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00:00Loris Vergier, Loic Bruni.
00:02Best buddies, childhood friends, rivals.
00:07You couldn't really write a better story, could you?
00:09We call them haters, some call them friends.
00:12Is there a difference? It all depends.
00:14Whoa, he's in touch!
00:16He started, I feel, to be tired of being in my shadow.
00:19I was just always looking up to Loic,
00:22and I was trying to catch up.
00:23Loris Vergier, you need to make it happen.
00:26But he's better at it.
00:30Can Loris Vergier finally clinch an overall title?
00:34Or will it be his best friend, Loic Bruni?
00:38We have been in this situation before,
00:40and he knows that I'm coming for him.
00:51Well, it's nearly time to go racing here
00:53at the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup.
00:55The first of the year, the first of a new season
00:57from Lanzerheide in Switzerland.
01:01One big question this season.
01:03Can Loris Vergier finally clinch an overall title?
01:07Or will it be one of his best friends,
01:10Loic Bruni, who will take yet another one
01:13to add to his collection?
01:16Let's go up to the start gate then,
01:19and get things on their way.
01:21Tidehill Racing is back.
01:25How would you define the word bromance?
01:29In my definition, you mean?
01:31Yeah.
01:34A love story between two really good friends.
01:38Something with another human being that's, like, strong.
01:43That I'm not ashamed of cuddling each other
01:47and being cute together.
01:50Like that.
01:51It's the truth in the obvious news
01:53of the world!
01:56Loris Vergier, Loic Bruni.
01:59They grew up together.
02:00They're from the same part of France.
02:02And they started mountain biking together
02:03as a hobby and a pastime.
02:06Definitely pushing each other when we were kids,
02:10and then after a while, like,
02:11Loic has just gone way too fast.
02:17On one side, you've got Loic,
02:19the biggest mountain bike star.
02:22Loic Bruni wins the first race of the season.
02:28You can't really put your finger on
02:30what makes him so good.
02:31Like, he is just good at everything.
02:34Loic is six-time world champion now.
02:37But, as far as I'm aware,
02:39he's only got five World Cup wins to his name.
02:40Maybe six.
02:41I should've looked at the stats.
02:43Do you guys know?
02:49Loic is the best of our era.
02:53I guess he's a showman.
02:55Like, Super Bruni.
02:56Super Bruni.
02:57Super Bruni.
02:58Super Bruni!
03:01Super Bruni, eh?
03:02Yeah.
03:03What is it about?
03:04I don't know.
03:05It's not like you have heat vision eye lasers.
03:15Loris, I think he doesn't have that pure internal confidence.
03:19You never see him calling himself Super Loris.
03:21So, if he's Super Bruni, you could be Aqua Loris?
03:27Wait, wait.
03:28I got a better one.
03:30Wolf Vergier.
03:32I think it's cool.
03:34Really?
03:34You like it?
03:36No.
03:36You have to know.
03:37I think, you know.
03:38Moris Vergek does the double in Maribor.
03:41Loris is probably racking up almost as many World Cup wins as Loic is now.
03:48But, in terms of profile and in terms of race victories, he's just not quite at Loic's
03:53statistics yet.
03:55I was just always looking up to Loic and I was trying to catch up.
04:00I feel like I'm the little brother and I'm just trying to get the win when I can,
04:05but so far, like, he's better at it.
04:11Loris Berger, can he kickstart his 2023 season with a win?
04:17He would dearly, dearly love to.
04:20Seven World Cup wins to his name so far.
04:25Just a bit of something special by an absolute magician on a downhill bike.
04:31Loris, we call him le chat in French, the cat,
04:34because he basically rides a mountain bike like a cat.
04:37He's just light, got this supremely precise and gentle touch.
04:45I've never seen anyone be so deliberate on a bike.
05:02It's just kind of like his personality. It's a little bit reserved, but very effective.
05:06Mentally, he's a very different character to Loic Bruni, for example.
05:13He likes to beat the last man down.
05:15He likes to be the man to beat.
05:26He is that person that you know can win no matter what.
05:31He's a heavier guy, he's a bigger guy.
05:33He hits corners hard, he hits holes hard.
05:36He wants it bad.
