This shot was from yesterday and was originally supposed to be in the report but slow internet speeds cut him out. We have been watching him all week and he looks fast, proof came today when he (Francisco Pardal) qualified 4th.
Friday fun day! Well qualifying at least, again we got some great weather here in the alps and riders had morning practice before qualifying started shortly after. We all know how important this race is being the final in the series, as the day went on we were reminded nothing is set in concrete and tomorrow will be make or break!
Keep it pinned! This guy had the right idea.Marc Beaumont during practice, he matched his number plate and qualified 14th.
It was interesting to see the number of flats during qualifying as there haven’t been that many during practice, riders must be just turning it up that extra notch. Brosnan and Minnaar were two big noticeable flatters, 162nd didn’t help Troy’s overall chances surrendering 40 points to Josh Bryceland who qualified second. Now we have to point out we witnessed Josh Bryceland sprawled out over the ground during qualifying but still managed to come home second….
A flat during qualifying is better than a flat during racing!Second fastest qualifier Josh Bryceland.Connor Fearon getting wild and heading for 17th during quallies.Dean Lucas had a crash yesterday and hurt his wrist, today wasn’t his day finishing out of the 80.Your fastest elite men’s qualifier, Matthew Simmonds.Rachel Atherton qualified fastest by less than a second ahead of Manon Carpenter.Tracey Hannah qualified 4th.Steve Peat on the hunt, never back down!Aiden Varley back on the bike, he qualified 22nd. Loris Vergier qualified fastest and noticeably looked quicker than the other juniors.Taylor Vernon qualified third, we know he can pick up a few seconds in racing after seeing him come through the rock garden.12th for Andrew Crimmins and another rider we know can go faster come racing.Luca Shaw ended up way down the qualifying list.Neil Stewart on the hunt.Riders were searching for lines everywhere.
Junior Men
1st Loris Vergier
2nd Laurie Greenland
3rd Taylor Vernon
4th Thomas Estaque
5th Ferran Jorba Prats
1st Matthew Simmonds
2nd Josh Bryceland
3rd Loic Bruni
4th Francisco Pardal
5thA�Sam Hill
Sam Hill in 5th today.The afternoon light was typical glorious Euro style!Brendan Fairclough qualified 11th.Innes Graham coming through the rock garden.
Tomorrow is finals for the last World Cup of the year!
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Luca Shaw was todays fastest junior, interestingly enough, only himself and Loris Vergier would of qualified in the Elite Field
Today saw the sun over a rain free Leogang, leaving the track dry and loose for qualifying. The ‘B’ group riders had morning practice to themselves before moving over for the ‘A’ group riders, so many of the B group practiced on a track still moist form the overnight dew, having a much more tacky effect, but also a little more slippery, leaving them slightly more reserved when it came to all out speed. As the A group riders began to transition to practice we noticed the speed start to increase, not only as the higher ranked riders flowed down the hill but also as the track dried and became quicker.
Dean Lucas slays one of the bottom cornersLooking down the barrel, quite James Bond-esk
There was a surprisingly noticeable speed different between riders speed, with each rider seeming to have a part of the track they enjoyed the most and was able to open up. There were some very interesting lines through the wood sections, we wonder if the lines were creative to counteract any rain that may be on the way, or if they were to avoid some of the ruts now forming.
Tracey Hannah looking comfortable on the rootsno.1 qualifier, Loic Bruni
Qualis began with a monster field, 72 Junior Men, 38 Women and 237 Elite Men. The juniors looked tentative through the woods, being the B group, the last time they saw the track it was still moist, they appeared to be expecting it to still be a bit moist, taking it easy over the roots and covered areas. With the Juniors finished the women began to flow down the track, with Manon Carpenter looking right at home, likely riding the confidence from an absolute stellar season, we watched Tracey Hannah come through the roots, taking it all in her stride, in a section very similar to the Bright track where she took national champs out.
Josh Bryceland, have a ball and getting some awesome resultsNeedles! Dropping a huge surprise result, qualifying 4th!
The men then started to flow down, with the top rated coming down first in qualification the speed difference is astounding, the top men attacking the roots and steep parts of the track with an intensity not seen in any other category.
With all the riders down the hill the qualification is as follows:
In many parts of the event village and out on the course this was spot on…
Qualifying and everyone got a little quieter today, a little more serious and a little bit more focused! First up for the day was a practice session for everyone to see what the track was like after last nights rain, it should also be mentioned that riders were still deliberating on line choice so this practice was, for many, still about coming to terms with the track. The weather has really come into play, the course is running a lot slower and with so many rocks/roots there are riders slipping left right and centre.
