Lachie sat in the hot seat until the last rider of the day
0.695 seconds. That’s all that separated Lachie Stevens-McNab from a career-defining win at the MTB World Championships in Val di Sole on Saturday. But as consolation prizes go, silver at the biggest race of the year on one of the meanest tracks in downhill racing — the famed Black Snake — ain’t bad at all.
Lachie’s blistering run gave him the fastest time of the day by 2.868 seconds, a massive margin by DH standards. From there, he had to sit nervously in the hot seat as 15 more riders, comprised of the fastest in the sport, tried to beat his time. Jordan Williams came closest, crossing the line just seven-thousandths of a second behind Lachie, before Jackson Goldstone, the last rider of the day, smashed the bottom two sectors of the course to reverse a 0.4-second deficit.
Lachie vaulting onto the hot seat.
Champagne shower for the podium boy.
“I made one little mistake where Jackson went from 0.4 back to 0.5 in front, but f@#$ it I’m pretty happy with that,” Lachie said. “So close, but you gotta look at it for what it is, and it’s pretty cool.”
A finals run like that was only a matter of time. Lachie has been smashing his World Cup qualification runs all season, taking second in Lenzerheide and first in Andorra. Unfortunately, he tumbled on both of his finals runs those weekends, leaving him without any hardware to show for his incredible form.
Lachie on the podium.
Ollie Davis also had a brilliant weekend, taking second in qualis and 10th in finals.
Thankfully, history didn’t repeat itself in Val di Sole. Lachie was the fastest man in qualifications by 0.331 seconds over teammate Ollie Davis, who took second, then validated his performance with a near win.
“I thought I could win to be honest,” Lachie said. “I was riding practice and I felt good. I was on.
“That first World Champs medal. It’s pretty sick.”
Lachie with his fan section.
The whole Trek-Unbroken DH squad.
Lachie led a strong week for the Trek-Unbroken DH squad. Davis took 10th in finals for his second World Champs Top 10 after taking eighth in Andorra in 2024. Matt Walker was close behind in 14th, and Oisin O’Callaghan finished 19th. Sacha Earnest can be proud, too. Though a big crash ruined her chances at a podium, she was able to complete her run for 14th in the women’s race.
The squad will leave World Championships with a ton of confidence for the final two World Cup Downhill races of the year. We can’t wait.