05:37He has the World Shed jersey all the shorter.
05:41He's more proof.
05:47You expect him to be in the top three, and he expects himself to be in the top three.
05:52Can he bring this one back?
06:04Jordan Williams takes the win.
06:07Loic Bruni can't believe it.
06:09Has to settle for third place.
06:13Laurence beats me for 0.2, like nothing.
06:15And he looks at me at the finish and he's like, I'm so sorry.
06:19I was like, you're such a bitch.
06:22You know when it's your friend, you're like pissing each other off, like, you're a dickhead,
06:26like you smoke me.
06:30It's a good start of the season, like, probably the best I've had, like, in the year.
06:34So I take that, and from now, like, I just need to keep building or, like, keep going.
06:42I would have preferred to get it in my pocket rather than his pocket, but obviously it's
06:47kind of the same pocket with this guy.
07:02You're about to see, to witness some amazing skills in Trials Modo.
07:13For me, Loic is one of the best human I know.
07:17He's so funny.
07:18He will never let you down.
07:19He's one of the rare ones.
07:23We really have this older and younger brother relationship.
07:27I'm the older one.
07:28I learn from him all the time, and he was pushing me in the way where the fun was the
07:33most important.
07:33He's so funny.
07:37Oh!
07:39Oh!
07:43Oh!
07:45Oh!
07:46Oh!
07:47Oh!
07:48Oh!
07:48Oh!
07:51Oh, you like, we can't go!
08:00Oh!
08:02Oh!
08:02Oh, OK.
08:13Oh!
08:15Oh!
08:16Oh!
08:18Like, it's a great team.
08:20My friend is in there, like, I want to go there.
08:24I first met Luik.
08:26It was the year he was signed with the team
08:28that I was riding for at the time, which was Lapey.
08:31He was always a really kind, friendly kid.
08:35He never got a big head.
08:38Larisse, the same sort of thing.
08:42When we were all together,
08:43it was just always laughs and fun.
08:48Just, like, two little kids, you know, having fun.
08:55Back to dinner!
09:06So, who's right?
09:11I don't know.
09:12The entrance.
09:13The entrance, the low entrance.
09:16High, low, and then pedal.
09:19So, Andorra, big break of the World Cup.
09:23It was number four,
09:24and it was, like, the first World Cup of the second block.
09:27Half of the season is in the record books of Virgé.
09:30Still ahead of Bruni in the overall by the slimmest off margins.
09:34Lorisse and I came in pretty hot.
09:44I qualified first, just in front of Lorisse.
09:48First and second, going into finals.
09:51Him and I were on a different level that weekend.
10:00It's kind of important, this right here.
10:03Yeah, yeah.
10:04You saw the pedals?
10:05Yeah.
10:06Okay.
10:07Cool.
10:08Easy.
10:09Hey, have a good one.
10:10See the bottom.
10:11Yeah.
10:13Yeah, second close to Loïc, so that's good.
10:15Hopefully, the weather stays nice.
10:17I'm sure it won't, but we'll see.
10:22Wind is picking up.
10:23Here's hoping we can get a clear run at the elite men's race,
10:26which will be coming to you very shortly.
10:29We didn't really have a good window for weather,
10:31so they pushed it really late,
10:33and they took the risk to run it just before the rain.
10:37You can see that the dust getting picked up still.
10:39Don't dry it down the bottom.
10:41So, the weather not affecting things too badly.
10:46Deprella crosses the line.
10:47Oh, the fastest!
10:485 out of 10 for a second!
10:52Starting to rain.
10:54The difficulty of winning this race now is near impossible.
10:58I was a little bit upset because I knew it was going to be tight,
11:01and we might be racing in unfair conditions,
11:05like, not the same for everybody.
11:07It didn't rain here too, you see?
11:09Heavy down here.
11:10The umbrellas are off.
11:11Oh!
11:11Cold goes down!
11:14It's definitely slippery.
11:15It started warming up.
11:17The weather was crazy, like, honestly chaotic.
11:21That was one of the times I tried to motivate him,
11:23and I wanted him to give me some fire too, and we did.
11:31Before Andorra, it was, like, going pretty well,
11:34and Andorra kind of, yeah, a little slab.
