The Italian triple-header wraps up this weekend in the high-alpine town of La Thuile, a venue known to enduro fans but brand new to the UCI downhill world cup calendar. The freshly built course is no warm-up lap—it’s a steep, 2.3 km beast with 641 metres of vertical drop and an average gradient of 27 per cent. Designed by Enrico Martello and Trailworks, the track is a mix of machine-built flow and raw, natural loam, capped off by a 13.5-m road gap that’s already going viral.
“This is a brand new track top to bottom. One of the sicker ones we’ve ever seen,” says Jackson Goldstone in his preview video. “Super loamy the whole way down. It drops off the face of the earth here.”
Goldstone eyes history
After missing most of 2024 with an injury, Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) has returned to the top of the sport with three straight World Cup wins. If he wins this weekend, he’ll tie Aaron Gwin’s 2012 record for most consecutive world cup victories—four.
“This is going to be a bit of a crazy course for me,” says Goldstone. “It’s one of the longer tracks we have on the circuit and definitely the most vertical drop.”
The 21-year-old Canadian admits the steepness and fresh terrain will be a challenge.
“It just feels like you’re absolutely surfing all the way down here,” he says. “Come race day, she’s going to be blown.”
Second overall Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) has an advantage—he’s one of the few riders who tested the track in the off-season. But with Goldstone’s current form, anything is possible.
Hemstreet hunts for more
On the women’s side, Norco’s Gracey Hemstreet is chasing her third win of the season. She’s currently 49 points behind series leader Valentina Höll, who hasn’t won a single round this year.
Where and when to watch
The action starts Saturday with qualifying and continues all weekend with Sunday’s downhill finals. the UCI airs the junior class for free on their YouTube channel. Coverage is sporadic but they’re trying. To watch the elite class, Canadian viewers can catch the races live on FloBikes with a subscription.
Below are the key timings for race weekend. All times are UTC+2 (EST+6/BST+1/CEST):
Saturday, July 5
11:00 – UCI enduro world cup
12:30 – UCI downhill world cup | qualification 1 women elite
13:00 – UCI downhill world cup | qualification 1 men elite
14:15 – UCI downhill world cup | qualification women junior
14:40 – UCI downhill world…
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