Downhill finals in Val di Sole gave something and also took something. Žak did best run in the whole week and came home with a solid 44th place. Not bad at all for his first elite men world championships. Jure came down with 62nd time of the day, but that was irrelevant as he injured his finger had to go to the hospital for an X-ray.
Jure started his race weekend in Val di Sole with a crash and needed to reset for the most important days of the weekend. He’s back on pace on Saturday and felt confident for the finals, but everything collapsed in a split of a second. His went on the track just after the small shower and lost his front wheel on the slippery rocks on a very fast section. He hit the ground with his bars and his hand, but managed to get on the bike quickly and continue with his run. UPDATE: It was revealed in the hospital that his metacarpal bone is broken and Jure will have to take some time to recovery.
Žak was on the track earlier on and had showed a really good run and at the time took a big lead. He’s on the hot seat for a while, on the end he was 44th.
“I had a lot of problems throughout the week, I didn’t find the right feelings on the bike. Our mechanic Anže and I did more changes on the last practice on Sunday morning and that improved things a lot. I’m happy that I did a normal run in the finals, but it’s still not what I want, and I hope I will do even better next week in Switzerland,” said Žak after the dust has settled on the track.
Unforgiving terrain on the slopes above Val di Sole gave us a good race but took its toll in the form of injuries and broken dreams. We’re now heading for Lenzerheide for the next double World Cup event.
Photos by Grega Stopar