11:39Yeah, Vergier then.
11:40Second to drop.
11:42Loris Vergier for track, factory racing, gravity.
11:46But you can see he still really makes conditions at the top of the track.
11:49Patches of boom, drive.
11:51Patches of grease.
11:52Yeah, you have to go for points now.
11:54Yeah, you've got to finger the points and ride smart, Loris.
11:57Down towards the finish line.
11:59The French rider who won here last season goes into 45th.
12:03It's not over, man.
12:04Like, you've got four more races, and it's not easy.
12:12I was actually in the start gate, almost thinking about boycotting the run,
12:15because, for me, it was bullshit.
12:17He is there, and the fastest qualifier from yesterday, Loic Bruni.
12:21Went for it anyways, tried everything I could.
12:25It's amazing.
12:26Like, to get that speed when it's tricky like this.
12:29Loic Bruni is throwing everything at this.
12:32Here, two and a half seconds back.
12:35So, Bruni still swinging at it.
12:37Refuses to give up.
12:39It's been a great one from Bruni, but is it going to be fast enough?
12:43Loic Bruni crossed the line.
12:45Loic Bruni for 20 seconds.
12:47Vivo de Prelha wins in power inside.
12:52I was just, like, probably the most frustrated I've ever been on the finish line.
13:00I wasn't able to smile or to say anything.
13:03I just cried in my goggles, swear at everybody.
13:07And I was just gutted, you know?
13:08Like, I felt like wins, opportunities are so hard to feel and to get.
13:14And then they took it away from me, so I was really, really upset.
13:18And the season took a big chance.
13:41To be honest, like, he's been the bigger brother, like, the faster brother, and
13:45in the team it was quite the same.
13:47Like, Loic was bringing the money, he was bringing the titles and the wins.
13:51And obviously, like, the focus was on him.
13:54He started, I feel, to be tired of being in my shadow and being the little brother.
13:58But he didn't really share about it.
14:01As a pilot, I was a second Frenchman at the time, we weren't a lot.
14:04We were in the same team.
14:06So you were the little version of Loic, and I wanted to be myself.
14:10And then it's Blinky who told me,
14:12« Ah, Loic, you're going to Santa, you've seen? »
14:14Eh, what?
14:15What?
14:18I felt betrayed.
14:20I was like, why don't you tell me?
14:22Why don't you talk about it with me?
14:25Why are you living?
14:26It was complicated.
14:27It wasn't necessarily a thing I wanted to do.
14:30It's always hard to say something as important.
14:33In addition, we're friends.
14:34And we just, like, really got far away from each other, I think.
14:39And I hated it.
14:41What's good is that since the beginning of the season, we're fast.
14:44Genre, we won't win.
14:47Of course.
14:48But at every time, we're in the coup.
14:52The stunning hillside around here, the rolling hills after the Pyrenees.
14:57Yeah, right now, fourth and fifth overall.
15:00And he's just in front, like a few points, I think.
15:02How many?
15:03Fourteen.
15:04Fourteen points.
15:06I'm coming, Loris.
15:10Fourteen points.
15:11Fourteen points.
15:11The Loup d'Anville, when you go to a new track, like, everything change.
15:15You have no base to work on.
15:28I didn't really feel confident on the bottom because I was scared.
15:33It just doesn't feel right to go fast, you know?
15:35Like, it just doesn't feel right.
15:37I don't like it because I can't feel like I'm pushing.
15:41Like, I'm on the brakes all the way because I'm scared.
15:44I can't ride.
15:45Yeah, really mixed feeling for today.
15:48He doesn't have much fun.
15:50He doesn't have, yeah, much good feeling going on.
15:53So, tried different shots, different tires, a little bit of everything.
15:57But unfortunately, he did free run and he's still not so happy.
16:01So, we need to try some more tomorrow.
16:04I think downhill is all confidence, to be honest.
16:08That confidence can come from a lot of different things.
16:11And the problem is, it's always changing and evolving through the season.
16:15But if you don't have any confidence, then you'll never be able to push as fast
16:21or as much as it's needed to.
16:26No, but like, you know, Loïc is super, like, he's really strong.
16:29I'm lazy and soft.
16:32No, I think maybe your superpower is you're smart.
