Last weekend (8-11 June), Lenzerheide hosted the opening round of the 2023 UCI Downhill World Cup, in the heart of Switzerland. After an extended winter break, all COMMENCAL riders were eager to get back at it. On a short but highly selective track, with many holes and endless changes in terms of grip and more, COMMENCAL DORVAL AM team member Camille Balanche managed to win the semi-final and finish second in the final, just five tenths behind winner Rachel Atherton.
For the first time, Juniors were featured on the live broadcast for their finals, that were also brought forward a day with the new schedule, and they also shone behind the bars of their SUPREME DH V5s. In the Junior Women's final, Erice Van Leuven from the COMMENCAL/LES ORRES team had an amazing start to her World Cup campaign. It was a first World Cup win for the New Zealander who smashed the competition by almost five seconds. She was joined on the podium by Lisa Bouladou of the X1 RACING team who took third place, the same result as that of Hugo Marini from the COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF team in Junior Men.
It was a less successful day in the Elite Men’s race, since Amaury Pierron (2022 Champion) was injured during training and did not start. The whole COMMENCAL team wishes him a good recovery. Benoit Coulanges from COMMENCAL DORVAL AM was our most successful man on the day finishing in the top 10 in 8th place.
The downhill circus is already on its way to Leogang in Austria for the second part of this double header.
Photos: Sven Martin, Nicolas Brizin, Keno Derleyn
Riders: Camille Balanche, Erice Van Leuven, Hugo Marini, Thibaut Daprela, Benoit Coulange, Baptiste Pierron
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
