On a new and challenging course, Junior category victories for Aletha Ostgaard (Canyon DH Racing) and Jonty Williamson (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) capped an exciting start to the season.
Asa Vermette (Frameworks Racing / TRP) and Vali Hell (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) dominated the Historic inaugural stage of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series at MONA YongPyong with impeccable style. Höll had a puncture at the rear but still achieved a landslide victory, while Vermette became the first athlete to win an Elite stage of the UCI World Cup Downhill on his debut, after having achieved the best time in qualifying.
It was a day for the annals, with the UCI World Cup of Downhill which stopped for the first time in South Korea. Myriam Nicole (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) has equaled Sabrina Jonnier's record for the highest number of race starts in the Downhill female (93), while Höll's victory allows Commencal to catch up with Cannondale as the most successful bicycle brand in the women's discipline.
Nicole made the day memorable by taking third place in the women's elite final, behind Scarce Glory (MS-Racing) and Höll, who demonstrated that even the new team was not a problem.
Yet, at MONA YongPyong we witnessed a tale of two UCI world champions: a disappointed Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) began the defense of his UCI World Cup overall title with a 26th-place finish following a crash.
After surrendering the UCI World Cup crown to Goldstone in the most dramatic circumstances last year, it looked like Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) would have started his revenge with a win, but was pipped by UCI World Cup runner-up Downhill 2025 Junior in a Men's Elite race that offered everything.
Meanwhile, Höll was not the fastest woman on the course, as Aletha Ostgaard (Canyon DH Racing) sensationally won the Junior race with a time of 0,841 seconds less to that of the Austrian, while Jonty Williamson (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) won the Junior Men's title.
VERMETTE LEADS THE NEXT GENERATION IN SOUTH KOREA
A fascinating challenge awaited the riders in Korea, as the dusty and rocky course surface made it difficult to recover speed after mistakes, underlining the importance of fluidity over aggression on the brand-new 1,8km course.
A number of elite male athletes started well, but their chances faded on the ever-changing course, which caused particular problems in the wooded section before the Monster Energy Drop in the third quarter.
It was precisely on that occasion that Jackson Goldstone He had a problem, although it wasn't even the most spectacular accident of the day, during a men's marathon.
Kenneth Ryan Pinkerton (Mondraker Factory Racing DH) spent well over an hour at the top of the standings thanks to his reference time of 2:47.578 As was the case throughout the day, several riders spent time at the front before succumbing to Pinkerton's rapid comeback or losing control of their bikes, underlining the need for consistency and control on the difficult path of MONA YongPyong .
Finally, the debutant Till Alran he ousted the American after his brother Max (both COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction ) had been less than two tenths of a second away from taking the lead, but his reign did not last long as Bruni pulled away with a lead of over two seconds. However, Bruni had just taken his place on the throne when the second-placed qualifier Amaury Pierron (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) seemed poised to further reduce the leader's time.
Pierron had a 1,6-second lead at the start of the final stretch, but crashed badly, only to remount and still take second place, less than half a second behind Bruni.
“I was quite suspicious about that section. First, I lost the front wheel in the previous left-hander, and then I entered the next one with perhaps too wide an angle, too much force. I really wanted it. " Pierron said .
His slide left only one rider with a chance of beating Bruni: Vermette, on his debut. overall in the UCI elite World Cup .
Yet, after a slight disadvantage in the first stretch, the American reacted decisively and conquered his historic first victory with a lead of 1,5 seconds . He was the only Stars and Stripes rider at the top of a classification otherwise dominated by Frenchmen, with Bruni, Pierron, Alran, Lori's vergier (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) and Nathan Pontvienne (Santa Cruz Burgtec by Goodman) all placed in the top six.
Vermette paid tribute to the impact of the legendary Aaron Gwin , new purchase of the Frameworks Racing / TRP team (finished 17th in South Korea), who gave him advice on how to manage the time between qualifying and the race, adding: ” I was so nervous at the top. My first World Cup, I was last, and I was thinking, 'Oh my God,' but yesterday I had a good descent, so I tried to do the same. I think it worked. .
" I just had to remember why I started doing it: I love cycling, and ultimately, it's all I do. Cycling down a mountain was all I was supposed to do. Everything else fell away when I got on the track. .
