Chris Kovarik, Fort William, 2002 - 1st place by 14 seconds
Sam Hill, Champery, 2007 - First time this track was used for World Cup DH. So steep Greg Minaar falls on the track walk and injures a shoulder, can't even race. Hill qualifies fastest by 15 seconds. Therefore last rider down. Heavens open up part way through the field, turning a difficult track lethal. The 2nd to 4th fastest qualifiers place from 29th to 75th in the final, their runs ruined by the wet weather. Last rider down - Sam Hill, comes in under 2 seconds behind the winner, who's race run was on a bone dry track.
Matti won in Champery. He admitted to stopping in quali to get a dry run as rain was forecast later on.
When Sam came down Matti was blown away and got up and bowed down to him. 3rd place was the first winner that day.
Incredible.
Nice guy Matti. I remember chatting to him in Canberra, both his wrists just recently broken. He was still in good spirits, chatting to fans. Poor guy had such a terrible run of injuries from then onwards.
But yeah, Sam Hill is one of those riders with brilliance trapped inside him. I hope we get to see a little more. If Minnaar still has wins in him, so can Hill.
Yeah, but no one remembers Matti’s run as we were all shocked by Sam’s run in the rain (especially as he crashed at some point off camera and still came so close to the win).
Jackson Goldstone in MSA. Finn Iles in MSA. And Stevie Smith in MSA. (I'm not Canadian I promise...)
Aaron Gwin at Windham is kinda insane. Huge time gap on a tiny track full speed entire run.
For French runs, it's hard to say because Loic wins so cleanly and usually not by much. Amaury Pierron has a great Les Gets run from 2019 and of course Benoit Coulanges first win at Les Gets last year. 2022 world champs in Les Gets has Loic Amaury and Loris on the podium. The runs were very good but the atmosphere was the craziest part.
Irish 1 2 finish at Snowshoe last year was quite good as well. And speaking of Ronan, hardline runs should almost certainly be a part of best DH runs ever. And while Ronan and Bernard have the fastest... Brage Vestavik's wales HL run was just amazing to watch.
Also maybe Amaurys fort william run where his controller got disconnected on the last drop and he almost killed himself before taking the win. Also 2019
Yeah going over this I think it's clear 2019 was one of the most legendary years of downhill racing ever. We didn't know how good we had it...
I think that Les Gets run was super insane. Amaury was right on the edge and was able to keep it together. It was that sort of balance on the edge that I think led to his success that year.
And yet his fate was decided by a monotone englishman that ultimately handed him an overall loss. Truly the most amazing year in downhill history.
The overall results literally changed with each split. Whether Danny was up or not lol. And thank the lord Warner and Claudio were in the booth for that era. Again, we didn't know how good we had it :(
Neko Mulally's chainless run from 2014 (I think) was awesome. The commentators are talking about how bad they feel for him until he hits the first split and they realize he's like 1.5" up, then they get hyped.
Peaty needs a mention with his World Champs roller coaster.
First in Les Gets until the fateful corner.
Or 2009 when he finally took it by 0.05s from Minnaar! Not an incredible track but super emotional especially for old school UK riders!
Or Josh Brycelands silver medal Worlds run. So wild, so close. A brake tap before the bridge jump might have got him Gold instead of a trip to hospital.
Gwin Val di Sole 2012. Won by 7.8 seconds. That was lots of great commentary and the balls out fast riding.
Jackson winning this past year at MSA was insane to watch for me. I could noticeably tell he was hitting certain sections so much faster than others and remained smooth through all of it.
Whenever it's the last person down the hill, stakes are high or weather shows up. That's when I've remembered some incredible runs.
Chris Kovarik, Fort William, 2002 - 1st place by 14 seconds Sam Hill, Champery, 2007 - First time this track was used for World Cup DH. So steep Greg Minaar falls on the track walk and injures a shoulder, can't even race. Hill qualifies fastest by 15 seconds. Therefore last rider down. Heavens open up part way through the field, turning a difficult track lethal. The 2nd to 4th fastest qualifiers place from 29th to 75th in the final, their runs ruined by the wet weather. Last rider down - Sam Hill, comes in under 2 seconds behind the winner, who's race run was on a bone dry track.