16:38You know about your body and you know what you can risk and what you cannot risk.
16:44I'll take that.
16:47Loris has a good brain.
16:49Sometimes he just needs to wake up a bit, but if it's there, it's probably the best.
16:56It's not always there.
16:59My brain works weirdly.
17:02In my head, it's more like how I handle the track.
17:06And sometimes I'm just scared.
17:07I'm like, wow, I'm thinking about every place I can crash.
17:11And I just sometimes do.
17:23And I'm still, like, thinking while being ready for the race run.
17:27That's where I feel the pressure way more.
17:31Prepare for some noise there in the woods.
17:34Yeah, the French fans getting right behind their own riders here in the Pyrenees.
17:45Oh, Loris Vergier for Trek Factory Racing is on track.
17:52Well, 2.8 back for Vergier then as he heads towards the third split.
17:57From now on, he needs to push hard and take some risk.
18:00And for Loris here, I would consider him to be one of the title threats for a championship this year.
18:05He's got to be able to push through here and get some points.
18:08To race and not really be competitive as I wanted is not the best feeling.
18:15Vergier comes down.
18:17Four seconds back.
18:19What the fuck, dude?
18:20You're so slow.
18:21Like, come on.
18:22Oh, my.
18:23Oh, my.
18:24Oh, my.
18:24Oh, my.
18:25Oh, my.
18:26Oh, my.
18:27Oh, my.
18:37Floyd Bruni.
18:38A bit of fire in the belly after that race we had last weekend in Andorra.
18:43Because of Andorra and my reaction, I wasn't so proud of myself being so impulsive.
18:47I just try to keep a really good attitude in my head, try to be positive, try to enjoy.
18:52Lloyd Bruni leaves the start on them for specialised gravity.
18:55Be careful now, man, when he's, when he's not happy, he's fast.
19:01I love the determination of Lloyd Bruni.
19:05The crowd here virtually silent at the bottom as they wait for their hero.
19:09He's 0.2 seconds up on our screens in the booth.
19:13Go!
19:14Oh, my.
19:14Come on.
19:14Oh, no, it's a good body.
19:15Oh, no, it's not that.
19:15Two tenths of a second faster now on Split Four.
19:19Going fast enough to add a leader's vest now.
19:23This man.
19:25Over the gap.
19:27Lloyd Bruni over the double.
19:29Lloyd Bruni, right in the left-hander.
19:31Lloyd Bruni over the finish line.
19:38And it's the fastest time of the day by seven-tenths of a second.
19:46Bruni leads the way at home in France in Ludumville-Peregru.
19:51The atmosphere was so good.
19:54I had, honestly, goosebumps again.
20:01I was like, OK, the hunt is back on, I'm back in the lead.
20:12And a big turn again in the season, so getting the lead back was definitely a big boost.
20:18Hello?
20:21What did you say?
20:27Thank you so much.
20:28Looks good, Arnie.
20:28Thank you so much.
20:30Hey!
20:32I'm going to keep Blair.
20:34No, it's good.
20:35It's like the junior.
20:37Where's your machine?
20:38No, it's not coming.
20:39You want to roll?
20:40Yeah.
20:41How many?
20:4213.
20:43New opening.
20:45I want him to be as good as he can and have all the success in the world,
20:50but when he doesn't deliver or he has issues,
20:53I just feel his pain and his disappointment,
20:57and I'm so sad for him.
21:06I did what I could and it wasn't great, but moving on,
21:11like, you're healthy, everything is OK, and you're ready to fight somewhere you want to fight,
21:17and Leger was pretty good.
21:19Look at the Croix.
21:21This is a special race, isn't it?
21:23Loris Vergier, still on the hunt for his first UCI.
21:27Mountain bike down a World Cup win of the year.
21:30With Vergier, you never say it's over until it's over,
21:32because he's capable of the unbelievable.
21:35Vergier crosses away.
21:37Third, he's third!
21:41Loic Bruni in fifth.
21:44Leger was back on top of his game,
21:46so I was pretty stoked to see him riding this fast,
21:50but also, like, he wasn't overall so close to me,
21:52so I was like, damn, he's putting pressure on me.
22:02I was like, I don't know.