During practice riders were cleaning their bikes after every run just so they could go up top and use them again.Some were also cleaning more than bikes…
With practice finished it was time to start qualifying and it was the junior riders that got the proceedings under way. It was a tough day in the office, many who are still coming to terms with racing at the highest level. Fast French rider Loris Vergier took the top spot, it was a mixed day for the Aussies with Aiden Varley the fastest in 4th immediately followed by Jackson Davis & then Max Warshawsky. Some of the other juniors had crashes which put them further down the list. It was much the same for the junior women, Australia’s highest place getter was Ellie Wale in 20th.
First round junior winner, Luca Shaw, was second in quallies today.Not all the riders had it so easy though, there were a LOT of crashes out on the course today.Look into my eyes!!! Riders were literally scared on many sections, after witnessing it first hand we don;t blame them!
Junior Men:
1. VERGIER Loris FRANCE 4:33.924
2. SHAW Luca UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 4:43.248 +9.324
3. VERNON Taylor GREAT BRITAIN 4:46.240 +12.316
4. HAMILTON Connor NEW-ZEALAND 5:05.033 +31.109
5. VARLEY Aiden AUSTRALIA 5:05.620 +31.696
6. DAVIS Jackson AUSTRALIA 5:06.154 +32.230
7. WARSHAWSKY Max AUSTRALIA 5:08.117 +34.193
Whoops!The crowd filled out as the day went on, getting louder and rowdier too!Moving on from the juniors it was the senior classes next on the track.
The senior classes kicked off and it was the women first on track, Rachel Atherton smashed the field by a whopping 18 seconds, it looks like everyone else has some catching up to do tomorrow! For Australia, Tracey Hannah, the local hope qualified a respectable 6th, we know she will want to do a lot better than that for the home crowd tomorrow.
Senior Mens was a totally different kettle of fish, times were a lot tighter, fittingly for ANZAC day it was a Kiwi on top of the time sheet, Sam Blenkinsop taking the first spot. It was the American Dream, Aaron Gwin in second, his second split time was blindingly fast, some 5 seconds faster than anyone else! Current world champ Greg Minnar was in 3rd, I think everyone was surprised with Ed Masters grabbing 4th and Same Dale 5th! For the Aussie contingent it was Connor Fearon in 9th, with what he described as an average run, crash included! Troy Brosnan was just outside the top 10 in 11th, the local boy, Mic Hannah looked good on course but had a crash which sent him tumbling down the placings, 34th in the end.
Senior Men:
1. BLENKINSOP Samuel 4:22.233
2. GWIN Aaron 4:22.961 +0.728
3. MINNAAR Greg 4:24.411 +2.178
4. MASTERS Edward 4:28.267 +6.034
5. DALE Sam 4:29.307 +7.074
Fastest Aussie qualifier Connor Fearon 9th.11th for Troy Brosnan, with all the home town support he will be looking to climb the rankings.Second fastest qualifier Aaron Gwin, his bike, just like most competitors gained over 10kgs in weight by the tie he got to the bottom.Brook MacDonald’s year hasn’t gone as he would have hoped, 28th in qualifying still leaves lots of room for improvement!Danielle Beecroft didn’t quite have the run of her dreams, tomorrow is the one that counts!You can never discount Greg, no matter what the track or the conditions, 3rd today and a threat tomorrow!A crash for Sam Hill pushed him down into unfamiliar territory on the time sheet.After a poor result in South Africa Gee Atherton is looking to wind things up a notch.Danny Hart is use to the wet but not the heat!Riders really had to crank to get any sort of speed in the thick mud.In a lot of cases it seemed as though riders almost let there guard down after navigating some of the really technical parts of the track only to get caught out somewhere simpler!
We can’t wait for finals tomorrow! You know where to get all the images tomorrow!
Images: Jason Stevens Photography, JB Photomedia & in house images.
Back, back again Shady is back tell a friend, actually sorry that should be Gwinny is back! First place in qualifying and sending out a clear message to his rivals.
Well, well, well,who picked that? Results from qualifying here in South Africa are complete and there is definitely a few eye brows being raised in the pits. Aaron Gwin showed everyone he is back finishing some 2.5 seconds ahead of Josh Bryceland, who has been training hard during the off season. Fellow teammate and pre-race favourite Greg Minnaar was in position 3 just 0.1 behind Josh, it was then a Lapierre double with Loic Bruni (how fast is this kid) and Sam Blenkinsop rounding out the top 5.
