Downhill World Championships: Gold & Silver
06.08.23 11:15 1.3302023-08-06T11:15:00+02:00Text: NoMan, PM (translated by AI)Photos: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content PoolValentina Höll successfully defends her title in Scotland against Camille Balanche, while Andreas Kolb becomes the runner-up world champion behind Charlie Hatton.06.08.23 11:15 1.3362023-08-06T11:15:00+02:00Downhill World Championships: Gold & Silver
06.08.23 11:15 1.3362023-08-06T11:15:00+02:00 NoMan, PM (translated by AI) Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content PoolValentina Höll successfully defends her title in Scotland against Camille Balanche, while Andreas Kolb becomes the runner-up world champion behind Charlie Hatton.06.08.23 11:15 1.3362023-08-06T11:15:00+02:00
Valentina Höll has done it. After 2022 in Les Gets, the Salzburg native was crowned World Champion in MTB Downhill again on August 5, 2023 – 2.02 seconds ahead of the World Cup leader Camille Balanche from Switzerland. Third place went to Marine Cabirou from France.
Almost equally fantastic was Andreas Kolb: The Styrian won the silver medal in the wet and cold conditions of Scottish Fort William. Only 0.599 seconds separated him at the finish line from the British rider Charlie Hatton. The bronze medal went to his compatriot Laurie Greenland.
Höll: First nervous, then confident
No sooner had the first unified Cycling World Championships in Scotland gotten underway - with the competitions for twelve different disciplines all taking place between August 3rd and 13th in and around Glasgow - there's plenty of reason for Austria to cheer:
With a spectacular ride on the infamous downhill course in Fort William, Valentina Höll confirmed that she is once again the measure of all things in the sport, especially after her home World Cup victory in Leogang. Despite feeling anything but comfortable before the start, the dominant qualifier winner was hyper-nervous and barely able to execute her warm-up routine, the 21-year-old recounted at the finish. Nevertheless, the intermediate times on the nearly three-kilometer-long, challenging course with 550 meters of depth were consistently green.
"The run was mega okay and started well, but then I messed up a turn," said the Innsbruck resident by choice. She had to make up for the mistake, pedaled hard, and maintained her lead to the finish. "I gave it my all, but I didn't think I could still win. No idea how I managed it and no idea what's going on right now. But I'm loving it," beamed the newly crowned double world champion, who had also previously become the junior world champion in 2018 and 2019.
Kolb crashes British party
Even the Styrian Andreas Kolb couldn't manage a flawless run on the wet, slippery terrain. A mistake in the wooded third section of the track possibly prevented a title win, and in the end, last year's European champion placed six tenths of a second behind his Atherton team colleague Charlie Hatton in second place – the second Downhill World Championship silver for Austria's men after David Trummer in 2020, a success that the man with the legendary snotty brake was very pleased with.
"Actually, Fort William is a track that doesn't really suit me. But it was a very solid run," the 27-year-old summed up at the finish. "I have never won a World Championship medal before. I would rank this success right after the home victory (at this year's World Cup, note of the editor) in Leogang."
Besides the two Brits on the men's podium - before Kolb came, Laurie Greenland from Bristol was in second place - the local audience could also vigorously celebrate their women: Living legend Rachel Atherton finished eighth, Tahnée Seagrave sixth, Phoebe Gale fifth, and Louise-Anna Ferguson fourth.
What's next?
The action continues in Scotland on the mountain bike with today's marathon and from August 9th with the Cross Country, where Mona Mitterwallner carries great red-white-red medal hopes on both occasions.
In road cycling, a first highlight is reached with today's men's race, while the women will conclude on August 13th.
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