WC DH #1 - Mali Losinj


The first round of the 2018 downhill World Cup took place in Losinj (Croatia) last weekend.

It was the first time for this small island from the Adriatic to welcome the best downhill riders of the moment. The track is short, technical and extremely tricky given the nature of the terrain (rocky to say the least).

 

Apart from the 2 official COMMENCAL teams (COMMENCAL Vallnord DH Team and COMMENCAL 100%), numerous riders made the trip to Croatia such as Cécile RAVANEL (FRA), Jackson FREW (AUS), Hugo FRIXTALON (FRA), Edgar PEYRA (ESP) and Nico REY (AND).

The first round of the season implies the presentation of the new bikes for 2018


SUPREME DH V4.2 MYRIAM NICOLE





SUPREME DH 29 THOMAS ESTAQUE





SUPREME DH V4.2 CECILE RAVANEL

What a race! Once again the thrill was real.

On the one hand, the COMMENCAL 100% Team have faced many issues: Reece WILSON crashed heavily during the trainings, Thomas ESTAQUE punctured during his qualifying run and Bruce KLEIN washed out his front wheel during his qualifying run as well.
On the other hand, the COMMENCAL Vallnord team was shining all weekend.

For his first World Cup ever, Thibault DAPRELA won in the Junior men category with a clean run that did not leave much chances to the opposition.. 


The defending World Cup  Champion, Myriam NICOLE was highly anticipated and she lived up to our expectations! She perfectly assessed the level of commitment needed to win this round, with a strong mind-set.

Thus, she kept the number 1 plate.

Congrats!

 





It was the first World Cup round for Remi THIRION after his injury from last season. Despite this, he managed to finish the race at the 17th position, which is a great achievement given the nature of track.

Amaury PIERRON seemed to be in great shape and was on his way to another podium finish until he hit a sharp rock on the most technical part of the track with his rear wheel, causing a puncture. Despite this issue, he managed to finish the race at the 21st position.

 

Cécile RAVANEL is definitely incredible!

After a 2-year dominance on the EWS, Cécile was hungry for new challenges. She had a first promising trial at World Cup downhill racing last year in Val Di Sole with a solid 10th place. For this second race, she adapted her training program this winter. Result? First downhill World Cup podium for Cécile!