The rain might have rolled in to disturb the qualifying runs but the sun came back for the finals. And what a race! Probably one of the tightest ever and it got the new World Cup season off to a pretty exciting start!
We arrived in Slovenia to a nice surprise for everyone: our bus upgraded to a new truck! It's proof a lot of hard work over the off-season and there was such satisfaction to see how happy our staff and riders were when they saw it. We’re really proud to have a home like this for the next months and for the team to enjoy the best of the best.
Amaury Pierron - 7th (+2.057 seconds)
In qualies he didn't get the result he was looking for (25th) but Amaury was able to change what was needed to be back with the top riders in finals:
"I was hoping for a better result but I struggled a bit on this track. I couldn’t find the right speed, I didn’t find the good lines. Thankfully, the morning before finals I felt better, not enough and not everywhere, but finishing 7th isn’t that bad. Bring it on for the next one!"
He’s looking forward to being back in Fort William where he won his first ever World Cup last year! (We are looking forward to it too!)
Rémi Thirion - 17th (+4.845 seconds)
His crash last month in Portugal affected his preparation but Remi knew what he had to do get back on top. Day after day, he felt more and more comfortable on the track and found the speed he was looking for:
"I pushed the limits, I made some mistakes at the top and got a bit tired at the bottom so I lost some time there but I’m really happy to finish 17th."
Thibaut Daprela - 1st Junior
He couldn’t hope for a better start to the season! Thibaut won both qualies and finals and he’s leading in his category!
"My run was really good, I just made one mistake at the top of the track and then, after that, I tried to have a clean run to the end! It wasn’t a crazy one but I’m happy, it was enough for the win!"
Last year Thibaut won a massive 5 out of 7 World Cups - this year his goal is obviously to do even better, and we’ll do our best to help make it happen!
Gaëtan Ruffin - 49th
After spending his whole winter managing the construction of the new truck and doing everything to make sure the team set up would be on point, Gaëtan raced with really good consistency and finished in a respectable 49th place.
His brother and co-manager Thibaut, unfortunately, crashed during the qualies and ruined his chances to race the finals.
In the team ranking, we’re sitting in fourth place and we all know what we have to get to work on for the next round.
Massive thanks to all our sponsors, our bikes are amazing and we’re glad to ride in such good conditions! See you at the next one in Fort William!
©Kéno Derleyn & COMMENCAL/VALLNORD DH Team