New Zealand champion Jess Blewitt scored her first UCI MTB World Cup Downhill podium with third place in the latest round at Val di Sole in Italy.
The 20-year-old Blewitt produced two outstanding runs down the infamous 2.4km Black Snake track, rated the toughest technical test on the circuit, to push on to the podium.
Blewitt, who had three fourth placings on the World Cup circuit last year, was fourth fastest in the morning semifinal but went one better with an excellent run in the final, just half a second clear of the fourth and fifth placegetters.
It proved the highlight for kiwi gravity riders on finals day, and follows the double podium for kiwis Sacha Earnest and Erice van Leuven in the junior women’s final yesterday.
The podium came as a surprise to the Queenstown rider, who fought through illness in taking on the tough test, with 540m of elevation loss that peaked at 40 percent, along with some massive jumps.
“The goal today was to make it into the final, of course. I had a good qualifying run, and did not really expect that one. I pulled that out of the bag,” said Blewitt.
“This week I caught the flu that everyone seems to have. This is not the race you can afford to go into unwell and I was stressed thinking how I was going to hold on, especially at the end of the Black Snake.
“I guess you could say I’ve had a consistent weekend.
“The run in the final was pretty good. I should be really happy but I am always thinking that I could have gone a little faster and I can do better. A lot of people tell me that I should just believe in myself more. When I tell myself that, then I do well.
“It takes a bit to feel that you are really cemented on the circuit but it helped this weekend.”
World champion Valentina Holl from Austria claimed the win from Camille Balanche (FRA) and Blewitt, who moves up to eighth in the overall standings.
It was not such a strong day for the kiwi men, with no riders qualifying for the final, limited to 30 riders.
Canadian teenager Jackson Goldstone, who competed in New Zealand over the summer, took out the elite men’s final on the course where he won the junior world title two years ago. He held off compatriot Finn Iles by two seconds.
Best of the New Zealanders was Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (MS Mondraker) in 42nd, one of five kiwis to qualify for the morning semifinals.
Action moves to cross-country tomorrow with the under-23 women racing from 6.30pm Sunday (NZ time) through to the elite men’s race starting at 1.30am Monday (NZT).
Results:
Downhill, Elite Women Final: Valentina Holl (AUT) 4:07.440, 1; Camille Balanche (SUI) 4:10.353, 2; Jess Blewitt (NZL, GT Continental) 4:12.210, 3. Semifinal: Holl 4:14.414, 1; Balance 4:18.100, 2; Gracey Hemstreet (CAN) 4:18.764, 3 Blewitt 4:18.783, 4.
Elite Men Final: Jackson Goldstone (CAN) 3:34.926, 1; Finn Iles (CAN) at 2.224, 2; Thibaut Daprela (FRA) at 2.440, 3. Semifinal: Loris Vergier (FRA) 3:36.394, 1; Jordan Williams (GBR) at 1.040s, 2; Iles at 1.145s, 3. Also NZers (did not qualify):Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (MS Mondraker) at 13.779s, 42; James MacDermid (The Alliance) at 14.139s, 44; Sam Blenkinsop (Crestline) at 16.223s, 50; Matthew Walker (Pivot Factory) at 17.327s, 51; Brook MacDonald (MS Mondraker) at a:20,616, 57.