In Val di Sole the expectation was all for local favorite Christian Hauser, but Canadian Bodhi Kuhn was the one in celebration after the Junior Downhill finals on Friday, June 30th. The Trek Factory Racing rider was the fastest in the Men’s Junior race on the legendary Black Snake, clocking in a 3.43.788 time. Behind the winner, American Ryan Pinkerton (GT Continental) was runner-up (+0.929) despite a crash in the upper part of the Italian track, ahead of German Henri Kiefer (Canyon), third at 1.834.
Kuhn put on a faultless display from start to finish, whilst his rivals, starting from Pinkerton and Hauser stumbled upon mistakes in the first section of the track. Due to a nasty crash in the rock garden, Hauser failed to complete his race.
"It was a bit of a struggle of a day, this morning in practice the conditions were really hard, there was a lot of dry and a lot of wet”, said Kuhn. – “Working through that was tough and I didn’t feel I had that edge that I needed, but had a really good warm-up, felt confident at the starting gate and did the run I knew it was possible to make".
Kuhn extended his lead in the overall standings with 160 points, where he precedes Kiefer (125) and Pinkerton (103).
EARNEST RULES IN THE DH JUNIOR WOMEN’S RACE
The outcome of Thursday’s qualification round was confirmed by Friday’s final: New Zealand dominated the Junior Women's Race in Val di Sole, with Sacha Earnest (Kiwidh) coming on top ahead of her compatriot Erice Van Leuven (Commencal), second at 12.441.
The World Cup leader, French Lisa Bouladou, claimed third place (+14.799) despite a slide in the upper part of the Black Snake. Colombian Valentina Roa Sanchez (Transition Factory) and another French rider, Lais Bonnaure, rounded out the day’s top-5.
Bouladou held on her lead in the World Cup overall standings with 150 points, ahead of Valentina Roa Sanchez (130) and Erice Van Leuven (110).
