Not a bad spot for a race…. the riders tended to agree as well!
Well by now you no doubt no the results and ins and outs of a lot of what happened at an epic World Champs race in Cairns so let us take you on a bit of a journey on how we saw things, buckle up and enjoy!
It was an early morning start for most people, especially juniors and the ladies as they all had practice sessions early in the morning.After an up and down season it was Matt Walker who prevailed over Finn Illes in the junior men’s race.Full compression!Finn Illes was most people’s favourite considering he was the reigning world champ.Racing doesn’t always go as planned – Finn Iles coming out of the rock garden with his feet no where near the pedals!For the junior women it was Melanie Chappaz from France taking the win, Australia had two riders, Ellie Smith (5th) and Sally Potter (pictured, 12th).
After the morning practice and junior finals we moved onto the last practice session of the weekend, the senior mens.
Gwin looking for lines…Others were just happy to send the jumps for the crowd!
Dean Lucas on the Generator Gap.Sam Hill always gets the crowd going!Scrubbing!In the last practice session of the weekend Sik Mic came into the rock garden, paused to hype up the crowd and then kept on his merry (& fast) way! Here he keeps low over the woops!
With the final practice session complete it was time for the senior women to race, 99% of the crowd wanted to see Tracey Hannah take the win, in her home town she was always going to have an army of supporters. In a cruel twist to the story Tracey crashed on an absolute heater and still managed to podium (initially 2nd but after a closer inspection of the timing by the UCI she officially finished 3rd).Miranda Miller took the stripes and Myriam Nicole finished her stellar season with a second place.
A crash for Tracey left her slightly dazed,she still pushed hard for 3rd.Myriam Nicole came home 2nd after the UCI had to investigate a timing issue.Miranda Miller kept it upright and that was enough for the win!Miranda took it all in her stride, the 2017 World Champion signing an autograph for the 20XX world champion? You never know…Tahnee Seagrave said it would be all or nothing, this time it was nothing…So close….The Aussie girls across the board rode well and had the crowd behind them the whole way.
With the sun out, the crowd loud and the anticipation high the first senior mens rider hit the course, it was none other than Sam hill and he promptly went into the hot seat (where he would stay for a large part of the day, finishing 6th by the end of it all). After that it was Mic Hannah who would be the next Aussie rider in the hot seat (and the crowd was hopeful the last rider to go into it at all!). The riders still at the top of the hill said they could hear the crowd screaming the whole way down for his run!
Coming down first meant Sam Hill had a long day in the hot seat.Wyn Masters keeping low.Riders retelling stories about how their runs went.The crowds were loving it!The Factory Giant guys radio-ing presumably up to the top to let other team members know the conditions.
Mic was stoked when he crossed the finish line.The crowd was willing all the riders on as they headed for the finish line.Connor Fearon charging with his hand still not 100%
As it got to the last few riders the situation got tense. The mood changed when Loic Bruni came across the line and bumped Mic Hannah into 2nd by around 0.3 of a second, everyone loves Loic but the crowd wanted an Aussie to win! This left Jack Moir and Troy Brosnan up on the hill (plus a few international riders), Jack came down and would finish 4th. The last rider left on the hill, Troy Brosnan, he gave it everything but it wasn’t enough to deny Loic his second world champs (and second win in Cairns after claiming his first ever world cup victory here last season), TB into 5th!
Matt Walker into 10th!Jake Newell was styling it up all week.Eliot Jackson was enjoying Cairns on and off the bike all week!Josh Button couldn’t repeat the result of last year and unfortunately crashed.Jack Moir cranking for the line, one place off a medal in 4th.Troy Brosnan dug hard and finished 5th.Make no mistake of how much this race means to riders, if it is a home race that adds to it even more!Mich Hannah’s green and gold beast, so nearly brought him the gold he so badly wanted!Great rivals, Loic Bruni and Troy Brosnan – many more show downs to come!2017 World Champion.
Just like that the most anticipated race of 2017 came to a close, it was one amazing ride – bring on 2018!
Thanks toA�@matt_rousu_photographyA�for supplying some of his images, be sure to check out his Instagram and show some love and as always, thanks to Jason Stevens Photography give him a follow on Instagram andA�Facebook. Finally Wayne Marsh Images (follow them on Instagram or head toA�www.waynemarshimages.comA�) has provided some bangers!
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