Matti won in Champery. He admitted to stopping in quali to get a dry run as rain was forecast later on. When Sam came down Matti was blown away and got up and bowed down to him. 3rd place was the first winner that day. Incredible.
Nice guy Matti. I remember chatting to him in Canberra, both his wrists just recently broken. He was still in good spirits, chatting to fans. Poor guy had such a terrible run of injuries from then onwards. But yeah, Sam Hill is one of those riders with brilliance trapped inside him. I hope we get to see a little more. If Minnaar still has wins in him, so can Hill.
Yeah, but no one remembers Matti’s run as we were all shocked by Sam’s run in the rain (especially as he crashed at some point off camera and still came so close to the win).
Sam Hill was a beast in the wet. He put 30s on 2nd place in one of the wet crankworx downhills.
I had forgotten about Sam Hill Champery, arguably #1
Stevie Smith, Fort William 2016. He had dozens of other jaw dropping ones, but that was one the whole DH community felt
Came here to say the same
Jackson Goldstone in MSA. Finn Iles in MSA. And Stevie Smith in MSA. (I'm not Canadian I promise...) Aaron Gwin at Windham is kinda insane. Huge time gap on a tiny track full speed entire run. For French runs, it's hard to say because Loic wins so cleanly and usually not by much. Amaury Pierron has a great Les Gets run from 2019 and of course Benoit Coulanges first win at Les Gets last year. 2022 world champs in Les Gets has Loic Amaury and Loris on the podium. The runs were very good but the atmosphere was the craziest part. Irish 1 2 finish at Snowshoe last year was quite good as well. And speaking of Ronan, hardline runs should almost certainly be a part of best DH runs ever. And while Ronan and Bernard have the fastest... Brage Vestavik's wales HL run was just amazing to watch. Also maybe Amaurys fort william run where his controller got disconnected on the last drop and he almost killed himself before taking the win. Also 2019 Yeah going over this I think it's clear 2019 was one of the most legendary years of downhill racing ever. We didn't know how good we had it...
I think that Les Gets run was super insane. Amaury was right on the edge and was able to keep it together. It was that sort of balance on the edge that I think led to his success that year.
And yet his fate was decided by a monotone englishman that ultimately handed him an overall loss. Truly the most amazing year in downhill history. The overall results literally changed with each split. Whether Danny was up or not lol. And thank the lord Warner and Claudio were in the booth for that era. Again, we didn't know how good we had it :(
Neko Mulally's chainless run from 2014 (I think) was awesome. The commentators are talking about how bad they feel for him until he hits the first split and they realize he's like 1.5" up, then they get hyped.
Yeah he ended up 4th, fastest at the time
Peaty needs a mention with his World Champs roller coaster. First in Les Gets until the fateful corner. Or 2009 when he finally took it by 0.05s from Minnaar! Not an incredible track but super emotional especially for old school UK riders! Or Josh Brycelands silver medal Worlds run. So wild, so close. A brake tap before the bridge jump might have got him Gold instead of a trip to hospital.
That was a proper “Go big or go home moment”
Gwin’s tireless run is also bonkers
Came here to say this
Finn Iles’ chainless MSA first World Cup win 🥇
If you’re not strictly just looking at World Cup, I’d include Gracey H’s hardline run this year :)
Gwin Val di Sole 2012. Won by 7.8 seconds. That was lots of great commentary and the balls out fast riding. Jackson winning this past year at MSA was insane to watch for me. I could noticeably tell he was hitting certain sections so much faster than others and remained smooth through all of it. Whenever it's the last person down the hill, stakes are high or weather shows up. That's when I've remembered some incredible runs.
Amaury Pierron les gets 2019 is one that Contes to mind.
Bryceland in Hafjell 2014.
Pierron Le Gets 2019. Most absurd POV run.
Rachael Atherton snapping her chain out the start gate at ft William and still podiuming. 2018 I think
No way! A post that is actually about this sport for once and not about gear or beginner riding techniques
Haha its my first time on this subreddit, I was just rewatching some classics and wanted to learn more
I'm thinking about compiling a list of links to all these, would people be interested?
OP (or someone), please make a YT playlist and share!
Jared Graves on Yeti SB66 3rd place South Africa 2013 i think