The 2026 iXS European Downhill Cup season began in Santiago de Besteiros, Portugal over the weekend. Round one delivered heat, dust and wind. A mix that turned a fast, open track into something unpredictable.<\/p>\n
For Canadian Finn Iles, it also delivered a strong early-season result. The Specialized Gravity rider won seeding on Saturday, then placed third in Sunday\u2019s final, just one second off the win. It feels like a clear sign that Iles is excited to race this season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Limited practice runs<\/p>\n
The 1.7-kilometre track was fast, but riders didn\u2019t get many chances to dial it in. Shuttle access limited practice runs, making every lap matter. Lines had to be chosen quickly.<\/p>\n
The Maxxis Course Preview from Danny Hart gave riders a first proper look at the track.<\/p>\n
Iles sets the benchmark<\/p>\n
By the time seeding rolled around, wind had picked up across the upper sections. Riders were not just racing the clock, they were reacting to mid-run gusts. Iles handled it best.<\/p>\n
The Canadian put down the fastest elite men\u2019s time in seeding, setting the benchmark heading into finals. Junior rider Kasper Hickman turned heads by posting the fastest time of the seeding day by almost a second.<\/p>\n
Wind reshapes finals<\/p>\n
For the Finals the wind stuck around and in some sections, got worse. One jump was closed for safety, forcing last-minute adjustments for riders and officials alike.<\/p>\n
In the elite field, Jordan Williams rose to the top, taking the win with a time of 2:23.292. Hartenstern followed just six tenths back.<\/p>\n
Iles, despite leading the day before, could not quite match that pace on his final run.<\/p>\n
He crossed the line in third, roughly one second off the win.<\/p>\n
Women and juniors<\/p>\n
After early-season victories at Crankworx, Jenna Hastings continued her streak to take the win. Siel van der Velden placed second and Eleonora Farina took third.<\/p>\n
In the junior ranks, Gianna Nef beat reigning Junior World Champion Rosa Zierl by just six tenths of a second in a tight U19 battle.<\/p>\n
On the Junior men\u2019s side, Kasper Hickman took the win that would have put him in second spot in Elite.<\/p>\n
A podium, and a reminder<\/p>\n
More than 300 riders from 31 nations lined up in Portugal, including some of the sport\u2019s most promising juniors. Not many of the World Cup riders showed up. But for Iles, the takeaway is straightforward. The gap to the top step is small, but in downhill, it always is.<\/p>\n
Next stop of this tour is in Czechia on May 1. The same weekend the UCI World Cup heads to South Korea. The season is officially on.<\/p>\n
Results
\nElite Men<\/p>\n
1. Jordan Williams (GBR) \u2013 Specialized Gravity \u2013 50.740 (2) \/ 1:22.354 (1) \/ 2:23.292
2. Max Hartenstern (GER) \u2013 CUBE Factory Racing \u2013 50.819 (4) \/ 1:23.519 (2) \/ 2:23.893 (+0.601)
3. Finn Iles (CAN) \u2013 Specialized Gravity \u2013 51.735 (10) \/ 1:24.320 (4) \/ 2:24.410 (+1.118)
4. Matt Walker (GBR) \u2013 Trek Factory Racing \u2013 50.778 (3) \/ 1:23.669 (3) \/ 2:25.128 (+1.836)
5. Ethan Craik (GBR) \u2013 Scott DH Factory \u2013 51.218 (7) \/ 1:24.521 (5) \/ 2:25.310 (+2.018)
6. Johan Garcin (FRA) \u2013 G2 Racing Project \u2013 51.416 (8) \/ 1:25.153 (8) \/ 2:25.910 (+2.618)
7. Marco Lamaris (GER) \u2013 Positive Crew \u2013 52.469 (17) \/ 1:25.398 (10) \/ 2:25.970 (+2.678)
8. Loris Revelli (ITA) \u2013 Ridewill Bike Center Cimone \u2013 51.678 (9) \/ 1:25.417 (11) \/ 2:25.995 (+2.703)
9. Thibaut Daprela (FRA) \u2013 DragonSpeed \u2013 50.655 (1) \/ 1:24.788 (7) \/ 2:26.305 (+3.013)
