzerheide but took his best result here of 14th. He slipped one place to 8th in the overall. -Dan Hearn
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Remi Thirion on the attack. -Dan Hearn
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The reality of World Cup travel. A couple of hours after finals and some teams were almost ready to hit the road. -Dan Hearn
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The time gap baffled all. Under a second between 1st and 4th with a double-header race to end the season in West Virginia. YEW! -Dan Hearn
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Description
Interviews in order
- Emilie Siegenthaler on retiring
- Myriam Nicole, Elite Women's Winner
- Izabela Yankova, Junior Women's Winner
- Loris Vergier, Elite Men's Winner
- PA - Loris Vergier's mechanic
- Jackson Goldstone, Junior Men's Winner
- Tahnee Seagrave, Elite Women's 2nd place
- Loic Bruni, Elite Men's 2nd place
- Vali Holl, Elite Women's 3rd place
- Thibaut Daprela, Elite Men's 3rd place
- Amaury Pierron, Elite Men's 4th place
- Eddie Masters
- Kade Edwards
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