Last weekend, Poland hosted a jam-packed race weekend with the UCI World Cup Enduro and UCI World Cup Downhill events taking place over three days. And, if the racing was anything to go by, the World Cup titles are anyone's game as new names step onto the podium, as well as budding rivalries.

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2024's UCI Mountain Bike World Series made its first downhill visit to Poland and the Beskid Mountains venue presented the finest in roots and rocks. The conditions were changeable, with a heavy downpour soaking the course in the morning, followed by a full afternoon of sun. This meant the track was drying at the top while the wooded sections were still very damp.

2024 poland enduro holl.jpg, by Liam Mercer

In an excellent return to form, Marine Caribou put in a run that not only challenged the current champ, Valentina Höll, but the Frenchman put herself onto the top step of the podium for Scott Downhill Factory, claiming her eighth UCI Downhill World Cup race. 

“I’m super happy to win here on this new track in Poland. It’s crazy because the track has changed a lot all week. It was difficult to manage the race run because we had a lot of rain at the start of the afternoon, so I didn’t know if I could push or not, so I just tried to do my best. At the beginning, I saw that the track was kind of dry so I tried to push. I made a mistake but I think everybody made a mistake, so I just had a good run.” - Marine Caribou

Behind Caribou, Camille Balanche of the Dorval SM Commencal team took second and Nina Hoffman rounded off the podium for Santa Cruz Syndicate.

Irishman Ronan Dunne rode a controlled run aboard a prototype Mondraker bike to take his first-ever UCI Downhill World Cup win with podium stalwart Loic Bruni landing second and Loris Vergier third.

“I was loving the track in Poland. The crowd was insane. It’s the second [UCI Downhill World Cup] with the new team. It’s been perfect and I had myself in the mindset of either I was going for a helicopter trip, or I was coming down in first. We didn’t take the helicopter trip, but we took the win. Usually, I don’t look at the times, but this time I was. I saw the time that Bruni put down and I thought ‘OK, we’re going for it, we’re not messing around’. I was ready to fight someone. It paid off.” - Ronan Dunne

2024 poland enduro podium.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Over to the enduro and it looks like it's shaping up to be an exciting but competitive season for reigning champ, Isabeau Courdurier and last race's winner, Hattie Harnden. The Bielsko-Biała UCI Enduro World Cup took riders through 36.5km of trail with 2,074m of descent and like for the downhillers, the venue was all-new which in enduro, poses challenges of its own.

Where the week before, Harnden managed to accumulate enough of an advantage to take it easy through the final stages, Courdurier brought the heat, keeping the Brit on her toes, even after a Stage 1 crash.

2024 poland enduro courdorier.jpg, by Liam Mercer

“It’s quite crazy because it’s redemption from this morning where I struggled so much and couldn’t ride like I wanted to. It was a real surprise because I didn’t look at the time and I thought I was quite far away. In the end, it’s so tight, it’s basically like finishing the race at the exact same point after going through so many slippery roots, technical bits, and flat sections. I have no idea how we did this. I’m super happy about it.” - Isabeau Courdurier

Charles Murray bagged the top step of the podium, by just 0.095 of a second ahead of local Slawomir Lukasik. Richie Rude then took third, cementing himself as a podium regular for 2024. Jack Moir, now racing for the YT Mob, and Jesse Melamed of Canyon CLLCTV took fourth and fifth respectively.

“Managing to keep it upright was the main thing – pedal where I could but just be smart because there were so many slippery roots out there. Last week, I was a bit surprised because you never know where your form is coming into the season and then to back it up with the win was too good to be true”. - Charles Murray

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