10. Daniel Castellanos (ESP) \u2013 Planet MTB \u2013 51.984 (12) \/ 1:25.805 (12) \/ 2:26.515 (+3.223)<\/p>\n
Elite Women\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. Jenna Hastings (NZL) \u2013 Pivot Factory Racing \u2013 59.832 (1) \/ 1:39.330 (1) \/ 2:48.594
2. Siel van der Velden (BEL) \u2013 Scott x1 Racing \u2013 1:00.234 (2) \/ 1:40.240 (2) \/ 2:53.138 (+4.544)
3. Eleonora Farina (ITA) \u2013 MS-Racing \u2013 1:02.071 (4) \/ 1:41.071 (3) \/ 2:53.656 (+5.062)
4. Nellie Aabech (NOR) \u2013 \u2013 1:02.240 (5) \/ 1:42.309 (4) \/ 2:55.072 (+6.478)
5. Phoebe Gale (GBR) \u2013 Orbea FMD Racing \u2013 1:01.329 (3) \/ 1:42.528 (5) \/ 2:56.197 (+7.603)
6. Elise Porta (FRA) \u2013 Athena Gravity \u2013 1:03.679 (8) \/ 1:44.725 (6) \/ 2:57.043 (+8.449)
7. Vicky Clavel (FRA) \u2013 Scott DH Factory \u2013 1:03.893 (9) \/ 1:45.115 (8) \/ 2:57.648 (+9.054)
8. Maria Pom\u00e9s (ESP) \u2013 \u2013 1:02.664 (6) \/ 1:44.848 (7) \/ 2:58.007 (+9.413)
9. Abigail Hogie (USA) \u2013 Beyond Racing \u2013 1:03.245 (7) \/ 1:45.800 (9) \/ 2:59.264 (+10.670)
10. Kira Zamora (ESP) \u2013 HB-61 \u2013 1:05.315 (11) \/ 1:47.241 (10) \/ 3:00.201 (+11.607)<\/p>\n
Junior Men\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. Kasper Hickman (FIN) \u2013 CUBE Factory Racing \u2013 51.127 (1) \/ 1:24.010 (1) \/ 2:23.441
2. No\u00e9 Forlin (SUI) \u2013 Epic Racing \u2013 51.960 (2) \/ 1:26.609 (3) \/ 2:26.454 (+3.013)
3. Sacha Brizin (FRA) \u2013 Commencal 101 \u2013 52.924 (3) \/ 1:26.977 (4) \/ 2:27.579 (+4.138)
4. Kevin Randall (IRL) \u2013 iXS Gravity Alliance \u2013 53.040 (4) \/ 1:26.497 (2) \/ 2:29.116 (+5.675)
5. Nathan De Vaux (GBR) \u2013 Trailrippers \u2013 53.799 (5) \/ 1:28.680 (7) \/ 2:30.484 (+7.043)
6. Lluc Hospital Sabater (ESP) \u2013 BGR-Orbea \u2013 54.504 (10) \/ 1:28.552 (5) \/ 2:31.168 (+7.727)
7. Yanis Naef (SUI) \u2013 Chrissport \u2013 54.712 (11) \/ 1:29.327 (8) \/ 2:32.003 (+8.562)
8. Maxime Gouteron (FRA) \u2013 Valence Chabeuil BMX \u2013 54.747 (13) \/ 1:29.604 (11) \/ 2:32.145 (+8.704)
9. Darragh Ryan (IRL) \u2013 Orbea FMD Racing \u2013 53.900 (6) \/ 1:29.385 (9) \/ 2:32.245 (+8.804)
10. L\u00e9o Godin (FRA) \u2013 DragonSpeed \u2013 55.228 (15) \/ 1:29.703 (12) \/ 2:32.735 (+9.294)<\/p>\n
Junior Women<\/p>\n
1. Gianna Nef (SUI) \u2013 \u2013 1:01.886 (3) \/ 1:40.556 (2) \/ 2:50.082
2. Rosa Zierl (AUT) \u2013 CUBE Factory Racing \u2013 59.842 (1) \/ 1:39.519 (1) \/ 2:50.688 (+0.606)
3. Lina Frener (AUT) \u2013 Norco Adidas Race Division \u2013 1:01.665 (2) \/ 1:42.144 (3) \/ 2:52.615 (+2.533)
4. Chloe Cres Clement (FRA) \u2013 Luchon Louron Cyclisme \u2013 1:02.699 (5) \/ 1:43.124 (5) \/ 2:54.626 (+4.544)
5. Zo\u00e9 Lugans (FRA) \u2013 Luchon Louron Cyclisme \u2013 1:02.098 (4) \/ 1:42.876 (4) \/ 2:55.427 (+5.345)
6. Lilian Tobin (IRL) \u2013 Gap MTB \u2013 1:04.171 (6) \/ 1:46.198 (6) \/ 3:00.007 (+9.925)
7. Niamh Richards (IRL) \u2013 Athena Gravity \u2013 1:06.960 (8) \/ 1:50.933 (8) \/ 3:08.739 (+18.657)
8. Willow Baker (GBR) \u2013 Propain Bikes UK \u2013 1:07.000 (9) \/ 1:51.636 (9) \/ 3:09.433 (+19.351)
9. Rebecca Bruno (ITA) \u2013 MS-Racing \u2013 1:04.800 (7) \/ 1:47.308 (7) \/ 3:09.496 (+19.414)
10. Madeline Rosen (SUI) \u2013 Epic Racing \u2013 1:09.093 (11) \/ 1:53.622 (10) \/ 3:10.238 (+20.156)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 iXS European Downhill Cup season began in Santiago de Besteiros, Portugal over the weekend. Round one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,1700,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-601420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-mtb-features","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}