Dane Jewett proved to be the most successful Sea to Sky downhiller last weekend in Snowshoe, W.Va. His time of three minutes, 23.048 seconds was enough for a seventh-place finish among junior men.
Finn Iles and Jakob Jewett likewise failed to reach the podium in the elite men's race. Iles rode to 10th (3:12.604) and Jakob clocked in for 12th (3:13.351).
It was a stunning debut elite victory for Irishman Oisin O’Callaghan (3:07.624), who is on an absolute tear with seven wins in seven 2023 races. An impressive performance for O'Callaghan's countryman Ronan Dunne (3:08.120) clinched an historic one-two for Ireland. Dakotah Norton of the United States clinched bronze after crossing the line to a rapturous reception from the frenzied home fans (3:08.987).
After taking both the qualifying and semifinal rounds, Loic Bruni crashed in the critical lower rock garden and ended up 26th. The Frenchman still leads the series going into the final round next weekend, but with 250 points at stake, the title battle will go down to the wire with four riders in contention.
Meanwhile, Ryan Pinkerton secured the 2023 junior overall title with his fourth win in four World Cups (3:16.424). The 18-year-old American was just three-tenths of a second faster than countryman Evan Medcalf (3:16.751) who was imperious through the super-technical lower rock garden. In third was France’s Mylann Falquet (3:18.388).
The Jewett brothers, of course, are coming off a dream Crankworx in July when they both won their respective categories in the Canadian Open Downhill.
Hail the queen
A bronze medal in Snowshoe was all that Valentina Höll needed to lock up the overall World Cup title (3:41.702).
On the day though, it was Marine Cabirou who made it two straight wins with a faultless performance (3:41.042) that saw her cross the line just three-tenths of a second ahead of Nina Hoffman (3:41.386). Cabirou's breakthrough leaves her third overall in the series, but narrows the points gap with second-placed Hoffman to just 29 with one event to go in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que.
Gracey Hemstreet found herself 10th.
The junior women also raced, and it was an impressive win for UCI World Champion Erice Van Leuven (4:02.208), who held onto a wild run to beat Taylor Ostgaard by just under six seconds (4:08.154). Ostgaard’s Transition Factory Racing teammate, Valentina Roa Sanchez, was third (4:09.463). Roa Sanchez leads Lisa Bouladou by just 15 points going into the final round of the season.
Full results and standings are here.
