FINAL RACE RESULTS - Lousa UCI Mountain Bike World Cup DH #2 7

The year 2020 sure got off to a rocky start, and things didn't exactly look up in the middle either. But against all the odds, the World Cup organizers in Maribor and Lousa pulled a rabbit out of the hat and provided us with a short-but-oh-so-sweet 4-race World Cup downhill series to close the year out in style. With overall titles still on the line, it all came down to the final race of the final event weekend, and even the weather decided to cooperate for this one...well for every class except the Elite Men. 2020 just couldn't leave well enough alone.

The Elite Women's race and 2020 World Cup DH overall was won by Marine Cabirou today. She had a flawless top-to-bottom performance, leaving nothing in the tank when she crossed the line. Before Marine came down, however, Nina Hoffman had put up a smoking time, knocking Myriam Nicole out of the hotseat by over 3 seconds. Nina held onto 2nd place as Tahnee Seagrave came down just .5 seconds behind earning 2nd on the day. Congratulations to Tracey Hannah on a storied MTB race career. Today's event was her last World Cup downhill race, as she announced her retirement recently. Tracey was on a great run until getting out of shape on the landing of the last hip jump. She went down fairly hard after almost saving it. Despite the crash, she was able to ride through to the finish line. We will miss you out there, Tracey!

The Junior Men got us underway, with all eyes on first-round sensation Oisin O'Callaghan. Portugal was not to be for the Irishman however, as he once again failed to put down a meaningful run here and finished far down the order, leaving the door open for #USDH ripper Dante Silva to take home the first World Cup win of his career. Local fast man Goncalo Bandeira backed up his excellent qualifying results with a 2nd place here to finish off a good home event campaign, but the real winner of the day was GT's Ethan Craik. Ethan finished third on the day but more importantly, secured the overall title for his first year as a junior.

In the Junior Women's, Lauryne Chappaz confirmed her good Portugal form with a win in the final race of the season, snapping Leona Pierrini's 3-race winning streak in the process. It was not enough to deny Leona the overall title however, which she ended up taking home with a comfortable margin.

Marine Cabirou Post-Race Interview

Ethan Craik Post-Race Interview

Elite Men's play-by-play highlights

• Phil the Thrill pinned and steezy as they come, hucking to flatness off the finish drop and into a great time.
  
• Jamie Edmondson - heck yes. Hotseat holder with a time faster than Loic's 1st place quali yesterday. The Scottish privateer put down a scorcher!
  
• Neko up at first two splits, then grazed a tree and lost time throughout the bottom
• Brendog flat tire. What's the deal with flat tires at this race?!
• Brayton is a beast.
• Dan Hearn reporting from finish area that it got colder, a bit windier and rain is visible across the valley
• Angel Suarez going for huck of the day off the whip table at the end of the motorway. There were rain drops on Angel's goggle lens at finish
  
• PISSING rain at top when Remi dropped in
• Trummer put the squeeze on, despite the rain. Jamie still in hotseat.
• Dak was doing fairly well until a front flat and gnarly save in a berm. Again, what's with all the flat tires here?!
• Luca Shaw 3.5 back, but every point is going to come into play for the overall.
• Maes on a cracker at the top, losing a bit down low. 2.5 behind across the line. Jamie Edmondson still in hotseat. In post-run interview, Maes said conditions weren't too horrible, but mentally, the rain was a factor.
  
• Kade slid out in a mid-course corner, then blew feet off pedals in motorway, ball-riding top tube. Saved it and took it out on his bike by whipping and landing sideways off the finish drop. Awesome!
  
• Loris Vergier, raining still at the top and tough run. Crosses the line in 14th with 9 to go. Points coming into play.
• Greg Williamson washed out, off course. Head to the forum to discuss DSQ potential of that one (and Tracey Hannah's off-course excursion).
• Benoit looks so rad on the bike! 15th across the line. Daprela still holding overall points lead as he sits in 3rd at the moment.
• Gwin was on pace until going too hot into a corner in the steeps. So long, 2020, let's look toward 2021.
• Danny Hart, not in touch. If Hart can't handle the wet, can anyone? He will not impact overall points.
• Finn Iles with a solid run drops into 12th at the time, the first rider "in the rain" to beat Loris' time.
• WOW! Troy Brosnan crosses just .3 seconds off Edmondson's pace! It's coming down to the wire with the track seemingly drying.
• Matt Walker, GOES FIRST! A pinned but playful run takes out Edmonson and Matt's result, with 2 riders remaining gives him the 2020 World Cup Downhill Overall! Minnaar and Loic remain.
• GREG MINNAAR GOES INTO FIRST! Green, green and green. The big air beast of an "old man" backs up his race 1 results with only Loic Bruni remaining. Incredible performance.
• LOIC BRUNI WINS THE 2020 World Cup DH #2 in Lousa by .17 seconds. He was in the red and pulled it back at the end. BONKERS!
  

Loic Bruni Post-Race Interview

Greg Minnaar Post-Race Interview

Matt Walker Post-Race Interview

Jamie Edmondson Post-Race Interview

Phil Atwill Post-Race Interview

Tahnee Seagrave and Loris Vergier Post-Race Interview

photos and interviews by @maddogboris and Dan Hearn

Listen to all the interviews above on our podcast channel

Elite Men's Race Results

Elite Men's 2020 World Cup Downhill Overall Results

Elite Women's Race Results

Elite Women's 2020 World Cup Downhill Overall Results

Junior Men's Race Results

Junior Men's 2020 World Cup Downhill Overall Results

Junior Women's Race Results

Junior Women's 2020 World Cup Downhill Overall Results

Eddie Masters and Brook Macdonald predicted today's race results. Were they close?