9 things you need to know before tomorrow’s World Cup DH finale

Benjamin Haworth

Bluffer's guide

Bluffer’s guide to tomorrow’s epic day. Qualifying is over, the weather forecasts are in. Here’s everything you need to know before the race starts.

>>> Who can – and who can’t – win the World Cup DH finale this Saturday

1. Men’s overall standings post-qualifying

Gwin beat Minnaar by a gnat’s chuff in qualifying (Gwin’s time was 3:37.828, Greg’s time was 3:37.999! But that 0.1 second equates to 50 points for Gwin and 40 for Minnaar. So this is how it stands at the mo…

  1. Greg Minnaar 972 pts
  2. Aaron Gwin 949 pts
  3. Troy Brosnan 880 pts

2. Women’s overall standings post-qualifying

Myriam Nicole qualified in 4th. Tracey Hannah was fastest, followed by Tahnee Seagrave in 2nd and Rachel Atherton in 3rd.

  1. Myriam Nicole 1,215 pts
  2. Tracey Hannah 1,130 pts
  3. Tahnee Seagrave 1,084 pts

3. The weather is looking stormy

Whilst it looks like the whole field will get rained on – as opposed to the final fastest few men, as in Lourdes – the weather will make an already unpredictable track even more of wildcard.

4. How the points system works on race day

1st = 200 pts
2nd = 150 pts
3rd = 140 pts
4th = 125 pts
5th = 110 pts
6th = 95 pts
7th = 90 pts
8th = 85 pts
9th = 80 pts
10th = 75 pts

5. Previous winners at Val Di Sole

There was no World Cup round at Val Di Sole last year but it was where the 2016 World Champs were held. The winners at Val Di Sole last year were Danny Hart and Rachel Atherton.

Gwin, Minnaar and Brosnan didn’t get in the top three. Myriam Nicole came second and Tracey Hannah came third.

6. Who won the previous round of this year’s World Cup?

AKA who’s on form.

The last round was at Mount-Saint-Anne in Canada. Tahnee Seagrave won the Women’s race and Aaron Gwin came first in the Men’s with a simply unbelievable performance.

New changes are lit ! 3rd in time training, let's see what Saturday brings 🙂 cheers @kif_cat for the pics 😉

A post shared by Loris Vergier (@lorisvergier) on

7. Loris Vergier is switching back to 27.5 wheels

Why? Not just to stoke the fires of the wheel size debate; he keeps getting arse-buzzed by the rear tyre on the steep stuff of Val Di Sole apparently.

8. EWS champ Cecile Ravanel is racing

2017 Enduro World Series champ Cecile Ravanel is racing at Val Di Sole. She’ll be racing under the French national team rather than as a Commençal team member because it’s via the French cycling organisation that she was allowed to enter this World Cup round.

9. How and when to watch

From noon tomorrow (Saturday August 26th) via Red Bull‘s website…

DH Women’s @ BST: 12pm

DH Men’s @ BST: 2pm