Due to the time difference, the first tests of the 2024 Mont Sainte-Anne Downhill World Cup Final took place on the evening of this Thursday. The time that the best images spend in the mill, and we find them this Friday for an analysis of what is happening on the track. This is in particular the opportunity to analyze the GoPros which give a good idea of what the Mont Sainte-Anne 2024 route consists of. Obviously, over time, we understand that the track evolves. This year, no major revolution, but a few small adjustments which will not fail to catch the eye of the most attentive. Below, Loic Bruni’s GoPro, in training, then, based on its timecode, the main developments on the track…
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0.00 > perhaps one of the biggest changes to the 2024 version of the track, the position of the starting hut! It is located lower down, at the exit of the very first woods offered by the route until now. It doesn’t seem like much, but the Mont-Saint-Anne route is renowned for being one of the longest of the season, with times that were around, or even exceeded, four minutes. Here, this new start takes away the first 15 seconds from last year – which, already, started a little lower and took away around ten seconds from previous years. Seemingly nothing, since the arrival of Warner Bros, more than twenty seconds have disappeared from the clock at Mont Sainte-Anne…
Until 12s, then in the first wood > in several places the track surface has been reworked. The earth is fresh, was compacted with a shovel, and during the reconnaissance on foot, the result was visually beautiful. However, as we can now see with the training images, motocross-type ruts, parallel to each other, have formed in several places. In certain turns, and in certain calls, taking the right one, or avoiding them, is part of the challenge of the challenge.
1.06 > It’s the return of the Shark Fin! Last year, the route dipped more directly to the left. But this year you have to skip the hole and continue a little further to take the rock jump which turns left and has been cemented… A classic of Mont Sainte-Anne!
1.30 > Last year, the track continued straight into the woods opposite. So, she took a long traverse pulling to the left, for a section that some, including Loic Bruni, described as enduro. This year, the route starts on the ski slope and therefore offers one of those bursts of speed that some – including Loic Bruni, once again – consider to be one of the trademarks of Mont Sainte-Anne. At the end of this track, the route climbs into the woods on the left and takes a gully already used in the past. It brings back memories in particular for a certain Greg Minnaar, who is participating in his last UCI World Cup this weekend.
1.48 > The route resumes the normal course of last year from this point. And it is particularly from the 1.52 turn that we understand why we are talking about an enduro section. It goes flat to the left, and becomes narrower and narrower, before exiting onto the track. There are a few different trajectories, but we can see that it rubs the mattresses.
After that, the track repeats, to the word, what it offered in recent years. The Stevie Smith memorial, the open speed point, and the slabs, these rocks which are located around the third minute of the race. We see it here with this complete run by Loic Bruni: this is a demanding track. The speed implies heavy downforce in places. The rocky sections are as rocky as you can imagine. And the length requires endurance until the end. Especially since one of the other characteristics of this track is that it is not very, very steep. There are therefore many sections where to maintain speed, you have to constantly fly over the terrain, so take support, jump, pause, pull again, etc, etc… In short, tiring! There will once again be a spectacle on the track this Saturday, and it’s to be continued on FullAttack!
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