Filth and drama confronted elite riders at the recent UCI Downhill World Cup in Les Gets, France, but Gracey Hemstreet proved equal to the task.
The Sunshine Coast native powered to gold in a time of four minutes and 55.571 seconds: just enough to best Marine Cabirou who earned silver (4:56.589) and bronze medallist Valentina Höll (4:58.258). It is Hemstreet's third World Cup breakthrough after she won back-to-back in Loudenvielle, France and Leogang, Austria.
Jackson Goldstone wasn't so lucky, crashing out into 16th place as Ronan Dunne wrapped up victory (3:56.586). Martin Maes broke the beam in second (3:59.407) and Andreas Kolb rounded out the top three (3:59.517), but Goldstone remains atop the season overall despite fifth-placer Loic Bruni cutting 112 points off his lead.
"I'm incredibly proud of this one," remarked Hemstreet on social media. "Had the toughest week on my bike, ever. Few smiles and quite a few tears were had. Really hoping that was the one and only mudfest of the year. Huge thank you to [Norco Race Division]. Couldn't have done it without you all. So thankful to be part of such an amazing team."
"That was the toughest race I’ve ever done for sure," Goldstone concurred in a press release. "It was rowdy the whole way down and I couldn’t even stay on the bike. Somehow still [clung] onto the green jersey which is pretty cool, so the fact I’m in it with a crash and two bad races is really positive. We’ve just got to go full beans from here and try and beat Loïc."
'I'd rather just crash'
Hemstreet and Höll assumed centre stage on the final two women's runs. Before then, Cabirou (who'd needed the repechage to qualify for finals) set a benchmark that most other ladies were unable to approach. Jess Blewitt and Goldstone's Santa Cruz Syndicate teammate Nina Hoffmann were among those taking a tumble as the muck became increasingly churned-up.
Finally, Hemstreet knocked Cabirou out of the hot seat and Höll pushed out of the start gate. The Austrian phenom looked to be managing an excellent run, but looked up in disbelief after crossing the line: she'd bled time at the final split.
"I don’t even know, I can’t believe that," Hemstreet told reporters. "I’m actually not a mud rider. I felt super slow up top so I thought ‘I’d rather just crash’ and go in as hot as I can rather than bring it back a bit. It was really tough."
The Sea to Sky athlete now sits 59 points behind Höll in the overall ranking.
Among men, it was Troy Brosnan putting himself into the hot seat early. Goldstone was one of several who subsequently went down, hopping over the root that had felled him in qualifying before being victimized by another.
Kolb overtook Brosnan and Maes then superseded Kolb by a tenth of a second. Dunne ultimately lit up the timing screens from pillar to post, becoming the first Irishman to emerge triumphant in a pair of World Cups.
"Words can’t describe how this feels. It’s been such a rough season and all I’ve been thinking about for the past weeks has been doing well at this race and showing everyone I can still win a race," Dunne said in a release. "I go by the motto ‘helicopter or win’, or ‘helicopter or podium’ and I lived up to the name in La Thuile, and here we took a win."
For more Les Gets DH results, click here.
