“Not the best,” was Loic Bruni’s understated response when asked how he was doing as he rolled away from the Mont-Sainte-Anne start gate on Saturday. The Frenchman had just decided not to start his finals run and, in doing so, had to watch Canada’s Jackson Goldstone take the World Cup overall away from him.
“It was tough to, not to give it away,” an emotional Bruni told reporters, “But to not be able to fight for it on the last day of the season.”
The French rider was, even in defeat, quick to give credit to the Canadian.
“Jackson deserves all the success he’s having. So congrats to him, it was super fun to be doing this battle.”
Practice crash with consequences
Bruni shared that a heavy crash in his first practice run on Saturday was the eventual cause of his fateful DNS at Mont-Sainte-Anne. Super Bruni his his arm and leg in the fall.
“It’s happened before where I’ve hit my leg and had internal bleeding. It’s not too bad, but creates super deep hematoma,” Bruni described. “I felt it on my second practice run. My legs just becoming super hard and full of blood, so I can’t use the muscles.”
Bruni added that he was ready to try push through the pain, hoping to force an error from his Canadian rival.
“When [Goldstone] came down first, I knew I had to be in the top three, top top. I knew I did not have that in me,” Bruni said, again unable to quite push down the emotion, adding after a pause, “so I just called it a championship.”
How close was Bruni to dropping in?
“I was just in front of the start hut. I was waiting for Jackson’s time,” Bruni said, repeating that when he saw the Canadian set the fastest time, he know the game was over. “I didn’t believe I could do it because my leg was not working, and is still not working.
“I have to go home to the baby,” Bruni, whose expecting his first child any day now added. “So I don’t want to be absolutely stupid. But it’s tough. Not to give it away, but not to be able to fight for it on the last day of the season.”
“Shit year when it came to important days”
“It’s not the way I wanted things to go down. The crowd was amazing, the weather was amazing, I was feeling super good. So I’m really gutted.”
The World Cup overall upset adds to a rough year for Super Bruni. A mechanical at world championships saw the French rider slide down the results sheet while, again, Goldstone shone like his namesake. Bruni was keenly aware of both results at MSA.
“World champs we were unlucky too, with the mechanical. Today, this happens. Shit year when it came to important days,” Bruni said, matter of factly. “It is what it is. We’ll come back next year stronger.”
Still, the result stings.
“I don’t think I deserve for it to go down like this,” Bruni said, adding credit to the Canuck. “But Jackson deserves all the success he’s having. So congrats to him, it was super fun to be doing this battle.”
Back, but not at MSA: “It’s my favourite track”
While Bruni’s looking forward to next year’s season already, MSA is moving on. After 30 World Cups starting way back in the early 90s, UCI has left the venue off the race calendar for 2026.
Super Bruni told us what he thought of that after his P1 in Q1 on Saturday.
“It’s pretty sad not to come back next year for the World Cup, I think it’s one of the most legendary venues,” Bruni said of the iconic Quebec track.
“We’ve been coming here since the 90s. Since my first time here in 2011, its my favourite,” adding, in explanation, “The crowd is so cool, Quebec is amazing and the track is fucking insane.”
After a disappointing end to 2026, to put it mildly, Bruni joins the chorus of fans and riders hoping Mont-Sainte-Anne makes a World Cup comeback.
“I’m really hoping they’ll figure out a way to be back in 2027. They need to make it happen again.”