On the Lousã descent the MTB World Cup ends in style

To Cabirou and Walker the titles Downhill 2020. Double 11th place for Loris Revelli while Eleonora Farina snatches an 8th and 9th place.

Source: press release / Giulia De Maio

The UCI MTB World Cup ended with the rich stage in Lousã, in Portugal, which yesterday decreed the king and queen of the Downhill. Compressed into just one month, the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2020 was decided by a double round which between last Friday and Sunday awarded the titles of fastest man and woman of this strange but no less spectacular season of off road.

Let's go in order and start from race 1 which saw Myriam Nicole defeat the competition in the women's field. With a smooth, clean and fast descent, the Frenchwoman crossed the line with a clear advantage of 4,3 seconds over Marine Cabirou, her direct rival for the conquest of the general classification. Third was the English Tahnée Seagrave, who got the better of the Australian Tracey Hannah, in her last appearance in the World Cup.

Among men the eternal Greg Minnaar has imposed himself. The South African, who showed great concentration throughout the week, with a well-calculated run, managed to precede Loic Bruni by just under two seconds and celebrate his 38nd World Cup victory at the age of 22. . English Matt Walker slipped between the two multi-titled champions. Loris Vergier, on the other hand, was unlucky, last due to a puncture in the front tire.

Compared to the first Lusitanian round, for the decisive challenge the track has been modified with narrower lines. Race 2 track presents small but significant changes, with which the athletes have had little time to familiarize themselves. Myriam Nicole, who fell heavily in qualifying, lacked the aggressiveness that led her to victory on Friday while Marine Cabirou, enticed by the title at stake, gave her all from the start to the final sprint, managing to cross the finish line 1,7 seconds faster than the German Nina Hoffmann, first in Maribor. Third place for Tahnée Seagrave. The French Cabirou secured a double victory: in the stage and in the general classification. Applause deserved for his first ever World Cup title.

Even in the men's field, the World Cup title remained pending until the last heat. At the start of the last race of the year as many as 5 athletes could still have hopes of success. In the end, the British Matt Walker won, thanks to the third place conquered behind Loic Bruni and Greg Minnaar, first and second at the finish separated only by 170 hundredths of a second. Big party then for Bruni and Walker, respectively winner of the stage and of the general classification. With these exciting challenges, he decided only at the last stroke of the pedal, the curtain falls on a World Cup season that will remain in history, however unconventional.

For full results and Lousã DH winning runs, visit www.redbull.com/it-it/uci-mtb-coppa-del-mondo-lousa-downhill-results-report-replay with commentary in Italian by Marco Aurelio Fontana and Torquato “Toto” Testa.