22:09I was like, I don't know.
22:10I was like, I don't know.
22:12I don't know.
22:13I don't know.
22:14I don't know.
22:15I don't know.
22:16Like, Snowshoe is just drama capital,
22:17but the whole place is just carnage.
22:19I want to survive the weekend,
22:21but you never know it.
22:22Like, everything can go to shit real quick.
22:27There's been crashes all, like, since you see them,
22:29and massive ones, so it's a little bit too bad.
22:32It's too unpredictable,
22:33but hopefully the condition stays good,
22:36and we have a track that's rideable.
22:40A third place in France means
22:42Lars Vergier is within striking distance
22:44of Loic Bruni in the season-long UCI World Cup title
22:48here in the USA.
22:51Vergier for Trek Factory Racing Gravity.
22:55Oh, he's a touch!
22:56On split number two for Lars Vergier!
22:59Oh!
23:00Oh, come on!
23:02And the only one of those riders
23:03who could just summon up something
23:05in the big rock sections
23:06towards the bottom of this track.
23:09He's in touch here.
23:10But is it enough?
23:12It's better!
23:13Come on, go, go, go!
23:15Fucking go!
23:16Pedal, man!
23:17Pedal, man!
23:22No, it's Vergier!
23:25Ronin Dunn holds on!
23:28Hey!
23:31He's smoked!
23:33Oh!
23:34Going into snowshoe was like,
23:35I can't mess up.
23:37It has to be, like, a good weekend.
23:39Vergier posting a podium time.
23:42What can Bruni respond with now?
23:47Oh!
23:48Whoa!
23:49He hit that record!
23:51What is it going to tell us
23:52for how this one is going for Loic Bruni?
23:54He's in green!
23:56He's in green!
23:57He's in green!
23:59Like three hundreds of a second!
24:01Oh!
24:02He's going down!
24:02Bruni goes down!
24:04No!
24:06Bruni is done!
24:07Oh, man, hoping he's okay after that one.
24:11It took me, like, at least a second
24:12to realize that I just messed up big time.
24:15That's going to have championship implications, huh?
24:18I was like, I need the points,
24:19I need the points.
24:20Loic Bruni died in the lane in 26th.
24:24And I finished as good as I could,
24:26but I was, like, devastated.
24:28I was like,
24:29what just happened?
24:32Loris beat me again,
24:34got even closer overall-wise,
24:36and I didn't like it.
24:38First year,
24:39fourth place in Snowshoe,
24:41and now second in the overalls.
24:45He's always a leader, right?
24:49He's going to get the life.
24:50What do you want?
24:58Oh, stop touching it.
25:00Yeah.
25:01That's a big hole, bro.
25:04If it's too much, let me know, yeah?
25:10It was going to be a big moment of the season for me,
25:14and I just wasn't at the appointment, you know?
25:17All right, I'm just going to poke a little bit in there
25:19just to see how deep it goes.
25:22Laterally is fine.
25:23I'm just...
25:23I'm going to go.
25:24Yeah, deep.
25:26All right, you ready for a tunnel?
25:28Yeah.
25:31Everybody is hunting the overall like he's hunting me.
25:33I had no margin of error going into Mont-Saint-Anne.
25:43Mont-Saint-Anne is the quintessential,
25:46the one and only,
25:47the longest running downhill track of all downhill tracks.
25:49Fall colours in Quebec mean that the season really is at a close,
25:54but everything's still up for grabs between the leaders,
25:56Bruni and Vergier.
25:58It was pretty much a fight,
26:00him and me, for the overall childhood friends,
26:05best buddies, rivals.
26:07You couldn't really write a better story, could you?
26:13We have been in this situation before,
26:15and he knows that I'm coming for him.
26:19Mentally, I feel like I'm more of a dog than he is.
26:26He knows that I'm never going to let any points go away that easy now.
26:33Expectation is definitely hard to deal with.
26:38I think the battle for Loris is like purely internal,
26:43like it's not about his bike or his riding or anything like that.
26:47We've seen it in 2021,
26:48where it was his to lose and he just kind of crumbled a bit.
26:53Oh, Vergier goes off the track.
26:56The pressure, I feel, may have got to him.
