Rip up the rulebook, ditch the calculations, leave common sense at the door – when Gwin turns it on there’s a touch of magic in the air, an unquantifiable dose of wizardry that means anything can happen.
There’s nobody else in the downhill field that could win on a pedally track without a chain and there was nobody that could part the puddles like Gwin yesterday. While Gwin glided, others floundered. Minnaar was the biggest loser sliding his front wheel over the top of a berm on a supposedly safe run. He re-entered the tape wrong and was DQ’d as a result.
Minnaar now only has a 33 point buffer over the charging American setting us up for a straight knife fight in Trentino between the two greatest riders of the generation. If that doesn’t have you quivering with excitement for a month then nothing will.
Beyond the two headline acts, Hart, Brosnan and Bruni all also defied the weather to salvage impressive results from what could have been miserable afternoons. Gwin’s win takes nothing away from these incredible runs, given the conditions they were truly Titanic.
In the women’s race it was Tahnee’s turn to shine against grey Canadian skies. It was her second World Cup win and her first on a downhill track. Nicole must be starting to feel safer at the top of the standings with a 110 point buffer over Hannah heading to a track she loves but as we saw here, anything can happen.
Downhill fucking rules.
