Fantasy Form Guide: Pinkbike’s Predictions for the Les Gets DH World Cup 2024 – Pinkbike

Who’s Fast in 2024?

After starting the season in Fort William at the start of May, we are in the second half of the Downhill World Cup season with the racing in Les Gets the fifth of seven rounds in 2024. The 2024 season has seen some incredible racing moments with dominant performances by Vali Höll and Loic Bruni alongside some wild rides, as perfectly demonstrated by Amaury Pierron’s near five-second win in Val di Sole.

When looking at the women’s racing after four rounds, three riders have started 2024 with some big performances. Firstly, Vali Höll, who leads the overall standings and has taken two wins from four rounds of racing. Höll remains unrivalled on a good day. Höll has seen some struggles as crashes and illness saw her go sixth at round two and fifth in the last round in Italy. Tahnee Seagrave has been a near-constant podium threat in 2024, as outside of a crash in Leogang has always been in the top five, even taking the win in Val di Sole. Finally, there is Marine Cabirou, who has always been in the top six and took the round two victory in Poland.

The men’s racing has seen one dominant force in 2024 as Loic Bruni has yet to drop off the podium while securing two wins from the opening four rounds. Bruni’s teammate Finn Iles has also seen some great successes as apart from a 12th-place in Poland has placed either third or second. The big question heading into the first French round will be whether Loris Vergier can fight back from a slower start to 2024 and if Amaury Pierron can follow up his masterclass from Val di Sole.

After a tough week battling illness and even a few crashes in Val di Sole, Vali Höll remained the fastest rider this season. Following four rounds of racing, Höll still leads the combined season times with a gap of seven seconds back to Marine Cabirou. A winning run from Tahnee Seagrave put her back in third place, with Anna Newkirk the only other elite woman to complete every qualifying, semi-final and finals run of the season.
The elite men’s combined season time rankings are getting closer as while Loic Bruni maintains his lead from the start of the season Troy Brosnan is just 5.54 seconds back. After an incredible week in Val di Sole, Amaury Pierron is rapidly closing in on Bruni as he rockets into third, 9.56 back.

2024 Season Stats

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Fantasy League Rider Spotlight

Ahead of this weekend’s racing in France, we have looked through the points in the Fantasy League to highlight some of the lower-priced riders who picked up great results from the first three rounds of the 2024 season.

Lisa Baumann

After missing out on finals in the opening two rounds, Lisa Baumann has seen great success in Leogang and Val di Sole. After finishing fourth in the slippery carnage at Leogang and then going tenth in Italy, Baumann could be a great pick for this weekend’s racing. Especially, as we are predicting some precipitation to make the greasy track even more challenging for finals. Not only is Baumann on a string of great results, but she is priced at $118,631, making her a good choice to fill out your team if you have some leftover budget.

Luke Meier-Smith

Another potential good pick for this weekend’s racing is Luke Meier-Smith, who is hot off second place at last weekend’s Enduro World Cup racing. After finding some near-race-winning form last weekend, the multi-discipline talent could be a strong pick for Les Gets, especially as he costs just $35,000 for round five.

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Elite Women’s Picks

Vali Höll

After taking two wins so far this year and after a strong showing before a finals run crash at Les Gets last year, it’s tough to bet against Val Höll. It definitely won’t be easy, but we think the World Champ will be back on top of the podium once again as she looks to build momentum into her defence of the rainbow stripe at the end of August.

Marine Cabirou

Last year’s Les Gets winner, Marine Cabirou, has already shown she can go fastest in 2024 and with the chance for a win on home soil, she will be pushing even harder this weekend. With a tight overall standings battle against Tahnee Seagrave for 2nd place, Cabirou will need the extra points from a top result to push her ahead with just two rounds left after this weekend.

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Elite Men’s Picks

Amaury Pierron

With a history of legendary performances in Les Gets and following his ride in Val di Sole, Amaury Pierron is the rider to beat. Can Pierron match the raw speed he found here back in 2019?

Benoit Coulanges

After securing his first win in Les Gets last year, Benoit Coulanges has struggled to show the same level of ferocious speed. With a return to the track where he celebrated his huge success last year, we think Coulanges will be tough to beat, as he mastered the track in 2023 to beat Andreas Kolb to the line by 0.160 seconds.

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Wildcard Picks

While we have made our main predictions for potential winners above, there were other riders we need to mention as potential top performers for the fifth round this weekend.

Dakotah Norton

After coming close multiple times this year, will Les Gets finally see Dakotah Norton take a World Cup win? Norton almost tasted victory in Val di Sole before Amaury Pierron’s wild winning run ended a hot seat streak of over an hour in finals.

Monika Hrastnik

If one rider has shown they have the Les Gets track figured out, it’s Monika Hrastnik. Since 2021, Hrastnik has not dropped outside the top five, with her best results being second place at last year’s World Cup round in Les Gets. Following a third place in Val di Sole, Hrastnik has already proved she has the podium pace and will be a threat for a top result on Saturday.

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Who Do You Think Will Win?

We shared our thoughts and picks for this weekend, but who do you think will be on the top of the podium?

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Fantasy League Stats

After four rounds of racing, we have compiled some stats ahead of the team editing window closing before qualifying tomorrow.

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NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Purchase will not increase your chances of winning. The Contest begins on 18 March 2024 at 09:00:01 a.m. PDT and ends on October 6, 2024 at 11:59 PM PDT. Anyone can participate in the Pinkbike Fantasy Downhill League Game but the The Pinkbike Fantasy Downhill League Contest whereby participants can win prizes (“Contest”) is open only to legal residents of Australia, Canada (except the Province of Québec), Germany, United Kingdom, and 50 United States and DC who are 18 years of age or older and the age of majority in theirjurisdiction of residence. The Contest begins on 18 March 2024 at 09:00:01 a.m. PDT and ends on 6 October 2024 at 11:59:59 PM PDT. *5,000 USD cash portion of the grand prize will be awarded in a form of a check if the winner is from US or Canada; and will be awarded as a bank wire transfer if the winner is from Australia, Germany or UK.

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