This is our race journal from the 6th world cup race of the 2019 season in Val di Sole. We will update the journal every day with the latest news and pictures of the day. Stay tuned we keep you posted!
Day 4: Finals
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- not the day of Eleonora- she crashed and had a flat tire... this makes it impossible to get on the podium these day. Ele finished in P8
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- Brook at the last jump landing on the 15 meter mark. 30th place for him after the crash in the top part.
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- teammates: Mike and Laurie.
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- First world cup victory for Laurie Greenland.
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- well deserved Champagne shower by the current world champion Loic Bruni
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- the taste of success...
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- the men behind Laurie: Mark Sterland
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- even the race didn't went as planned, Brook was happy for his team mate Laurie.
What a race and what a result by the end of the day. The day didn’t start as planned. Eleonora struggled in the morning trainings runs. The track changed a lot after the junior’s race, which made it impossible for her to repeat the 4thplace of the qualification. After a crashed in the middle bit of the track, Eleonora suffered from a flat tire, lost some more time and finished in 8thplace. Mike had a conservative run on the wrong side of the limit after crashing in the past 2 races. Mike finished in 31stplace.
Laurie came down in the last top group of qualification. He pushed from the very to and was on a flyer. Not as wild as in previous years, but he managed to increase his lead to the current leader Loic Bruni. Laurie crossed the finish line in lead with 7 more riders to come including top contenders Amoury Pierron and his team mate Brook, who had the best wet time in the qualification on the day before. Pierron had a good run with some little mistakes and couldn’t beat Laurie’s time. Next to come was Brook, who looked good in the top pit of the track, but unfortunately crashed out of the camera views. That crash throwed him back in the ranking and Brook finished in 30thplace. With just 4 more riders to come, the first world cup victory was more and more in reach. Not one of the upcoming riders was able to beat Laurie’s time and so he finally won his first world cup by a margin of 2,8 seconds.
This was the first world cup victory for the MS Mondraker team since 2016. We are super stoked and happy as these moments make us what we do… the moments of joy when we won a race.
Thx to the whole team and all the sponsors for the support and making us win.
Day 3: qualification
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- still good conditions for the women.
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- try conditions in the morning training session.
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- Farina with a save run into P4- full gas tomorrow!
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- Mike Jones with a re-run after a red flag.
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- Laurie Greenland 3rd fastest wet time- P10 in the end.
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- mud is sticking everywhere.
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- rough cleaning after the race run.
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- still in good shape...
Well that was a hard day for use. We started with not too bad weather in the morning. The track was partly dry even it was raining the whole night. The weather seemed to be stable and the women had a dry qualification race. Elenora rode very save to make sure to qualify, which she managed with 4thplace.
With about 10 riders in the men’s qualification the weather changed to the worth possible. The sky opened its doors and heavy rain effected the upcoming riders pretty bad. Mike got a red flag in his run and had to re-rum, which got him into 31stposition. While a lot of riders where struggling bot Laurie and Brook had very good runs and entered into the group of riders, who came down in dry conditions. Brook finished in 5thwith the fastest wet time and Laurie ended up in 10thplace. Thibault Laly was unlucky again and crashed. He didn’t get seriously injured, but it is unsure if he will be able to compete in Lenzerheide.
Day 2 practice & timed training
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- Thiabult went down hard, but should be able to ride in qualification.
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- building back up his confidence after two big crates in a row- Mike Jones. P15 in timed training
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- Laurie pretty confident here in Val di Sole- the track suits him.
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- Solid performance of Brook in VdS- P10 in timed training.
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- home race for Ele- finished 3rd in timed training.
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- toolbox wars- different level
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- Stefan Dopplinger: Master of toolbox
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- good day on the mountain for Laurie...
First training session in Val di Sole went good for us. The conditions where very dry and dusty and it seems like the track will not hold till finals. Thibault had a crash, but without serious consequences. Ele showed a strong performance again with a 3rdplace in timed training. Brook set the 10thbest time of the day and Mike finished in p15.
Day 1: course walk
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- mud slinging when it's wet...
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- Val di Sole, but it's raining?!
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- quite a few options...
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- good mood in miserable conditions.
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- Mark checking Laurie's race wheels from the race last week in Pila- Mavic Deemax's still in good shape.
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- Brook happy with the feel of his brakes.
With the 6th round of the 2019 UCI MTB world cup we are dropping into the 2ndhalf season with just 4 more race to come. Val di Sole is one of those places we know pretty well and we probably had our biggest victories here. For sure the world champion and vice world champion titles here in 2016, but also the 2ndplace of Laurie here last year where some of our highlights. The track has a big name in the Downhill scene and counts to the hardest tracks on the planet.
While we had good weather in the past few years we started with rain into this week and the forecasts are unsure for the upcoming days. One thing is for sure: if it will rain this track with the mix of loamy ground, rocks and roots will be the hardest of the year.
