World Cup 1 - Lourdes - Practice (& Track Walk) -

If you haven't watched our 15 second track walk from Lourdes yet then head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages and do yourself a favour! The links are at the bottom of the article. — If you haven’t watched our 15 second track walk from Lourdes yet then head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages and do yourself a favour! The links are at the bottom of the article.

Okay we are pumped and we bet you guys are too! The world cups are back, these are the pinnacle of downhill racing seeing riders from all over the globe come together to take the title of fastest rider on the hill. Our first stop for 2015 is in Lourdes, a town in France that is steeped in history. A large component of the towns existence is related to religion, for this weekend we think you will find downhill is the chosen religion!

Connor Fearon with his fingers crossed, the track is pretty wild but we know he has it under control!

The track itself is steep, rocky, fast and features some big jumps! Basically what a ‘proper’ downhill race track should be like… The riders are loving it and because it is the first time a world cup has been run on it the playing field is essentially level. You can bet the crowd will be supporting one rider more than any other, that of course is Loic Bruni. The young rider is still eyeing off his first World Cup win and after winning Crankworx just a few weeks ago we know his form is red hot. Saying that Loic had a run in with a tree during practice but he was okay.

Gee Atherton laid down the fastest time during practice, a shade over 3 minutes.

Whilst we are talking about injury Josh Bryceland is back and still riding with his trademark steeze, Greg Minnaar is out after a crash at Crankworx damaged some tendons in his left hand. Big news of the day is Sam Hill sitting out day 1 of practice due to a shoulder injury, you feel he would do well on this steep, technical track, Sam will decide whether he races or not in tomorrow’s practice session.

Tegan Molloy, aka current Junior World Champion, is making the step up to the premier class, we all hope she has a great debut.

Continuing with the injury updates, Jack Moir is also absent with a shoulder injury, we know he was in good form but hopefully it isn’t too long before he is back on his new ride racing again. A few new bikes and parts have been spotted around the pits, it has been a busy time for mechanics who have been building up new bikes and cutting spikes (what seems to be the tyre of choice here in Lourdes). Talking about spikes, the weather has actually been dry fortunately as this track would be even more insane if it rained….

Dean Lucas scouting lines, his first outing on his new bike was Crankworx so we are keen to see what he can do this weekend. It seems like his kind of track.

Jackson Frew is one of the Australian junior over racing in France. Andrew Crimmins comes into the even with the number 1 plate, junior racing is always just as tight as the big league.

Welcome to the 2015 world cup season! Check back with us soon as qualifying is next on the list!

Images: Phunkt.com

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