27:05UCI downhill.
27:06World Cup finals day from Mont-Saint-Anne in Quebec, Canada.
27:10Seven winners, seven rounds.
27:11We've been treated to one of the best seasons in a long, long time.
27:14A title fight, a four-way title fight.
27:18I almost forgot the Canadians in the battle.
27:21Finn and Jackson actually can still win the overall pretty easily.
27:27I told him at the start, I was like,
27:28it's either you and me, no one else.
27:37This is the guy that could definitely challenge Bruni for the overall.
27:40This is who Bruni said he would expect to be the main challenger at the end of the year.
27:44Looks like he was right.
27:47If, and it's a big if, if Vergier can get a win today and Bruni finishes third or worse,
27:53Vergier takes the overall title.
27:55Foot out there, didn't cost him too much time as he gets on the pedals.
27:58Come on, dude.
27:59Tight.
28:00This is looking good.
28:01It's hard to tell on the time, but it's looking good.
28:041.6.
28:051.6 back.
28:07So Vergier giving himself work to do here if he wants to win the overall title today.
28:12All or nothing for Vergier.
28:14Has one more sector to go in the 2023 UCI World Cup.
28:18Way big side.
28:20Good.
28:20Scrummed off that first gap.
28:21Horace Vergier.
28:23The Frenchman stands on the pedals.
28:24Heads down towards the line.
28:25Vergier goes third.
28:27Good job, dude.
28:28Way to battle.
28:29Way to battle.
28:32Next up, Finn Isles, the next to the title challengers.
28:35What can he do?
28:37Here we go, Finn Isles.
28:39Winner last time.
28:40Wait for the noise all the way down the track for the Canadian.
28:44Wow, he's gonna charge it in here.
28:46Four seconds now.
28:47It's split three for Finn Isles.
28:48Oh, easy, buddy.
28:51Finn Isles goes down hard and months in on.
28:54A notch too much.
28:56Dang it.
28:57Look at the eye.
28:58If there's a one-run specialist that can really throw it down under pressure,
29:02I'd have a really hard time putting any money against Loic today.
29:06Give him all the pressure.
29:07Everything counts on one run.
29:09Drop in, do the job.
29:10It's kind of what Loic's all about.
29:24All right, here we go.
29:25Here we go.
29:26Buckle up, everyone.
29:27Loic Brody is on track.
29:29I don't know what it is.
29:31Looking for that third UCI downhill World Cup overall title.
29:35Oh, he took his hand down.
29:36Oh, whoa, whoa.
29:38That was close.
29:40First or second today wins the overall for Brody, regardless of what anyone else does.
29:44I don't know.
29:45Let's go.
29:46Oh, I got to go.
29:51Go.
29:51That was close to you.
29:52Do you want some time?
29:53Oh, that was close then.
29:54Now, is this going to be good enough for the hot state?
29:57Oh, that's going to be real close.
29:57Oh, that's going to be real close.
29:58Oh, it's going to be real close.
30:15title in 2023 with that run. Loris was there, the team was there, it was quite cool. Loris was
30:21happy for me. I'd rather have Loic being first than anyone else for sure and I didn't care what
30:28happened after. Jackson Goldstone falls alone, wins his home round in Mont-Saint-Anne.
30:38Ladies and gentlemen, this is a ceremony for the overall UCR Mont-Bike World Cup.
30:45Now I feel like we're at the best spot we've ever been because we just both grew older,
30:50more mature and we know riding is one thing and having friends like this is way more precious.
30:56Two little kiddos from Cantermerde kind of on top of the world,
31:01just happy to be there with him and sharing those moments.
31:09We're just so, like so good friends and I just love him so much.
31:28The clock is ticking, my rent is due, the bills are stacking, what I'm gonna do?
31:33My only solace, chasing this dream, making it happen, getting this cream.
31:39They sleeping on me, I'm wide awake, I pray the Lord, avoid the snakes.
31:45They shake my hand and wish me well, deep in they heart, they hope I fail.
31:50We call them haters, some call them friends, is there a difference?
31:55Hit all the pins, seize the moment, take your time, walk the dogs, stay on the ground.
32:01Guys? Hello? Well, that was fun.
32:09I won't be.
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