Under 2 hours until racing kicks off here in Val Di Sole, a quick update on the situation. Rain fell last night but not enough to be noticeable, it had all disappeared by the morning. Steve Smith is injured and won’t be racing this afternoon after qualifying 2nd. Based on crude calculations, done by timing riders in this morning’s practice, the media contingent have Troy Brosnan ranked as high as 2nd place for the finals! Add to this his mum dreamt he finished 3rd could this be his first podium? Lets hope so.
Continue reading “Val Di Sole 21st August – Morning practice” →

With a day between qualifying and racing a short practice session was held this morning for the top 80 riders. No major news to report at this stage, riders were looking at their lines as they came down the hill, especially at the notorious rock garden near the top. However, the general concensus was that all the lines are getting just as blown out as each other. A look around the pits revealed a few bike customisations such as larger disc brake rotors and a few other tweaks.
Continue reading “Val Di Sole 20th August – Practice” →

The word in the pits from Val Di Sole, is that Sam has boarded a plane and is on his way to Europe for the World Championships. Lets hope he can perform on a track suited to his style in a few weeks. Look out for more updates on downhill247.com.

Qualifying for Val Di Sole was always going to be tight, with over 210 riders for the downhill alone. Overall it was a reasonably good day for the Aussies though:

1. Aaron Gwin (USA) 3.13.23

2. Steve Smith (CAN) 3.14.43 + 1.21

3. Danny Hart (GBR) 3.15.23 + 2.01

4. Troy Brosnan (AUS) 3.17.13 + 3.90

5. Gee Atherton (GBR) 3.19.46 + 6.72

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“I want to win one of these things…” Troy Brosnan

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Continue reading “Val Di Sole 19th August – Qualifying” →