Race Analysis from the Val Di Sole DH World Cup 2023

Val Di Sole brought nail-biting drama and some wild moments to the third round of the 2023 series ahead of a two-month break to the second half of the season. As we look back on the dramatic third stop of the 2023 downhill World Cup it was Vali Höll and Jackson Goldstone who tamed the Black Snake and came out on top in Italy. The racing was raw and rowdy but apart from the winning riders who else was performing well at round three?

After an amazing day of racing let's get into the results and stats.

---

Race Results

Full results, here.

---

Sector by Sector Results

Overall Split Positions

Split Rankings

---

Sector Breakdown

Sector 1

---

Kicking off the technical challenge of the course in Val Di Sole is the open top section giving riders a chance to pick up the pace through some open turns before heading into the rocks, roots and steeps. In finals, the first sector was won by Vali Höll and Thibaut Daprela who both kicked off their runs with a lead of around 0.2 seconds. For the women, it was Camille Balanche who came closest to the fastest split time 0.264 seconds off the pace. Nina Hoffmann came third 0.514 seconds back. In the men's race, Loris Vergier made it two French riders at the top as he came within 0.278 seconds of Daprela. Finn Iles crossed the timing gate only 0.319 behind the top time.

---

Sector 2

---

Sector two was by far the largest section of the course taking in the first challenges for the riders in their race runs. Vali Höll once again went fastest here and made the most of her strength through here to find a sizeable 1.664 seconds on Gracey Hemstreet. Camille Balanche was the only other rider within three seconds of the race winner with a sector deficit of 2.019 seconds. The gaps weren't quite as wide in the men's race as Jackson Goldstone led fellow first-year elite racer Jordan Williams by 0.371 seconds. No other rider could close the gap to lower than a second here as Thibaut Daprela was third in this split, 1.019 behind the race winner.

---

Sector 3

---

After the large second sector, the third split kept things short with the lowest times of the five track segments. Just like the first sector, it was Vali Höll and Thibaut Daprela sitting at the top of the timing sheet. Vali Höll made up more time on her opponents as she pulled ahead of Jess Blewitt by 0.574 and Marine Cabirou by 0.656 seconds. Thibaut Daprela wouldn't find quite so much time here as he was only ahead of 2nd-placed Finn Iles by a tiny 0.09 seconds. Jordan Williams had another great run through split three as he was third and only off the fastest time by 0.242 seconds.

---

Sector 4

---

The fourth sector saw some big changes for the elite women as race winner Vali Höll dropped back to fifth and a hard-charging Gracey Hemstreet fought back from a crash in sector three to go fastest here against Camille Balanche by 0.664 seconds. Marine Cabirou would sit third, 0.757 back. Jackson Goldstone went fastest again in this sector as he began to pick up pace towards the finish line. Troy Brosnan had his best sector as his time was only 0.274 from Goldstone. Loris Vergier secured third in this split, 0.477 off Goldstone's winning speed.

---

Sector 5

---

The final section of track to the finish saw another Candian domination as both Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet were fastest again. Gracey Hemstreet pulled more time back after her crash as she went 0.61 seconds up on Jess Blewitt. Monika Hrastnik ended her run with a race-best split-time position of third, 0.735 behind Hemstreet. Interestingly Jackson Goldstone was the only rider to beat Bernard Kerr's early race time through the final sector going 0.426 seconds up on the British rider. Troy Brosnan also came close to doing this as he crossed the line 0.59 back.

---

Story of the Race

Elite Women

---

Elite Men

---

The Perfect Run

Elite Women
The Perfect Run: 4:04.808 (2.632 seconds faster than the race winner)

//Vali Höll: 54.944 // Vali Höll: 1:22.255 // Vali Höll: 31.188 // Gracey Hemstreet: 40.387 // Gracey Hemstreet: 36.034 //

---

Elite Men
The Perfect Run: 3:33.804 (1.122 seconds faster than the race winner)

//Thibaut Daprela: 47.116 // Jackson Goldstone: 1:12.544 // Thibaut Daprela: 26.864 // Jackson Goldstone: 34.828 // Jackson Goldstone: 32.452 //

---

Stats Breakdown

You can use the drop-down menu to view each rider's times.

You can use the drop-down menu to view each rider's times.

The top 10 Elite Women's race runs were plotted.

The top 15 race runs were plotted before including results at positions 20, 25, 30 and 31



You can hover over the graph to reveal the lap improvement times.

You can hover over the graph to reveal the lap improvement times.

---

Overall Standings

---

Talking Points

Vali Höll Couldn't Keep a High Pace in Splits 4 & 5

Race winner Vali Höll was dominant through the upper three splits including where she bested the Elite Women's field by over one and a half seconds in just split two. While Vali could keep her lead to the line it's interesting to see the back-to-back World Cup winner go flat-out up top before struggling in the lower steeps where she placed fifth in both splits four and five. Split four saw the Austrian rider drop almost two seconds compared to Gracey Hemstreet's fastest time. The final sector to the finish saw almost another second lost to the young Canadian rider. Vali may have summed this up best herself in a post-race interview where she said: "It's just so hard to keep the momentum and keep the strength up on this track. It's so physical and it's so rough, it's just hard to hold on."


Track Conditions Improved Halfway Through the Men's Racing

As the rain began to fall at the start of the Elite Men's racing it felt like we might be in for a repeat of Lourdes 2017 with the early riders getting the best conditions. As we saw rider after rider struggle to match Bernard Kerr's time it did seem like we were in for another washout. But the sun returned and baked the track to make it at least rideable enough for a thrilling showdown of the final riders. Looking at our chart comparing start order and finish positions it becomes clear that track conditions began to improve with the 17th rider on the start list Thomas Estaque. The French rider was the first rider to buck the trend of slower race runs and kicked off a downward trajectory that saw riders come close to and beat the time of Kerr. Jackson Goldstone remains the only rider to beat Kerr in the final track sector.


Gracey Hemstreet Could be the Next First-Year Elite on Top of the Podium

After three rounds in 2023, we have already seen Jordan Williams and Jackson Goldstone prove themselves against the World's best with their first Elite victories and we think Gracey Hemstreet could be next. From the races we have seen so far the young Canadian rider has been lighting up the splits setting some of the fastest times. Looking at the racing in Val Di Sole, she was unmatched in the lower part of the course finding around 0.6 seconds in both split four and five. Without a crash in split three, we could have seen a very strong final result. Gracey will be one to watch once the World Cup returns at the end of August.

---

Posted In:
Racing and Events DH Racing Nerding Out World Cup DH Race Analysis Val Di Sole World Cup Dh 2023