This first round of the 2021 World Cup was pretty memorable!
Indeed, our riders won medals in Elite Women, Junior Men and 3 superb podiums in the Elite Men categories.
It was the perfect first round to start the season!

In the men's category, we had to wait for the very last man down to snatch Thibaut Daprela's first World Cup victory! A small mistake in the woods hurt his chances of winning this first round but the COMMENCAL Muc-Off team rider said it himself, the new SUPREME DH is very, very fast! And they could have scored twice as Amaury Pierron, on his return to the World Cup after a year of absence, took a magnificent 3rd place. Momo is back!

And that's not all, Benoit Coulanges achieved his first World Cup podium with a superb 5th place. After his French Championship victory last year, he once again demonstrated that he's at the top level of world class DH.

Behind him were Greg Williamson (13th), Baptiste Pierron (18th) and Angel Suarez (27th) in the top 30. Too bad for Angel who had a near perfect run until a fall in the woods haulted his hopes of a podium this time...

 

Leogang seems to agree with the COMMENCAL Dorval team! In the women’s category, Camille Balanche repeated her performance here and won again, eight months after she became World Champion. Her first World Cup win. Teammate Monika Hrastnik also looked at ease on this track and took a very good 3rd place. Unfortunately for Myriam Nicole, two falls during her run prevented her from achieving a podium this weekend.

Pau Menoyo started his season perfectly with the new COMMENCAL21 team and he won his very first Junior Men’s World Cup! It was a great run that shows bags of promises for the next rounds to come! Behind him, Tom Guillo and Alix Francoz finished 11th and 12th.

With the performances of Camille Balanche, Monika Hrastnik and Benoit Coulanges, the COMMENCAL Dorval team took the lead in the team overall standings after winning fastest team of the day! Just behind in second position, the COMMENCAL Muc-Off Team.

Next up, the 2nd round in Les Gets in three weeks!

Photos Nico Brizin / Keno Derleyn