Who Can Still Win the 2023 DH World Cup Overall Title at Mont-Sainte-Anne?
After kicking the season off later than usual in June at Lenzerheide we are finally at the eighth and final stop of the 2023 series. Mont-Sainte-Anne closes the door on an incredible season with two titles still hanging in the balance.
We have broken down the numbers and tried to make a bit more sense of the stats before racing kicks off for the final round of the 2023 season.
How does the points system work?
With a maximum of 250 points still to be allocated, things could change quickly at Mont-Sainte-Anne this weekend. With this weekend hosting the season finale, there are no points for qualifying or semi-finals. Interestingly while in past seasons the qualifying points were added to the finals points this season riders will only be awarded the standard amount for their finals position.
Rule 4.11.013 states: In the qualifying, semi-final and final rounds, riders are awarded UCI World Cup standing points as per the scale in article 4.11.020. However, in the last round of the UCI World Cup season, no standing points for the qualifying or semi-final rounds will be given. The standing and UCI points will be awarded to the riders according to their position in the final only, as per points scale in article 4.11.020.
Elite point scale
Junior point scale
What are the current elite overall standings?
Top 15 Elite Women
Top 15 Elite Men
Who can still win the titles?
Mathematically, there are just seven racers left in the running for the 2023 overall titles as Vali Höll and Ryan Pinkerton have already wrapped up the Women's and Junior Men's title fights.
In the Elite Men's series, there is a four-way fight for the overall with Loic Bruni holding a slim lead of 60 points over fellow French racer Loris Vergier. Behind Loris are two Canadians looking for a big result on home soil as Jackson is 152 off the lead and Finn Iles is 198 points off his Specialized teammate.
The last title up for grabs this weekend is for the Junior Women where Valentina Roa Sanchez holds a 15-point lead against Lisa Bouladou. With 60 points up for grabs in finals the only other rider in with a chance this weekend is World Champ Erice Van Leuven who is 50 points back in third.
Elite Men
Loic Bruni - 1518
Loris Vergier - 1458 ( -60 )
Jackson Goldstone - 1366 ( -152 )
Finn Iles - 1320 ( -198 )
Loic Bruni - 1518
Loris Vergier - 1458 ( -60 )
Jackson Goldstone - 1366 ( -152 )
Finn Iles - 1320 ( -198 )
Elite Women
Vali Höll is the 2023 Elite Women's UCI DH World Cup Champion.
Vali Höll is the 2023 Elite Women's UCI DH World Cup Champion.
Junior Men
Ryan Pinkerton is the 2023 Junior Men's UCI DH World Cup Champion.
Ryan Pinkerton is the 2023 Junior Men's UCI DH World Cup Champion.
Junior Women
Valentina Roa Sanchez - 330
Lisa Bouladou - 315 ( -15 )
Erice Van Leuven - 280 ( -50 )
Valentina Roa Sanchez - 330
Lisa Bouladou - 315 ( -15 )
Erice Van Leuven - 280 ( -50 )
How can the overall titles be decided?
Elite Men
After an unpredictable season of racing, we are down to just four riders able to secure the overall at the final stop this year. With 250 points on offer this weekend and 198 splitting the top four the title will come down to some very close margins with all four riders needing a top result to take the overall.
Loris Vergier who currently holds second place will need to better Loic Bruni by 60 points if he wants to move into the lead. If Loris can continue the trend of new winners at each round he will need Loic to rank third or lower in finals. If Loris doesn't win this weekend he will want to avoid a points tie with Loic as he will lose this decision.
The lowest Loris can place is 9th because as long as Loic crosses the line in 30th he will pick up a further 30 points. The two Frenchmen have the closest battle raging this week as Loic needs to finish at least in 2nd to fully close Loris out. To make sure he stays ahead of the Canadians Loris will need to lead Jackson by 92 points meaning a finish of 4th or better keeps him ahead. In the fight against Finn, Loris just needs to be 6th to build a gap that can't be closed.
Jackson Goldstone is the next rider in the running for the overall title after an impressive first year of elite racing. If Jackson can take a 2nd win in 2023 he will need Loic Bruni to finish 9th or lower. Jackson needs to score 152 points more than Loic but as the 2023 points table still scores 30 points for 30th place we believe this means that the lowest Jackson can place is 2nd if Loic does, in fact, come 30th. If Loic is 8th or better then Jackson can't win.
