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The mud, the carnage, the highs, the lows. Sven Martin, @maddogboris and Dan Hearn deliver a plethora of epic photos from World Champs after Covid tests and border runs on the way to the first World Cup DH in Maribor. Thank you fellas, thank you to all who made this incredible weekend of racing possible!
Reece was one of the riders who had no problems with the stump gap even in the rain. @maddogboris
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Camille Balanche is your 2020 DH World Champion! @maddogboris
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Oisin “Little Deer” O’Callaghan name making Ireland proud, sealing the deal with a strong, late charge to snatch the win. -Sven Martin
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Your Junior Women's World Champ Lauryne Chappaz @maddogboris
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Thanks Team Leogang. Thanks for the new track and thanks for making it happen under these current restrictions. But most of all, thanks to all the volunteers and marshals that stood out in the rain and snow all weekend. -Sven Martin
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It was unusual to see a different line in these woods but Trummer railed some slop on the outside that almost nobody was hitting. It’s quite unusual to see the Austrian ride so loose, but he showed his versatility as a rider and laid down a stormer of a run to take the silver medal in his home country. -Dan Hearn
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Curse of the gold helmet or just racing? Pompon shares her thoughts. -Sven Martin
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Myriam Nicole opted for flat pedals and made the most of them in the moto ruts. The rainbow stripes weren’t hers for the keeping however. -Dan Hearn
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Like most of the women’s field, Monika Hrastnik had some moments on her way through the woods, but held a good time together to take the bronze medal. -Dan Hearn
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How low can you go? Remi Thirion race run to 3rd. @maddogboris
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Reece intently watching the rest of the field come down making mistake after mistake. His run would hold, the perfect mix of risk and reward. Smart, ballsy riding when it counted most. -Sven Martin
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As if the muddy ruts weren’t hard enough. There were sniper boulders and rocks hiding in wait. -Sven Martin
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It took balance and control. (And tight pants) If you’ve watched any of Cammie's training videos, you know she has both. -Sven Martin
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The mud clung to riders like sticky spider webs on Sunday. -Sven Martin
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Camille Balanche in disbelief as she watches last on track, Tracey Hannah, make a crucial error in the woods. Smooth and clean is what was needed to conquer this track. -Sven Martin
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White knight takes the win in the dark mud. Much like Loic in Cairns. -Sven Martin
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A very different, and chilly, podium from what we would have expected when we saw Leogang get announced as a World Championships host. -Sven Martin
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Loic Bruni knew that it wouldn't be his conditions to win the rainbow jersery. He tried hard, but a bit of bad luck ended the little chance he had in the mud. @maddogboris
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Benoit Coulanges has had a cracker of a year and has been on a hell of a tear. 12th place for the fast Frenchman. -Sven Martin
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Check your head.The B-Zone Boyz. -Sven Martin
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King of the DadCam, Chris Kilmurray of Point1 Athletic gives his insight into the British and Irish talent killing it on the racing scene at the moment.
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On Saturday the course was rolling a lot easier and faster. Still tricky and slippery but much more manageable. This was the last time Vali successfully cleared the river gap. Casing this on Sunday morning and wrecking her ankle. What heartbreak for the favorite (after seeding) this weekend. -Sven Martin
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Highest plate number with a good result in the top ten. Ninth for Johannes Fischbach, racing with a major shoulder injury. -Sven Martin
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Nina Hoffman in the treacherous new woods. What a marvelous spectacle the new woods brought to this year's event. -Sven Martin
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Mark Wallace doesn’t need a proper back tire to do wet, muddy wall rides. BC’s Chuck Norris is not afraid. Course check before final training. -Sven Martin
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Loic Bruni fully leaned into the slightest of ruts on the opening off-camber. His training didn’t start well, breaking his brake lever on a rock right after this and having to miss his run, riding down the fire road. -Sven Martin
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There are winners and losers at World Champs. Depending on your perspective, you can be both. Sharjah Jonsson getting his first taste of snow and getting narrowly beaten by Brook and Bruni. -Sven Martin
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Daniel Slack blew his tire off his rim the very run before his final run here. It takes a special kind of talent to put that all behind you and refocus for the finals. Great 2nd- place Junior ride -Sven Martin
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Peanut butter for lunch anyone. -Sven Martin