Conditions in South Africa are warm and dry, as you can see riders are just railing turns with traction no problem.
In 6th place was Australia’s own Troy Brosnan, the next Aussie was Sam Hill in 9th place, a bit of a gap back to Bryn Atkinson in 23rd. Bryn spent some time in the local hospital after a concussion during practice but got the all clear from the quacks to suit up and race, fortunately he did as all the points riders can get for the overall are super valuable. Connor Fearon was a few spots back in 26th place and ready to pull the trigger on Saturday (for this race the finals are on Saturday instead of the usual Sunday). In his first senior men’s world cup Dean Lucas grabbed a super respective 41st. With only a few weeks on his new bike Jack Moir was 52nd, watch out for Jack this year as his speed improves. In their first world cup Green to Gold racing had all their riders qualify, Brent Smith in 62nd and Chris Barlin 74th (their female rider Danielle Beecroft also qualified). The biggest surprise was Mich Hannah in 92nd, having a moment on the track, possibly related to a mechanical but being a protected rider he will still ride finals despite finishing out of the top 80.
Fastest Aussie in quallys was Troy Brosnan in 6th place, he would want to come out of the race with a podium at least…Local Andrew Needling never seems to have the best race at his home track. At least he looks stylish though… We know he wants more than style points though. He is also rocking plate 12 just like junior Aussie Aiden Varley who also happens to be riding a Giant to confuse everyone!Greg Minnaar booooosssstiinggg! The jumps here are big and riders are clocking close to 70kph. Third in qualifying but you can’t argue with his record here.
Looking at some of the other results Gee Atherton crashed and tumbled down the results to 15th (see what we did there!). Brendan Fairclough rode his trail bike to 28th and Brook Macdonald crashed finishing 66th.
In the women’s race Manon Carpenter showed she means business, first place by over 9 seconds ahead of Rachel Atherton who had to take her IV drip out to go to the track! Emmeline Ragot was thrid, Tracey Hannah fifth. We saw Danielle Beecroft in 13th at her first senior race. Junior Tegan Molloy was 16th and will give her more confidence as her experience increases.
In 13th place let’s hope the 13 turns out to be lucky for Danielle Beecroft.Manon Carpenter qualified first and looks like the rider to beat at the first round of the year.Style check! Marc Beaumont passes with flying colours, scrub-a-dub-dub!
Junior men was taken out by American Luca Shaw, Loris Vergier was second and Taylor Vernon third, these names might not be common place but as the season continues and the years roll on it’s the juniors who will be making inroads tot he senior classes. One name you should recognise in fourth is Aiden Varley! Riding well we would love to see Aiden crack the top 3 this weekend, fingers crossed!
Luca Shaw was the fastest junior with our own Aiden Varley in fourth place yeewww.
Racing will be taking place on Saturday so check back soon for all the action.
Qualifying here in Andorra has produced a mix bag of results to say the least!
Big news out of the qualifying session is Sam Hill sits atop of the time sheet, a mere 0.046 seconds ahead of Greg Minnaar but in front none the less, as Sam said he must really like this track! A few quick Frenchmen Loic Bruni and Remi Thirion close out the top 5. Remi had all sorts of data acquisition equipment strapped onto his bike throughout the day – maybe that is what gave him an edge on most of the other riders?
Back on a track that suits his style and back on top, a huge confidence boost for Sam Hill who is chasing his first World Cup victory in a few seasons – a drought by his standards.
A few noticeable results were Brook MacDonald with a DNF, rumour is he is nursing a shoulder injury and has been taking it easy all week. David McMillan qualified for the big show on Sunday in 74th place.
Elite Men:
1. HILL Sam 4:20.660
2. MINNAAR Greg 4:20.706 + 0.046
3. ATHERTON Gee 4:22.004 + 1.344
4. BRUNI Loic 4:23.544 + 2.884
5. THIRION RA�mi 4:23.758 + 3.098
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11. HANNAH Michael 4:27.063 + 6.403
17. BROSNAN Troy 4:30.794 + 10.134
22. DELFS Mitchell 4:31.704 + 11.044
56. MOIR Jack 4:41.891 + 21.231
63. FEARON Connor 4:45.119 + 24.459
74. McMILLAN David 4:47.509 + 26.849
106. ATKINSON Bryn 4:55.304 + 34.644
115. VEJVODA Joe 4:59.218 + 38.558
Remi Thirion taking care of business for 5th place.A not so good day for Bryn Atkinson who missed the cut and isn’t a protected rider.