Lastly, there is Finn Iles who with a 198-point deficit to Loic will need a big result and a bad weekend for those currently ahead of him. Once again if Loic finishes last then he will lead Finn by 228 points meaning Finn needs to win this weekend to have any chance of passing Loic in the overall. Loic just needs to be 18th or better to take Finn out of the running this weekend.
It's worth adding here that while 30th place does offer 30 points, due to protected rider rules we can sometimes have more than 30 riders in finals. If this happens then any rider ranked outside the top 30 receives no points, further shaking up the overall title fight.
Junior Women
The last title on the line will be the close battle between Valentina Roa Sanchez, Lisa Bouladou and Erice Van Leuven in the Junior Women's race.
For the Junior category, there are only 60 points on off at each round leaving the possibility open for any of the current top three riders to secure the title. Lisa Bouladou and Valentina Roa Sanchez are looking strong this weekend as they were eight seconds ahead of everyone in the Junior qualifying session. These two riders are split by only 15 points meaning if Lisa Bouladou can win she will need Valentina Roa Sanchez to finish third or lower. While a third place would mean a tie Valentina has more higher-placed results and we believe this would clinch the title for her.
Erice Van Leuven has the most amount of work to do this weekend, if she can win Valentina will need to be 8th or lower and Lisa 5th or worse.
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It would be hilarious if this happens, and it could if an injury in practice keeps one of the protected riders off the bike for the race. 30 points could be worth a place or two in the overall.
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theres too much here for me to have sorted this out, but its great to see.
I'll be here pulling for Illes and Goldstone for the win, and Illes for the overall at home!
They need to either ALWAYS have those points or never have those points.
You get rid of those points and we're talking about 60 points between the top 3 guys and it's much much more exciting... and real.
I hope they learned their lesson and get rid of it. It gave a couple of guys large advantages because they did well when they were given... and doesn't hurt them when they're not...
If you take away the semi-final points and only count the qualification points and finals points there are 60 points between the top 3... that or my math is wrong. Which is possible.
They need to have something they can ben consistent with. And Semi points are stupid... We're allowed to have differences of opinion, but I don't think I'm wrong...
Maybe crazy.... but there's been points given all season for 3 things....
Stop 1. Points for Qual/Semi/Final
Stop 2. Points for Qual/Semi/Final
Stop 3. Points for Qual/Semi/Final
Stop 4. Points for Qual/Semi/Final
Stop 5. Points for Qual/Semi/Final
Stop 6. Points for Qual/Semi/Final
Stop 7. Points for Qual/Semi/Final
Now Stop 8 you're saying there's no Semi points? Why?
My brain was thinking about Junior races getting canceled and for some reason I thought they took semi points away at at least one other elite race... go figure. Brain's not perfect. I blame the concussions.
But still... do not like the current scoring. Do not like the current system of having a semi final. Do not like the current announcers... Gwin was solid.... Do not like the video coverage. All in all I'd say I didn't like this season at all.... outside of the actual racing and racers that is. Been very exciting seeing multiple winners. Young winners. Etc.
Finals: allocate points starting at 20 000
Semis: allocate points starting at 10 000
Qualies: allocate points starting at 5000
Athletes moving forward from one round to the other rounds within the same race weekend are based on the accumulation of points up to that round being raced.
It rewards not only to performance but consistency.
We do this for our Climbing Competition in Alberta. Works fantastic! It allows us to really hone in on our top athletes to send to Nationals.
Just a thought and I can’t believe no one in the UCI figured that one out yet.
80 athletes gets points.
The scoring has nothing to do with allowing someone to enter a race on any given weekend but gives the opportunity for privateers TO get points AND provides a more competitive field until the last race of the year.
I definitely wouldn’t want the Privateers to be kicked out of the competition.
Loris 1031
Jackson 1016
Finn 944
Andreas 894
But that’s with Quali points as well
But personally... I'd think he'd do something like a lot of other folks have done. Cherry pick their favorite tracks. Do enough to qualify for world champs. Do that for 1-3 years. Then retire after a world champs run.
If Rachel gives it another go next year I'd think that's likely what she'll do. She clearly is still the fastest in the world when she healthy but her priorities are different now.