You’ve no doubt already seen the bonkers footage from the UCI Downhill World Cup in Les Gets last weekend. Heck, even Emmanuel Macron reposted the aerial footage of Max Alran’s win and the final surge.
It was a fantastic week once again with the best in the world gracing the slopes and producing one of the most iconic spectacles in sport.
We had friends and family out during the week, and absorbed as much of it as possible. We mooched around the pits, perved at bikes, spotted riders, watched the action, grabbed food and supped the occasional beverage.
We’ve got a standard MO for DH race day. Lifts to the top of Mont Chéry, walk down the track and spectate along the way. We’ll time our arrival at the final corner to coincide with the last few riders, before spilling across the finish line with the rest of the masses for some mayhem followed by a few cold ones.
This year, though, things would be a little different…
First of all, lift access to the top of Mont Chéry was restricted to riders only. Spectators could get halfway up on the bubble but ongoing infrastructure upgrades meant that access to the top was temporarily reduced.
Thomas’s knee meant he was more or less confined to barracks anyway. He had found an optimal spot on the edge of the road above the final jump line where he could see the jumps as well as a big screen. He and another mate with a broken ankle had pitched camping chairs and were joined by some of their able-bodied compadres.
Izzy would be disappearing off with her gang and a massive JBL speaker strapped to her back on a mobile party mission.
If I’m honest, my enthusiasm was also a little down on previous years due to Thomas’s injury and the prospect of impending scans, appointments and prognosis in the next few days.
In the run-up to race day we’d caught some of the training and qualifying action. I could already tell that there seemed to be even more people in town for the DH than usual. There were more chainsaws and more people who were here perhaps for the spectacle and party more than their interest in MTB.
The atmosphere would be insane but I’d already decided that it might be wise to steer clear of the main surge at the end.
Race day got underway and reigning champ Ronan was back and firing after last year’s win. Amaury was looking lit and the Alrans were on a charge.
Local lad and Les Gets club rider Leo Godin sadly missed out on a junior final place in qualifying but another mate of Thomas’s, Briek, had bagged fourth place. Some other young local mates, including Archie had been granted the honour of opening the course. Thomas had been asked before he did his knee, but when we sent his details in, it turned out he was too young this year.
Our group set out united on race day but ended up disjointed. Some disappeared for early beers, some walked up, some walked down, and our plans to regroup were scuppered by mobile network blackouts.
I ended up walking up and down with a mix of people, which was great fun as always. I bumped into Izzy’s gang halfway down and got out of there quick smart as a mud fight kicked off in a boggy section.
I arrived at ‘Camp Invalid’ to watch the second half of the elite men coming through.
By the time I got there Jonty Williamson and Aletha Ostgaard had already won the junior men and women’s races and despite a crash in the opening corner, Briek had managed a top ten finish.
Brit Harriet Harnden had taken her debut DH World Cup elite win for Aon. Not only that but she’d also bagged a €100,000 bonus by winning the Gates Belted Purse Prize and becoming the first rider to win a World Cup Gates belt-driven bike. I reckon she’d be getting the drinks in.
Kolb was settled in the hot-seat, watching nervously as the remaining riders descended. I joined the chorus of ‘Nos’ when Amaury binned it and noticed Thomas’s growing frustration as the group in front repeatedly stood up and blocked his view as each rider came through.
I already knew Izzy’s lot weren’t near enough for the first wave of mayhem, that Nina was clear at the bottom and that Thomas wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry. No cautionary recommendations about the finish rush were necessary for any of the family.
I’d reached the limit of my patience with the rucksack that had been bashing me for 20 minutes and decided to move on. I dipped back out of the crowd and quickly skirted away towards the bottom to find Nina and the others. I squidged into a good lookout spot in front of the VIP tent with a view of the big screen to watch the cli-Max.
Til came through, then Martin Maes but Kolb stayed perched on the hot-seat. One rider was left. Til’s twin brother Max. The fastest man in qualifying and the last chance for a Frenchie win on home soil.
The atmosphere escalated as he stayed close to the pace on splits 1 and 2. Then he went green on 2 and 3 and the crowd went nuts. When he came through the last jump line they went absolutely bananas, pouring onto the track and chasing him over the finish line into the finish corral.
Epic!
I drank it all in for a while before I eventually spotted the rest of my crew and we all melted back into town in search of a cold beer for the start of a long night.
I love the mayhem. But I don’t want to see something tragic ruin the party.
This was the first year I’ve heard multiple firsthand stories of people going to ground in pile-ups and getting a bit trampled, leaving them a bit battered and shaken. It even looked like Max struggled to get up and over the railings at the bottom.
I can’t help wondering if some of the restrictive crowd-control measures might actually be accelerating and concentrating the flow. It feels like increasing numbers of spectators are quickly covering a greater distance before funnelling into a bottleneck followed by a relatively rigid corral. It feels like the pressure is being concentrated rather than dispersed.
I’d actually love to see computer models of all the different barrier solutions and the resulting crowd flow. In fact, releasing that kind of stuff in advance might help spectators understand the decision-making and the resulting measures.
The World Champs crowds next year will be next level again and undoubtedly the powers that be will be making more changes. Whatever they do, I hope they can leave money and ego out of it, keep an open mind, find the best advice and come up with something that ensures the magic continues long into the future.
