Hello,

A great track makes for thrilling action, but for a classic DH World Cup you need wild fans too.

Round two of the 2024 series in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, had it all: a freshly cut downhill course in Szczyrk Mountain Resort, unpredictable racing and supporters literally falling over with excitement.

We’ve gathered up our notes and a collection of the best photos by Boris and Sven below.

Hope you enjoy going through them.

Cheers,

James

PRODUCT: SPENT 2

TIPSY TURVY: Notes from Bielsko-Biała, Poland, DH World Cup R2 2024

• Top-threes: elite men: 1. Rónán Dunne: 2:55.766 | 2. Loic Bruni +0.064 | 3. Loris Vergier +1.197. Elite women: 1. Marine Cabirou: 3:26.643 | 2. Camille Balanche +1.188 | 3. Nina Hoffmann +1.680. Junior men: 1. Asa Vermette: 3:03.588 | 2. Mylann Falquet +3.823 | 3. Dane Jewett +4.655. Junior women: 1. Heather Wilson: 3:28.864 | 2. Erice van Leuven +0.069 | 3. Sacha Earnest +2.515
• Full results and standings here
• Long Views: listen or watch our latest podcast-type-thing episode here. Lots of top interviews by Sven Martin with the likes of Rónán Dunne, Marine Cabirou, Camille Balanche, Amaury Pierron and more
• Positive news: we’re supporting Phil Atwill’s Propain Positive team and Phil’s been updating us on progress. Find out about Malcolm’s flight bookings, how hard you have to push at a World Cup and more in Positive Thoughts here
• Video: watch the official elite highlights, full junior finals and the Sleeper Shreddit here
• Beyond the Line: Red Bull’s post-race show is back with Rob Warner, Eliot Jackson and Emily Batty reviewing, analysing and talking through all the action from the first XC and DH World Cups of the season. Quality stuff. Watch episode one here
• Podcast: Downtime Podcast speaks to Oisin O’Callaghan about Ireland’s first-ever DH World Cup win – great to hear this and imagine his compatriot Dunne’s time on the hot seat in Poland
• Vibe: as mentioned, the fans were falling over themselves with excitement (and, er, some of them were so intoxicated they needed help getting back up). There were only good vibes and massive support for every race during the weekend, from the EDR on Friday all the way to finals on Sunday the crowds were out in their thousands. Thanks everyone
• King of the pits: Pivot Factory Racing’s accommodation was right next to the main race venue and had a big car park outside. So, team boss Bernard Kerr struck a deal with the owner and divvied the parking into spaces for several teams at a not-for-profit rate, saving the likes of the Union money and positioning them much closer to the action than they would have been in their official parking (there were A, B, C and D paddocks positioned at various distances from the main venue; cancellations could be made before the end of the Wednesday before racing)
• Crystal Bow: as George Gore Browne noted in his B-Zone Bullets for us, Steel City Media and Union team head honcho Joe Bowman has a serious eye for talent, as proved yet again by Lachie Stevens-McNab’s split times in finals (first at split three before crashing)
• Quote: ‘a set set of settings’
• P is for: protected rider status. But what does it mean? It really isn’t complicated. Only joking, it is! There’s protected and then there’s Protected. And there’s semi-final protected and final Protected. It’s all about previous and current series standings. Decode it from the UCI rule book here

Continued below…

• Waffer thin: Chris Kilmurray of Point1Athletic tells us that the minuscule 0.064s that separated Rónán Dunne and Loic Bruni (first and second in men’s finals) equates to about 73cm (based on an average of their registered average speeds). For context, that’s less than the length of 16 end-to-end Custard Creams. In 2023, the tightest elite men’s winning margin was 0.160s in Les Gets, France, with Benoît Coulanges winning and Andreas Kolb second
• In fact, Bielsko-Biała provided tight racing all round: Heather Wilson won junior women’s DH finals by a similarly tiny 0.069s; the top-five elite women were separated by just three seconds; in Friday’s Enduro World Cup, the men’s winning margin was just 0.095s and the women’s was 0.236s – wild
• Continuing that theme: Danny Hart’s and Dylan Levesque’s DH finals times were so tight that, er, they were identical – they finished equal 20^th with 3:03.160
• Slip and slide: the young gun juniors, who raced late-morning on Sunday, had different conditions to the elites who raced later. The morning was wetter, the afternoon slicker. So, two different courses. For that reason, the times can’t really be compared. But nobody’s going to argue that the 2024 class of juniors are absolutely on fire, with an incredible top level and depth of talent that already has the elites looking over their shoulders
• First turns: caught out by the wet surface, promising junior Teagan Heap smashed into the dirt of the first turn; by elite men’s racing, the dirt was dry enough that several riders nearly ripped tyres off
• Choose one (or both): the consensus is that Saturdays (or qualifying and semi-final days) are the best for spectators. There’s loads going on, with practice sessions, junior and elite qualifying and elite semi-finals providing pretty much non-stop action all day
• Royally certified: thank you Tahnée Seagrave for recommending our books in reply to a fan’s question
• Points chase: Loic Bruni and Vali Höll lead the elite series standings after Bielsko-Biała, with Asa Vermette and Heather Wilson leading the juniors. Full standings here

More below…

• Tight ropes: only 30 elite men go into finals from semi-finals (plus any with protected status that don’t make the cut). In Poland, just 5.659 seconds separated the top-30 in semi-finals, so the slightest error could mean the difference between making finals (and getting airtime for sponsors) or an abrupt end to the week. Just 10 elite women go into finals from semis (plus protected riders); 10^th to 15^th in semis were separated by less than five seconds
• Chat: New Dawn Awaits
• Fact finder: Kilmurray (Point1Athletic) loves a stat. Here are some: Loic Bruni is way out front in the elite men’s series standings with 627 points, but there are only 30 points between second and sixth; Britain and France had eight riders each in men’s finals; a different elite woman went fastest in each of the five sectors of the track in finals
• Customs check: Loic Bruni opted for a custom-made leader’s jersey instead of the UCI-issue gilet. Teams are allowed to make their own version of the leader’s jersey if it fits into the criteria (World Cup colours, UCI logo placement, etc) and is signed off by the powers that be
• Our view: amazing track, quality racing, decent coverage (if you could find it). It’s inspiring to see how the top downhill racers – juniors and elites – piece together a brand-new course so quickly, from first sends to race pace and creative lines within a few laps. More of the same please
• Flat out hat out: big thanks to Sven, Boris and Seb for the work documenting every World Cup for our yearbooks. if you like what we do, please consider buying something from our store or telling your friends to sign up to our newsletter and social media. Thanks!