Loïc Bruni showed the mark of a true champion this weekend as he overcame off-season injuries to win the opening round of the 2025 UCI Downhill World Cup in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, with the final run of the day.
In addition to the downhill action at the weekend, Bielsko-Biała also hosted the second round of the UCI Enduro World Cup, both of which are part of the wider WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series that also includes the UCI World Cups for cross-country Olympic and cross-country short track.
Last year, Frenchman Bruni finished 2nd to Ireland’s Ronan Dunne at the first downhill UCI World Cup round to be organised at the Polish venue. He had already won round 1 in Fort William (Scotland, United Kingdom) and after his podium in Bielsko-Biała, went on to win the third round in Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland (Austria), creating an overall UCI World Cup lead that he wouldn’t relinquish.
But this year, the five-time Elite UCI World Champion found the critical advantage in Poland just when it mattered, with the race being decided in the final seconds of a dramatic weekend.
‘Super’ Bruni posted a super run, on a slippery track – not his favoured conditions – with an average speed of 39.13km/h over the 2km course, to win by just over one tenth of a second over another Irishman, Oisin O'Callaghan, the 2020 Junior downhill UCI World Champion.
“I didn’t think I had it in me, with the off-season being a bit complicated and the weather being so far from my favourite conditions but I never really complained, I just kept on riding,” reflected Loïc Bruni. “I had a good feeling, the bike was working really well and we had some last-minute changes on the Öhlins suspension and I think we did well to do that because the track was so rough – it was really sticky and physical. But I’m super-happy to start the season this way.”
The day also saw a slick ride by 2024 Enduro UCI World Cup overall winner Richie Rude (USA), who finished fourth on his return to UCI Downhill World Cup racing.
Comeback from crashes
In previous years, the winner of the opening round of the UCI Downhill World Cup season has only gone on to win the overall on five occasions. But Bruni is one to buck the trends, having already achieved that feat last year. His 2025 pre-season preparation threw up challenges but, together with his team, he left no stone unturned in his bid to pick up the season’s first 300 points.
“We’ve been crushing it,” said the Specialized Gravity rider who had been in America with Specialized which has been developing a new bike. “But I had some bad luck with a big crash, and another crash back-to-back. After six weeks I came back and hit a tree really hard and injured myself. I was really stressed out that I wouldn’t make it for Poland…
“But the last few weeks I’ve been cranking, really trying to put in the work… the goal was to see where I was, and we’re good, so I’m really happy!”
Yet even the best backing doesn’t get results without the right mentality, and that’s what the 31-year-old has developed with increasing consistency. He’s looking to deal with pressure as a defending overall winner the way he thrives on pressure in UCI World Championships. After earning the rainbow bands in Vallnord (Andorra) in 2015, he took back-to-back victories in Cairns (Australia) in 2017, Lenzerheide (Switzerland) in 2018 and Monte-Saint-Anne (Canada) in 2019, backed up with his most recent title on home turf in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie in 2022.
Bruni’s 11th UCI World Cup race win
Compared to Bruni’s track record in UCI World Championships, his win-rate at UCI World Cup rounds isn’t so high – 11 victories in eight years – but his points-scoring shows impressive consistency that has earned him four UCI World Cup overall titles.
Bruni’s UCI World Cup successes – all riding Specialized – include three wins and the overall in 2019, one win and 2nd overall in 2020, one win and the overall in 2021, one victory and the overall in 2023, and two wins and the overall in 2024. This consistency has seen the Frenchman deliver 44 UCI World Cup podiums, with his tally now equal to that of his idol and countryman Nico Vouilloz. His thoughts on that achievement?
“Podiums don’t really matter – he has way more wins, way more titles, so we’ll try to get close.”
The season is young.