Best Moments from Leogang Downhill MTB World Cup 2022 3

The third round of the 2022 Downhill MTB World Cup returned to the Alpine valley of Leogang. The Austrian track has become one of the biggest contributors to DH history, as drama continues to unravel between the tapes at this iconic venue.

With the introduction of the notorious wood's section in 2020, this venue has taken on a whole new meaning for those who dare to race it. During the 2022 battle, it was defending Leogang winner, Camille Balanche who managed to put down a clean run to best her competitors and snatch gold. In the men's, 2020 World Cup overall winner, Matt Walker, put down an untouchable run to secure his first ever World Cup win.

Elite Women Final Standings

Camille Balanche Myriam Nicole Eleonora Farina Louise-Anna Ferguson Monika Hrastnik

Elite Men Final Standings

Matt Walker Danny Hart Angel Suarez Amaury Pierron Andreas Kolb
Credit: Red Bull
Related:
UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
Downhill
Leogang, Austria
Red Bull
Matt Walker
Camille Balanche
3 comments

View replies to: Best Moments from Leogang Downhill MTB World Cup 2022

c50 s1600 Bizutch Butch Greene 1640094179
bizutch
11 months ago
Coulanges binned it and was up massively.
Going back to watch again reminds me just how much some of these guys fail to realize momentum & aerodynamics play a huge part in their times. Suarez was practically stood up vertical on the last half of the big straight and through the tunnel before hitting the wall ride & others had similar mental lapses in other areas. That drag is cumulative. If you hit the motorway and let air catch you, you fail to hit your max velocity at the top and there is NO way to get that speed back on the open slope, no matter the pedaling or pumping.

It's got to be all three...tuck, pedal & pump backsides.
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eastenwreckoning543
11 months ago
go watch the full replay of angel suarez's run. If youre wondering why he consistently pulled away from others on the virtual straight, watch for the bridge jump just before the aerial shot cuts away...if that isnt terminal velocity on the motorway, I dont know what is. unbelievable that he saved it. Live feed totally missed it. I dont know that aero drag is really the low hanging fruit here, just part of the puzzle. certainly if you opted for cut spikes, oh boy, talk about drag.
c50 s1600 Bizutch Butch Greene 1640094179
bizutch
11 months ago
I noticed him flat land out past the bridge jump with the side rails. Thought he'd explode. Warner & Claudio somehow missed that huck to flat 15-20 feet past the backside. He gained 1/10th of one second over the entirety of that straightaway over Finn Iles ONLY. One can easily say he lost any gain from his huck over the bridge by being upright before the tunnel to wall ride.

Also, you can't look at his time on video to tell anything about his run. You have to actually look at the results sheet. As Angel came onto the motorway, he was in 7th place overall on time.
He was in 5th at the end of the wall ride. And keep in mind, he was behind Benoit & Loris. He earned his podium place in sectors 1, 2 & 4.

It doesn't matter what you saw on the live feed. The final splits is the hard truth. Ironically, him getting caught in the wind being full vertical on that huck may have cost him since he was a big airborn sail an extra 10-15 feet more than others.

It was BADASS though. It's at 01:01:20 in this RedBull Replay: https://www.redbull.com/us-en/live/uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-2022-leo…
Here he is going WAY past backside:



When his back wheel first touches down: