iXS European Downhill Cup 2016

The last leg of the IXS DH tour before finals in Leogang

featured in Events reviews Author Ian Huyton, Les 2 Alpes Reporter Updated 26 July 2016

The fifth leg of the iXS European Downhill Cup (EDC), held in Les Deux Alpes this weekend, was the last event before the finals at Leogang (AUT) in September.

As in previous years the race took place on a modified version of the Fury – the hardest black trail in the Deux Alpes bike park. The run takes in over 2.5 kilometres of the toughest downhill terrain, descending 700 vertical metres. There are spectacular road gaps alternating with tortuous, steep, technical sections, and the riders mange to complete all this in around four minutes.

Over the last three years the event has formed part of the Crankworx Festival and been the final big event of that weekend. This year, Crankworx has moved on but the EDC has remained in Deux Alpes – always a big resort for downhill riding.

The event was planned to run over three days, but torrential rain and thunderstorms on Friday led to lift closures and cancellation of the training sessions. Saturday remained rainy but the weather improved enough to run the qualifying session. At the end of this session, Czech rider Stanislav Sehnal had the fastest Elite Men’s time going into the final day, followed by the Austrian, Andreas Kolb. Monica Hrastnik from Slovenia led the Elite Women. This set the stage for the final on Sunday with the top 30 Elite Men from qualifying going into the ‘Super Final’ along with a number of protected riders (those in either the World top ten or European top three). The remainder of the men would race in the ‘Small Final’ earlier in the day.

Sunday saw a big improvement in the weather for the final day. Warmth and sunshine greeted the riders as they headed up the Diable chairlift for their practice runs in the morning. The race proper began early in the afternoon with the Pro Masters, U17s and U19s preceding the Elite Men’s ‘Small Final’. The Elite Women’s Final followed and saw Carina Cappellari from Switzerland take her second EDC win. Saturday’s leader, Monika Hrastnik, took second and the Italian, Veronika Widman, placed third.

The final event of the final day was the Elite Men’s final. The third rider out of the start gate, Austria’s David Trummer, set the bar high, finishing in 3 minutes 48.247 seconds. He had a nervous wait watching the rest of the field come down to see if his lead held. The Italian, Loris Revelli, came closest – just 0.38 seconds off – but nobody managed to match the Austrian’s time. Stanislav Sehnal, the fastest qualifier, completed the top three just under three seconds behind. David Trummer’s win leaves him third in the overall EDC rankings with one race to go in the series. The top British competitor in the race was Harry Molloy in 7th place with a time of 3:54.212.

As always, the race took place in a festive atmosphere even without the Crankworx Festival in town. The racing was well supported with spectators scaling the steep Diable slopes to reach every part of the course, both on foot and by bike. The competition was top class and it was spectacular to watch some of the best riders in the world doing what they do best.