" I've been dreaming of winning the World Cup for a long time, and doing it on my first try is incredible. I never could have imagined it this way. A myriad of emotions were racing through my mind; I still couldn't believe it. . "
MALE ELITE ORDER OF ARRIVAL
| 1 | WORMS Asa |  USA | FRAMEWORKS RACING / TRP | 02:43:301 |
| 2 | BRUNI Loic |  From | SPECIALIZED GRAVITY | 02:44:869 |
| 3 | PIERRON Amaury | From | COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION | 02:45:364 |
| 4 | VERGIER Loris | From | COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION | 02:46:492 |
| 5 | PONTVIANNE Nathan | From | SANTA CRUZ BURGTEC BY GOODMAN | 02:46:557 |
| 6 | ALRAN Till | From | COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION | 02:46:953 |
| 7 | MAES Martin |  BEL | ORBEA FMD RACING | 02:47:023 |
| 8 | PINKERTON Ryan | USA | MONDRAKER FACTORY RACING DH | 02:47:578 |
| 9 | ALRAN Max | From | COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION | 02:47:702 |
| 10 | KOLB Andreas |  TUE | SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE | 02:48:167 |
HÖLL IS BACK AT HIS BEST. FANTASTIC GLORIA SCARSI
Sacha Earnest (Trek-Unbroken DH) set the pace in the women's Elite competition, riding down the course and setting a reference time of 3:17.409 who would remain undefeated for another half hour, while several athletes of greater caliber failed to match him.
Anna Newkirk (Frameworks Racing / TRP), Phoebe Gale (Orbea FMD Racing) and Marine Cabirou (Canyon DH Racing) were all leading the New Zealander before crashing, while Gale's teammate, Tahnée Seagrave, He had a problem at the bottom of the trail.
Indeed, had Cabirou remained in the saddle the entire time, she might have been Höll's most fearsome opponent, as the Frenchwoman gave her all in her race and was the fastest rider of the day in the first two stages before crashing out.
Vali Hell she finally put an end to Earnest's reign at the top of the standings, despite having a flat tire that she hadn't noticed due to the rough surface, and none of the five finalists managed to cover a sector faster than the Austrian.
Myriam Nicole She proved that caution can be a virtue, with a measured descent that contrasted sharply with that of her compatriot Cabirou. Although she failed to end her 624-day wait for a UCI World Cup victory, she placed second before being overtaken by Scarce Glory . Harriet Harnden she failed to repeat the qualifications feat , missing the podium by just three tenths.
“I've never struggled so much on a track before, I really doubted myself ", Höll said . " Or [I thought] to go back to Seoul and go shopping or something .
" I also know the junior times. Congratulations, Aletha. [Ostgaard] , it's really amazing. I need to go a little faster or just not look at the times so I don't get too stressed at the beginning. .
“It was a really tough race, it didn't feel like a real race because you had to be very patient and ride more like an Enduro. I'm amazed that I managed to win here, especially with a new team, a new bike, and new people around me. It's a great time. .
" I was a little nervous about Max Commencal being here, so I'm happy to have that off my chest and to have made him, the whole team, and myself happy. I hope we can continue like this. . "
ORDER OF ARRIVAL ELITE FEMALE
| 1 | HÖLL Valentina | TUE | COMMENCAL SCHWALBE BY LES ORRES | 03:14:778 |
| 2 | POOR Glory |  ITA | MS-RACING | 03:15:351 |
| 3 | NICOLE Myriam | From | COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION | 03:16:529 |
| 4 | HARNDEN Harriet |  GBR | AON RACING | 03:16:830 |
| 5 | ROA SANCHEZ Valentina |  COL | MS-RACING | 03:17:264 |
| 6 | EARNEST Sacha |  NZL | TREK – UNBROKEN DH | 03:17:409 |
| 7 | HEMSTREET Gracey |  CAN | NORCO X ADIDAS RACE DIVISION | 03:17:483 |
| 8 | GALE Phoebe | GBR | ORBEA FMD RACING | 03:18:418 |
| 9 | SEAGRAVE Tahnee | GBR | ORBEA FMD RACING | 03:23:780 |
| 10 | BAUMANN Lisa |  SUI | COMMENCAL SCHWALBE BY LES ORRES | 03:27:281 |
OSTGAARD AND WILLIAMSON WIN AMONG THE JUNIORS
Many of the Junior category participants competed first in this UCI World Cup, including the spectacular Tilly Boadle (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres), whose engaging riding style was spectacular, although not entirely suited to the YongPyong route.