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Austria's first silver medal of the day went to Sophie Gutohrle in the Junior women’s. -Sven Martin
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James Elliot, one of four Brits in the top five. Bronze medal for Elliot. What is the secret to the DH success from this nation? -Sven Martin
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After looking fast and consistent all week, first-place qualifier Matthew Sterling went down hard a few times in his race run. His final chance of a Junior rainbow jersey dashed. -Sven Martin
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Lucky timing for Marine, crashing in front of her brother Sunday morning and then commandeering his gloves for the rest of her run. -Sven Martin
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Jack Moir has had a rather successful year. After being left high and dry with no DH ride, he got signed for enduro, but allowed to do a few DH races should he want. 6th place. Not bad for a part-timer. -Sven Martin
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Loris attacking in training. He knew it was all or nothing come race time, and he started off on the right track taking the first split. He couldn’t live up to his first-place qualifier, unfortunately. Interestingly, had Sunday's weather been like Monday's (full snow), he would be DH World Champ. -Sven Martin
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The snow started to accumulate during the course of the day but never really took purchase on the ground. What a wild day. -Sven Martin
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Another rainbow gets away from Tracey. -Sven Martin
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Bernard Kerr used his enduro training and mud riding from Pietra and Zermatt to his advantage with a good run into fifth place. -Sven Martin
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Troy Brosnan kept closer to gold throughout his run, and we know he normally finishes well, but it wasn’t to be on Sunday. -Sven Martin
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From 32 to 1. Not bad in the first race of the year. Not bad at all. This will make the team rumors very interesting this year. -Sven Martin
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Tears of joy, relief, belief and happiness for upper deserving champ. -Sven Martin
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Great run for Stanislav Sehnal with 15th. Nice to see some new names brought to light when a track as tough as this is put on offer. -Sven Martin
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Couldn’t ignore this. It’s what everyone is fighting for. -Sven Martin
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Disappointment. He’s hard on himself that’s for sure. Don’t count him out for more gold medals though. -Sven Martin
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Tahnee had all the ones in her splits. 1, 1, 1, but the next one was 11. So close she could see light at the end of the woods tunnel. Finishing her run without gloves and goggles tells the tale. -Sven Martin
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If anyone is missing some floor matting, they know where to find it. Eddie Masters showing you just how deep some of the holes and ruts are. A slow OTB near the end of the woods kicked him out the top ten. -Sven Martin
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Danny Hart was more than a few people's pick when we saw the track and weather. It just didn’t come together for this wet-steep-tech-gnar Worlds rider. -Sven Martin
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Good to have Brook back with the boys, fighting fit and taking hits again. -Sven Martin
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Freaking legend, Finn Iles. Off the bike it's impressive to see Finn growing as a person. Luckily on the bike, he is still the shredder we know from Whip-Off when he was just 15 years old. @maddogboris
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Yaaaay Cami! The Vital Crew is stoked for you! @maddogboris
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Cheers! Elite Women's World Champs Podium 2020 @maddogboris
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That´s the pole next to the Stump Triple. They were running out of Poles, so they had to restock! @maddogboris
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Yeah, nah. After dominating on the old track in Leogang, Aaron Gwin wasnt really happy about the mudfest. @maddogboris
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Pinkbike's Nathan H - "It annoys me the riders aren't up to my level of photography." @maddogboris
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Hope you haven't had enough mud already! #moretocome @maddogboris
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Daaaamn it, Vali. @maddogboris
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Unlucky P13 for Danny Hart @maddogboris
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If you look closely enough you will spot a Shimano Saint Brake. @maddogboris
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A little different without spectators. @maddogboris
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Damn it, Tracey! @maddogboris
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WT.....F! @maddogboris
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Dennis Luffman with a 4th in his first Junior race. @maddogboris
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What a guy! Brook never gives up. Thanks for being such an inspiration! @maddogboris
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You good down there buddy? @maddogboris
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If you shoot World Cups with your friends, you sometimes have the opportunity to play around. Check out Dan's shot to see exactly the same moment from the other side! @maddogboris
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Just one of those days when you end up shooting puddle explosions in finals.
