The DH Battle Nobody Will Ever Forget | UCI MTB World Cup Snowshoe 2019 w/ Bruni, Pierron & Hart

nail-biting
/ˈneɪlbʌɪtɪŋ/
adjective
causing great anxiety or tension.
"a nail-biting final run from Danny Hart"

Snowshoe, USA, September 2019 - a location and date that has secured its place into the mountain biking hall-of-fame. As defending 2018 UCI World Cup overall champion, Amaury Pierron, stepped into the start gate, he had to put down a ground-shaking run to secure the 2019 title. However, with 1222 points to his name, he needed fellow Frenchman Loic Bruni and current leader (1312 points) to finish outside the top 3.

After crashing out in qualifying (luckily, qualifying at this final round carried no series points), Amaury Pierron set off much earlier in the pack than his rival for the series win. And it was a trademark Pierron ride, blindingly fast and bordering on the impossible. Amaury attacked and attacked some more, hitting turns with both wheels drifting and launching fully committed into the dangerous rocks. It was a huge run that looked unfathomably fast; could anyone decode it? The wait in the hot seat for Pierron would be long and tantalising.

It was then time for Loïc Bruni to bite the bullet. Superbruni took to the course with enormous pressure on this last ride of the summer. Bruni rode the wheels off it. With the incredible performances of Pierron and Harrison before him, he had to. Assuming Pierron would take the win, Bruni needed to finish no worse than third to confirm his first-ever series title.

As he crossed the finish line, Bruni looked on in disbelief. He was sitting third and there was still one very fast man to go. If Danny Hart, who had blitzed qualifying, finished between him and Pierron, the title would be Pierron’s. Nobody could have predicted what happened next.

Hart has had a consistent run of results in 2019, finishing on the podium in all but one of the World Cup races before Snowshoe. But, despite qualifying first at Round 6 in Lenzerheide and also at the World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, he had never found the speed to beat the field in finals. As Hart placed sixth for times at splits one and two, it appeared today wouldn’t be his day either. Sixth would mean the series was Bruni’s.

But suddenly Hart was up into second place at split three. This spelt disaster for Bruni, who now stood ready to congratulate his friend Pierron on taking the series at the last minute, literally. Hart was nearly a second slower than Pierron and looked set to equal his season-best second place from Round 1 in Maribor.

However, as soon as Bruni had seen it slip away, it was unexpectedly back in his grasp. Hart pulled a miracle and went fastest at split four by a slim 0.7 seconds. If he won, the points from second place wouldn’t be enough for Pierron to leapfrog Bruni in the overall standings. The wait was excruciating, and to make it worse Hart went through the speed trap at 54kph, a full 3kph slower than Pierron at this crucial moment before speeding towards the finish line.

Relive the drama of one of the most exciting downhill races in UCI history:

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[_ben_sweet]

Doesn't matter how many times I see this replay, I'll always get chills

[youtubeaccount]

Downhill MTB should be added to the olympics.

[chyu]

When Danny sees both Loic and Pierron hitting NOS. He's like ... too soon..

[dawidszczepanski]

Rob Warner has to be one of the greatest sport commentators of all time!

[triciamcintyre]

Loic, you owe Danny as much beer as he can drink🍺🍻🥂🍾

[richardaird]

This is the first time I've ever seen a downhill mountain bike race and wow it was amazing. The commentators just did such a good job of breaking it down so even casual Watchers or people like me who watch this for their first time could understand it. Awesome! Time to go buy one and learn a new sport myself :-)

[mattroy]

I'll agree that was a dramatic and crazy race that I really enjoyed watching but, maybe it's just me.. but was kinda cheap the camera man just ran passed Danny having just the win the race and the focus was all on Loic. I get it but still. Props to Danny for the insane run

[UdyGraphie]

The last 10 seconds were unbelievable watching live.. the pendulum swung every direction

[mogulhopper]

I'll NEVER get fed up with watching this ! So emotive ! Have to say Rob's commentary completes and compliments the story . I'm sure I speak for everyone right now in saying how much this years championship is being missed.

[williamgalloway]

I know all the attention is on bruni and hart and rightly so. But let's just take a moment to realise how great of a commentator warner is.

[beachthor]

I need those announcers on every sporting event I watch

[dylan-]

I'll never forget this race, better than Game of Thrones haha.

[TeddyParker]

I'm super bummed I wasn't a MTB fan when Sam Hill was at his peak and when Danny broke through in 2011, but I'm so glad to have been around to watch 2019's story unfold. Yet another moment in this sports history that fans will want to watch back over and over.

[Buhl]

Crazy race i wish there were more races like this in US. Id love to start racing dh

[ticecl]

Amaury was really a great sport to congratulate Loic as he is clearly holding back tears. That is a podium full of champions

[nazkia]

I've been watching sports for 30+ yrs and i would put this up as the best ever season finale alongside Arsenal winning the league in 89 (i'm an Arsenal fan from the UK) insane riding all season. Lets hope 2021? makes up for lost time. Miss this sport so much.

[andyboy]

I'd watch any sport that had dh commentators. You can't help but have a huge grin from these guys!

[toneloke]

Danny Hart won the race with perfect line choice and skill in the last two rock gardens, his body barely moves compared to Bruni and Pierron in those sections, this race was an instant

[JayDeBe]

Such a great event at Snow Shoe; such an amazing set of races across all of the mtb disciplines.

[ioandavies]

I want Danny Hart to win the overall this season if it even happens