Junior Men and a depleted Australian contingent as the majority of the juniors are watching from home. Luke Ellison was the highest Aussie in 7th place and Dean Lucas way down the order in 47th but he qualifies anyway so the result that counts is still to come!
Manon Carpenter was the quickest female on the hill, edging out the dominating Rachel Atherton, will Manon take her first World Cup victory on Sunday?What a shot! Mic Hannah laying waste to a corner in true Sic Mic style.Connor Fearon is hungry for some more good results, looking good in practice don’t put a top 20 past him, easy.
The riders who qualified for the main show now have a few more practice sessions to get their lines dialed, will the weather play a part in the race? We will just have to wait and see, check back soon!
Bryn Atkinson is always a bit of a dark horse, which I am sure he doesn’t mind but after qualifying 40th we are sure he is looking to climb up the ranks come finals. It was awesome to see the other Atkinson, Rhys make the cut in 72nd too.
Qualifying for the first World Cup in Fort William is done and dusted, literally as the conditions are still hot and dry. Ironic that this year some of the berms have been concrete lined, presumably for the rain but this year that’s not required! The Aussies had some solid results as a whole – a few heart breaks; David McMillan finished 81st… This means he missed finals by literally a few hundredths of a second.
After a disruption to her pre-season by the way of a broken collar bone, Tracey is back on a new bike and keen to perform. 8th in qualifying and more room to improve. Australia’s two junior females had mixed qualifying results with crashes factoring in, 24th for Danielle Beecroft and 34th for Tegan Molloy.
Results below are below, backing up his fastest practice was Mic Hannah qualifying 4th, Troy Brosnan came in 13th – I am sure his bad luck has run out so the 13th spot won’t bother him. We were super excited to see Mitch Delfs in 18th, a top 20 at the first race would set him up for the season he is capable of.
Elite Men:
1. HART Danny 4:41.094
2. ATHERTON Gee 4:41.270 +0.176
3. BLENKINSOP Samuel 4:42.275 +1.181
4. HANNAH Michael 4:44.911 +3.817
5. SMITH Steve 4:45.193 +4.099
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8. HILL Samuel 4:47.635 +6.541
13. BROSNAN Troy 4:49.516 +8.422
18. DELFS Mitchell 4:51.347 +10.253
31. Connor 4:54.122 +13.028
40. ATKINSON Bryn 4:55.937 +14.843
45. GRAVES Jared 4:57.068 +15.974
58. MOIR Jack 4:59.893 +18.799
72. ATKINSON Rhys 5:02.207 +21.113
81. McMILLAN David 5:03.281 +22.187
106. VEJVODA Joe 5:09.674 +28.580
112. McCARROLL Sean 5:11.811 +30.717
126. McKILLOP Lachlan 5:19.116 +38.022
139. BARLIN Chris 5:24.516 +43.422
Super excited to see Mitch Delfs aboard his new Evil come into 18th during qualifying. With a new team he will be keen to make a good impression.
Junior men saw good results for the tram, highlighted by Dean Lucas and his 5th place, he will be shooting for a podium this weekend and isA�more than capable of doing so.
Junior Men:
1. VERNON Taylor 4:54.689
2. NIEDERBERGER Noel 4:57.116 +2.427
3. VERGIER Loris 4:57.980 +3.291
4. JONES Michael 4:59.292 +4.603
5. LUCAS Dean 5:01.366 +6.677
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8. KNOTT Peter 5:04.733 +10.044
12. VARLEY Aiden 5:10.688 +15.999
13. CRIMMINS Thomas 5:11.379 +16.690
31. SMITH Brent 5:26.059 +31.370
32. ELLISON Luke 5:27.720 +33.031
5th in qualifying and ready to pull the trigger on a podium spot Dean Lucas is on a mission.
Women:
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8. HANNAH Tracey 5:35.113 +21.375
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24. BEECROFT DanielleA� 6:12.743 +59.005
34. MOLLOY TeganA� 6:58.573 +1:44.835
Danny Hart was the fastest qualifier and after injury last year he has a point to prove. He has never won the Fort William World Cup will this be his year?The juniors are in a separate category to the Elite this year, which has its pro and cons. If you want to see the results as they happen you will need to keep an eye on the live timing on the UCI website.
If you are watching the race live it will be late night in Australia but well worth it. We will have the full results and news from finals after the race.
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