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Again. Check out Dan's pic from behind. This time it was totally unplanned. Dan and I went for some special ways to use lighting for the same rider without knowing. @maddogboris
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Fort William local, Mikayla Parton looked right at home in the slop and finished an amazing 5th place. A good day for the Scots! -Dan Hearn
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More Jack on DH bikes please. @maddogboris
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Bodies everywhere! @maddogboris
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Sometimes you need a bit of luck in life! @maddogboris
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#13 be damned. Tahnee took her race results like a boss and was still stoked about it. @maddogboris
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Myriam Nicole with flat pedals on her way to the silver medal! @maddogboris
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That´s one of the other options to get over stump! @maddogboris
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Ex-World Champs and Leogang quali winner, speechless after the race. @maddogboris
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If the mud would have stayed as liquid as it was for the Juniors, it would have probably been a bit easier to ride down the hill. #peanuttbutter @maddogboris
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My money would have been on Louis Gaillet for the podium after seeing him in training. Unfortunately, he crashed before the first split. @maddogboris
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2020 Junior Men's World Champ, Oisin O'Callaghan @maddogboris
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First Elite World Champs Gold Medal for Scotland! Well done, Reece @maddogboris
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Golden Boy Reece Wilson @maddogboris
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Greg Minnaar and Aaron Gwin were figthing for miliseconds at World Champs. At the end, Aaron was 0.015 seconds ahead of Greg. What a race. P26 and P27 for them! @maddogboris
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Thibaut Daprela was leading his first elite race at splits 2 and 3 before losing time near the bottom. He finished 11th, a storming result for such harsh track conditions. -Dan Hearn
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Let’s be honest, the real race started here. -Dan Hearn
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One of our favorite loose stylish Frenchies, Hugo Frixtalon giving some great splits but sadly a few too many mistakes for a top finish. -Dan Hearn
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As the mud dried out through the day, it caused more and more problems clogging tyres and brakes.
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Like most of the field, Luca Shaw struggled to stay on his bike in finals but will be hungry for some more speed in Maribor next week. -Dan Hearn
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The wetter parts of the track actually offered more grip, letting tires clear more easily and cutting up into ruts. -Dan Hearn
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Leona Pierrini took 3rd place in Junior Women. -Dan Hearn
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Austria should be extremely proud of this guy. A super nice guy that lets his riding do the talking, David Trummer, brought home the goods when it counted. Love ya work Daveboy! -Dan Hearn
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Teammates Monika Hrastnik and Camille Balanche bringing home two victories for Dorval AM. -Dan Hearn
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Moody skies and rainbow stripes. It was another bad-weather epic with the world’s best riders. -Dan Hearn
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17th place for Kye A’hern, making sure all the Canyon team finished in the top 20. A strong effort from the team and showing great consistency considering the unpredictable track. -Dan Hearn
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It’s unusual for none of the 4 qualifying winners to win finals, but on this track anything could have happened. A strong ride from Loris Vergier still, with plenty more races in the future calling his name. -Dan Hearn
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Camille won the race in this section. She kept off the brakes and her tires clear enough to make it through the most treacherous sections. She didn’t stop attacking until the finish line. -Dan Hearn
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Victory tastes sweet. -Dan Hearn
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Yet another top British rider enjoying success in the mud was Greg Williamson, taking away a 7th place finish to be proud of. -Dan Hearn
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Wyn Masters demonstrating perfectly how slippery the inside line is that all the top riders were sending. -Dan Hearn
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Souvenirs aplenty at such a brutal race track. -Dan Hearn
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Loic had a real tough day at the office, but has done the stripes proud these last years. I’m sure he will be after them again full-gas next year. -Dan Hearn
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I CAME IN LIKE A WREEEEECKING BALL! -Dan Hearn
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Watching Reece Wilson rail one of the moto ruts in the open during training faster than I thought physically possible while looking so stoked, was a wake-up call that this guy could really win World Champs. All those wild individual sections came together into one amazing run. When the stars align, the rainbow comes out to play. -Dan Hearn
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Balls-to-the-wall to rodeo-ride-nightmare for Mick Hannah. -Dan Hearn
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The course marshals had a tough time keeping the tape and banners in one piece in the woods. -Dan Hearn
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The excess medical supplies from Corona testing came in handy. -Dan Hearn
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