The 2024 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Championships took place in Andorra this weekend, on a dry and dusty track that ran even faster than qualifying earlier in the week. We’ve been treated to some fantastic racing, some epic custom bikes and riders proving why they’re the best in the world on a pretty tough track. Let’s take a look at 4 things we’ve learned from the DH champs this weekend.

Vali Höll at the finish line, winning her third successive rainbow jersey. Photo credit: Javier Martínez/SWpix.com

Vali Höll is a force of nature

The Austrian took her third rainbow jersey in a row, half a second ahead of second-placed Myriam Nicole. British rider Tahnée Seagrave finished in third place, just 1.2 seconds behind. She’s the first woman to win three rainbow jerseys in a row for over 20 years, since Anne-Caroline Chausson won 8 between 1996 and 2003. The rest of the season will be exciting to watch as Höll has a slender lead in the overall rankings, ahead of Seagrave with just two rounds remaining.

The youngsters are gunning for the Elites!

Vali may have taken the fastest time in the Elite category, but she wasn’t the fastest woman down the hill in finals. That accolade goes to Erice van Leuven who put in a 2:59.891 run, 3/10ths of a second faster than Vali! Ok, ok, calm down, yes it was two days before the Elite finals, on what would was a much fresher track, but as a sign of things to come, it’s a going to give the top Elite women something to ponder during the off-season.

The men can’t rest easy either. In the Junior Men’s category, Asa Vermette put down a time that would have netted 6th place in the Elites, and he’s been in the habit of beating the top Elite times in events like the US Nationals recently. And he did that time without pedalling the bottom half of the track believing there was something wrong with his drivetrain.

It’s always been the case that Junior have shown raw speed, commitment, and insane skills, but the level of maturity displayed by the latest crop of young guns, and we include Jackson Goldstone and Jordan Williams in that club, is remarkable.

British women’s DH is in safe hands

Phoebe Gale, Tahnée Seagrave, the fearless Louise-Anna Ferguson and Enduro hero Harriet Harnden all finished inside the top 20. After Rachel Atherton looks to have hung up her wheels, we’re glad to see there are riders more than ready to take over the helm at the top of their DH game. Seagrave is also sitting just behind Höll in the overall World Cup standings this year, so we’ve got plenty to be getting excited about for the rest of 2024.

Vergier lifts his bike after he realises he’s won his first Elite rainbow jersey. Photo credit: Javier Martínez/SWpix.com

Vergier finally gets his Elite rainbow bands

Perhaps it’s not the way he would have wanted to win, but the Frenchman has finally won his first Elite World Championships. Both Dakota Norton and Loic Bruni ended up crashing out despite showing green times on their way down the hill, leaving Vergier in tears on the hot seat. That being said, to finish first, first you’ve got to finish, and his immaculate run built pace all the way down on a short track that was very difficult to nail 100% – the top three were separated by just 0.169 seconds.

The veterans of DH have still got it

We’ve seen plenty of newcomers on the top step over the past few years in the DH series, but Danny Hart proved the veterans of the circuit have still got it. He was in the hot seat for quite a while, and ended up finishing 4th, just 0.283 seconds behind winner Vergier. That’s 13 years after his legendary run at Champery. Which you can watch again below, because why not?

The camera work left a lot to be desired

Always a bit of a lottery when it comes to coverage, the World Championships TV coverage is not usually produced by the same team who put together the World Cup races. Last year at Fort William we had fake sound effects added when the bikes landed jumps. This year we had ‘arty’ pans that ended with close-ups of rocks – missing vital seconds of on track action – and frustrating cut-aways to the podium that filled the screen rather than being picture-in-picture. The level of coverage of the UCI World Cup DH and XC is extremely high now, but the Worlds never quite measures up. Please UCI and TV crews; do better.