The 2023 UCI Downhill World Champion continues her early-season dominance while the American pinner steers his high-rise handlebars to the top of the Semi-Finals pile.

The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series is a fan of firsts, and this weekend is no different as Poland hosts its debut UCI Downhill World Cup. After tackling Fort William’s iconic course during the season opener two weeks ago, riders were tasked with a complete unknown – the trail builders at the Bielsko-Biała venue crafting a brand new track packed with jumps and plenty of flow for the arrival of the world’s best downhill athletes.

Today (Saturday, May 18) saw 311 riders take to the Beskid Mountains for qualification, with the Elites having to go through two rounds to secure their spot for Sunday’s final. 

HÖLL CONTINUES HER STRANGEHOLD

Not since Rachel Atherton was in her pomp have we seen a more dominant rider than Valentina Höll (YT Mob). The 22-year-old kicked off her overall series defense with a win in Fort William and has given herself the best shot to do the same in Poland. Even a crash in Qualifying couldn’t hold the 2023 UCI Downhill World Champion back, and she dusted herself off and laid down a marker in the Semi-Final, leading in the three final intermediate splits to post a 3:27.8.

Tahnée Seagrave (Canyon CLLCTV FMD) continues her return to form, the Brit posting the second-fastest times in Qualifying and the Semi-Final on the jump-heavy course, while Marine Cabirou (Scott Downhill Factory) looks to have put her disappointing sixth place in Scotland behind her, going third in both of Saturday’s races.

Höll predicted that there would be surprises on the unknown course in Thursday’s press conference, and Veronika Widmann’s (Continental GT Racing) did just that – the Italian’s fourth place in the Semi-Finals the highest-placed non-protected rider. Fort William’s second-placed rider Nina Hoffmann appeared to struggle, finishing more than nine seconds behind Höll after a mistake in the second sector, while Myriam Nicole (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) is set to miss out on finals for a second UCI World Cup in a row – the two-time UCI DH World Champion also losing time on the track’s second sector.

NORTON EDGES OUT VERGIER TO QUALIFY FIRST

There was a lot of talk in Fort William about Dakotah Norton’s (Mondraker Factory Racing) handlebars. The American rider unveiled a cockpit featuring 75mm height, which raised more than a few eyebrows. He silenced the keyboard warriors with a lightning-fast fourth place on finals day in Scotland, and it’s clear that the steering set-up is still working for him in Bielsko-Biała. After finishing narrowly behind Loris Vergier (Trek Factory Racing) in Qualifying, the 32-year-old did it the hard way in the Semi-Finals, recovering from 14th fastest in the first intermediate split to record a 2:59.8 – edging out the Frenchman by 0.128 seconds. The pair were the only riders to go sub-3:00 all day, with Luca Shaw (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) the next closest rider in the Semi-Finals with a 3:00.6.

Other highlights were Ronan Dunne’s (Mondraker Factory Racing) super consistent ride to 4th, Lachlan Stevens-McNab’s (Union - Forged by Steel City Media) storming lower section to finish fifth in the Semi-Finals and Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) looking close to his best in sixth.

Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) and Troy Brosnan (Canyon CLLCTV Factory) appeared to have continued their early season form with fourth and fifth respectively in Qualifying, but Fort William’s top two have had to rely on their protected status to make it through to tomorrow’s finals having finished down in 38th and 41st in the Semis.

Notable absentees on tomorrow’s start list include Greg Minnaar (Norco Factory Racing), who didn’t make it through Qualifying, Reece Wilson (Trek Factory Racing) and Matt Walker (Madison Saracen Factory Team), with both Brits off the pace in the Semis.

HULSEBOSCH AND ALRAN LEAD THE WAY AS THE BEST YOUNG RIDERS

The other highlights from Saturday’s qualifying were the Men’s and Women’s Junior Qualifying, where the best young riders took to the new Bielsko-Biała course. In the Women’s Junior, Eliana Hulsebosch (Union - Forged by Steel City) and the reigning UCI Downhill Junior World Champion Erice Van Leuven (Commencal Les Orres) made it a New Zealand one-two, with Fort William winner Heather Wilson (Muc-Off Young Guns) in third.

In the Men’s Junior, Till Alran (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) took the win with Ryan Griffith (Pivot Factory Racing) the only rider who could get within a second of the up-and-coming Frenchman.

The action gets underway with the Women Junior and Men Junior Finals from 11:30 CEST (UTC+2) tomorrow live on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel, while the Elite finals TV pre-show broadcast starts at 12:45 CEST (UTC+2). Find out how to watch HERE.