On the contrary, Aletha Ostgaard, runner-up in 2025, she became the first UCI World Cup season winner of Downhill, confirming the excellent form shown at the end of last season. Her flawless run secured her third consecutive victory, while the defending champion Rose Zierl (Cube Factory Racing) had to settle for second place after some small mistakes during her descent.
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Last off the starting ramp, Zierl failed to match the woman she beat last season, but the Austrian didn't seem at all disappointed to have 50 points in the standings, while Ostgaard said:
" It seems unreal. Honestly, I know what Rosa is like. [Zierl] , he increased his speed on the descent, so I was very scared, especially when I saw that first green time. But today I had a solid day, I felt really good, so I knew that if I had a clean descent, I could get a good result. .
“[The qualifications] They made me angry in a way. I knew I could do it, that I could ride a clean descent, but I had trouble in one section and fell. When I get angry, I do pretty well because I find fun in difficult challenges, so when I'm having fun, everything is fine. I love racing with Rosa because she always keeps me on my toes. I'll have fun and ride well. "
With further changes to the Men's Junior start list from 2025, with only one rider confirmed in last season's top ten, the second stage of the day was incredibly accident-filled. Several riders crashed, none more disastrously than Luke Mallen (Outlaw Intense Racing), whose crash caused the race to be stopped with a red flag.
At that stage Felix Griffiths (Santa Cruz Syndicate) e Stan Nisbet (AON Racing) led a British one-two, but later New Zealand she initially came forward with Malik Boatwright (Continental Atherton) and Camden Rutherford (Nukeproof Axess Racing).
After that Alex Mallen (Outlaw Intense Racing) recovered from the shock of his brother's accident to reach the podium, Jonty Williamson has jumped to the top of the results.
Sacha Brizin (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) pushed Rutherford into fourth place, but none of the three remaining riders could beat Williamson, with the best returning rider from 2025 winning by a quarter of a second over his compatriot.
" I'm really happy, winning a World Cup is a dream I've had since I was a child. ", Williamson said in a post-race interview eerily similar to Vermette's.” A pretty good descent, a bit of melted snow in the central part where I lost a lot of time, but I managed to recover it, so I'm excited.”
" It wasn't mine favorite track, but still very fun, much freer than the others. A little slower, quite difficult. . "
Brizin and Boadle's podiums allowed at Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres to move up to second place in the team ranking after the first round, even if COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction has already accumulated a considerable advantage of 33 points Behind them, the fight for the last place on the podium, currently occupied by Frameworks Racing/TRP, It's a tight affair with eight teams separated by just 22 points.
MALE JUNIORES ARRIVAL ORDER
| 1 | WILLIAMSON Jonty | NZL | YETI / FOX FACTORY RACE TEAM | 02:50:589 |
| 2 | BOATWRIGHT Malik | NZL | CONTINENTAL ATHERTON | 02:50:863 |
| 3 | BRIZIN Sacha Gabriel | From | COMMENCAL 101 | 02:51:224 |
| 4 | RUTHERFURD Camden | NZL | NUKEPROOF AXESS RACING | 02:51:877 |
| 5 | MALLEN Alex | USA | OUTLAW INTENSE RACING | 02:51:881 |
| 6 | GRIFFITHS Felix | GBR | SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE | 02:52:328 |
| 7 | NISBET Stan | GBR | AON RACING | 02:53:245 |
| 8 | FORLIN Noé | SUI | 02:53:825 | |
| 9 | SCHNEEBERGER Raoul | SUI | SANTA CRUZ BURGTEC BY GOODMAN | 02:55:438 |
| 10 | STEVENS-MCNAB Sterling | NZL | THE ALLIANCE | 02:56:296 |
ORDER OF ARRIVAL JUNIORES FEMALE
| 1 | OSTGAARD Aletha | USA | CANYON DH RACING | 03:13:937 |
| 2 | ZIERL Pink | TUE | CUBE FACTORY RACING | 03:16:342 |
| 3 | BOADLE Tilly |  AUS | COMMENCAL SCHWALBE BY LES ORRES | 03:19:540 |
| 4 | NEF Gianna | SUI | 03:20:537 | |
| 5 | JENSEN Rosa |  THE | 03:21:785 |
The action continues at MONA YongPyong, in South Korea, with the start of the Olympic World Cup on Sunday Cross-country UCI, which concludes the first of the 14 action-packed weekends of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series Meanwhile, Höll, Vermette, Ostgaard, Williamson and the rest of the downhill athletes will be back on track in the French city of Loudenvielle – Peyragudes at the end of May.
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