French riders will be last off the ramp in both the Men and Women Elite UCI Downhill World Cup races in Loudenvielle - Peyragudes (France), presented by FACOM, as Amaury Pierron and Myriam Nicole were fastest in qualifying for Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction.

After declaring she was ready to fight for the overall after winning round one at the Enduro Trails of Bielsko-Biała (Poland), Tahnée Seagrave (Orbea FMD) was three-quarters of a second up on Nicole’s time at the second of four intermediate splits, but her rival’s storming finish prevailed as the pair were separated by 0.208 seconds at the line.

Pierron pipped Bielsko-Biała winner Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) by 0.154 seconds in Q1 while Loris Vergier (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) made it a home 1-2-3, crossing the line less than a tenth behind the reigning UCI Downhill World Cup champion.

NEW FACES CONTINUE TO TOP UCI DOWNHILL WORLD CUP

Only Bruni has topped multiple sessions so far in the UCI Downhill World Cup, as both the men’s and women’s Elite qualifying produced new leaders for the season.

Pierron had a qualifying to forget in round one but made up for it with an inspired performance in the final and led until the closing stages when first Oisin O’Callaghan (YT MOB) and then Bruni overhauled him.

He was made to fight hard again today but, on this occasion, beat his compatriot and the rest of the field with a time of 3:17.142, as Bruni was ahead by less than a tenth at the penultimate split.

However, Pierron produced a scintillating final two sectors to claim top spot while many of the other standouts from round one failed to impress in France - O’Callaghan had a tough start and qualified tenth while Richard Rude Jr hit trouble in the middle of his Q1 run and then missed out in the repechage as New Zealand’s Tuhoto-Ariki (MS-Racing) won Q2.

Valentina Höll continued her supringly slow start to the season - the reigning UCI World Champion and UCI Downhill World Cup overall winner was five seconds off Nicole’s pace and qualified seventh as there was a definite ‘best and the rest’ split in women’s qualifying.

Sixth-place Marine Cabirou (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) was just over two seconds back from Nicole, as Grace Hemstreet (Norco Race Division) and Lisa Baumann (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) both produced rapid improvements from the final split to the finish to get within a second of Nicole’s pacesetting time of 3:42.771.

Phoebe Gale (Orbea / FMD Racing) topped Q2 as Camille Balanche also survived the last-chance saloon, with Harriet Harnden (Aon Racing - Tourne Campervans) the biggest-name casualty.

Nicole triumphed overall here 12 months ago so is looking to be the first rider to win back-to-back UCI Downhill World Cup rounds in Loudenvielle - Peyragudes while Bruni will equal Pierron’s 12 career wins in the series as his compatriot is only one away from drawing level with the legendary Sam Hill’s all-time tally, so there will be plenty at stake at the top of the ramp.

ALL CHANGE AT THE TOP OF JUNIOR STANDINGS?

Elina Hulsebosch (Santa Cruz Syndicate) has the chance to become the new rider to beat in the women’s Junior standings after she topped qualifying by 1.8 seconds from Rosa Zierl (CUBE Factory Racing) and overall leader Rosa Marie Jensen (Specialized Gravity) did not start.

Jensen’s closest rival Lina Frener (Norco Race Division) will be sixth off the ramp after qualifying seven seconds back as only Aletha Ostgaard (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) prevented Hulsebosch getting a clean swap of fastest split times.

And Til Alran (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) overcame a lighting start by New Zealand’s Oli Clark (MS Racing) to top the men's junior timesheets by less than a second, with his brother, teammate and overall leader Max Alran in third.

Alran, Hulsebosch, Nicole, Pierron and the rest of the top qualifiers will return for the UCI Downhill World Cup finals in Loudenvielle - Peyragudes on Sunday, June 1, with Junior races kicking off at 10:50 CEST, followed by the Elite finals. Fans around the world can tune in live: the Junior UCI Downhill World Cup races will be streamed on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel. To find out where to watch the Elite finals in your region, click here.