UCI DH World Cup 2013: Val Di Sole Preview

Last weekend marked the start of the UCI World Cup Downhill series at Fort William and unless you've been living under a rock or not been near the internet for the last 7 days... Gee Atherton took the win from Brook MacDonald in 2nd and Stevie Smith in 3rd. Sam Blenkinsop made it into 4th spot and Hutchinson United Ride's Sik Mik Hannah rounding out the top 5.

This weekend see's the World Cup circus roll into Val di Sole in Italy where the riders are set to tackle one of the gnarliest and roughest tracks on the planet!

As with last week you'll be able to catch all the action live on Red Bull TV with commentary from Rob Warner from 3:15 through until 5:15 on Sunday afternoon!

WATCH LIVE HERE!

The Men

Last year we witnessed one of the biggest demolitions of a world cup field in the history of the event when Aaron Gwin took the win from Greg Minnar in 2nd by 7 seconds on a bone dry track... That kind of thing just doesn't happen in World Cup Downwhill's!

Will we see the same result this year? Judging on Aaron's form from last weekend I would think it's unlikely but as the old saying goes...

"Form is temporary... Class lasts forever."

Unknown

Without doubt, Gwin is one of the classiest out there but the likes of Gee, Brook, Stevie, Blenki, Mik and all of the other big guns in world downhill will be doing their upmost to make sure they put in a good performance and take the top step.

And The Women...

Last year at Val Di Sole we saw Rachel Atherton take the Womens title by a commanding 4 seconds from Myriam Nicole in 2nd and Emmeline Ragot in 3rd. Florriane Pugin and Morganne Charre rounded out the Top 5.

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Rachel take the victory by a similar margin this time out after her performance last weekend at the Fort. I would also expect to see Manon Carpenter challenging for the top positions but the rest of the podium is too close to call for me...

It's prediction time...

Mens

1. Gee Atherton
2. Aaron Gwin
3. Brook MacDonald
4. Stevie Smith
5. Danny Hart

Womens

1. Rachel Atherton
2. Emmeline Ragot
3. Manon Carpenter

Qualification has been run this afternoon and you can find the results below...

You can find all the results here...