Race Report - World Cup #6: Andorra

Photo Credit: Nathan Hughes, Insta: @Nathhughesphoto

The sixth round of the 2025 UCI Downhill World Cup lit up the mountains of Pal Arinsal, Andorra with some of the wildest, loosest, and most edge-of-your-seat racing we’ve seen all season. The track? Flat-out. The grip? Sketchy. The margins? We’re talking hairsplitting fractions of a second separating heartbreak and heroics.

Photo Credit: Nathan Hughes, Insta: @Nathhughesphoto

At 1,900 meters above sea level,  Pal Arinsal's altitude didn’t just thin the air—it added pressure. Add in blown-out berms, sniper roots, high-speed straights, and rough rock sections, and you’ve got a course that punished mistakes and rewarded bravery. Riders had to walk the tightrope between control and chaos, and those who nailed it walked away with medals—or at least some serious bragging rights.

Photo Credit: Nathan Hughes, Insta: @Nathhughesphoto

INTENSE FACTORY RACING: QUALI CRUSHERS TURNED FINAL FIGHTERS

Let’s talk about the squad. Qualifying was a masterclass from INTENSE Factory Racing.

• Juanfer Vélez put down an absolute heater in Q1, taking P1 in Elite Men and sending a clear message: the M1 is built to win, and his pace is nothing short of fast.

• Mille Johnset showed confidence and consistency, grabbing P3 in Q1 and matching it with a 3rd-place podium finish in finals. Her final time? 2:58.825, just +1.990 off the win. A tight race and a huge result! 

• Oscar Griffiths, one of the team’s rising stars, qualified P5 in Q2 and made finals for the first time. He ended the day in 23rd, but for a first-time finalist on a track this gnarly? That’s one hell of a milestone.

• Louise Ferguson claimed P1 in Q2 and brought the heat into the finals, clawing her way to a solid 8th place finish—a great result after laying down the fastest run in her qualifying heat.

Photo Credit: Nathan Hughes, Insta: @Nathhughesphoto

THE FINE LINE BETWEEN GLORY AND GRAVEL

Let’s not sugarcoat it—racing at this level is brutal. Juanfer looked poised for a top result after qualifying first, and his split times were on pace… until a crash took him out of contention and landed him in 24th. That’s racing. But even in a tumble, his speed, commitment, and hunger were on full display. And you can bet he’ll be back, even more fired up after the summer break.

FINAL RESULTS SNAPSHOT:

• Mille Johnset – 🥉 3rd (Elite Women) – 2:58.825 // +1.990

• Louise Ferguson – 8th (Elite Women)

• Oscar Griffiths – 23rd (Elite Men)

• Juanfer Vélez – 24th (Elite Men)

Photo Credit: Nathan Hughes, Insta: @Nathhughesphoto

THE M1: BUILT FOR WORLD CUP BATTLES

Andorra's terrain is no playground—but it’s exactly where the M1 thrives. The bike’s stability through high-speed compressions, precise handling in tight corners, and raw power through rock gardens gave our riders the edge they needed to attack the track with full confidence. You don’t ride this course—you survive it. And the M1 made surviving look fast.

Photo Credit: Nathan Hughes, Insta: @Nathhughesphoto

NEXT UP: THE SUMMER RESET

With six rounds down and the World Cup taking a brief summer break, the team gets a chance to breathe, regroup, and fine-tune for the final push of the season. Momentum is on our side. With podiums, breakthrough performances, and proof that the INTENSE setup delivers on the world’s toughest tracks, we’re stoked for what’s to come.

Stay tuned. There’s more racing to come—and we’re just getting started.

RIDER QUOTES

Joe Breeden

“I spent the week at home focusing on the team’s foundations and my recovery. It was incredible to see the team operate at 100% without me there - giving even greater confidence in the team we have and the systems in place. Witnessing (from a far) everyone pulling together, and pushing all forward makes me incredibly proud - Big up the whole team!

Not to mention some huge milestones from a results basis: with every rider in the finals, 1st place Elite qualifier and our first World Cup podium after only starting this team 1.5 years ago.

Thank you to all our partners, our early believers, on this super exciting journey to the top.”

Lou Ferguson

‘’Andorra was so good to us. Super proud of the whole team. I made some real progress with my race run mindset in Q2. It felt great to qualify with a time that would have been P5 after not making it through in La Thuile. Excited for more of this with the best group of people. Feeling ready for British champs this week’’

Mille Johnset

‘’What a week for the team!! I know we all came into this week feeling super positive and excited, even before track walk haha. And it was so nice, not actually super sure where it came from as the week before wasn’t the best for the team with Joe getting injured, Oscar struggling with an injury and Juan and myself feeling like we had a good but a bit too safe race run. But overall it was definitely a good week but not an incredible week in La Thuile. But Andorra definitely was.

I think the main thing this week was that everyone really enjoyed themselves. And I think for me personally, I just decided I wanted to push from run 2 and keep building from there. And felt like every run I could do I was just on rails and could push my speed more and more each run. I felt like I rode really well the whole week not making many mistakes but holding a high speed each run. When we got to finals day, I definitely felt like I was in the mix for the top positions and wanted to push a bit more. I did 3 runs in the morning before finals. Every single one was messy and made a lot of mistakes, but I tried to refocus and stay calm for finals. Tried not to over push in finals but ended up with two mistakes, one probably costing me a bit more than the other but overall a good race run. Incredible proud and happy to finish the week with a P3, huge effort from the team and really excited to see what we can do the rest of the season :)’’

Oscar Griffiths

‘’Absolutely buzzing on this week! It’s never really clicked like this before, and man it feels so good. To get into an elite finals with a 5th in Q2 felt unbelievable, especially with the pressure of knowing I could get it done. The whole team killed it and we all have some pretty cool results to show for it! I love this team’’

Juanfer Munoz

‘’Well…I’ve really never experienced such a crazy experience like yesterday. It was the only fall of the whole week and right at the finals and a really stupid fall. I don't think I felt ready to experience something like this so fast. But I am happy to have experienced what I did.. I’m more ready than ever