Saturday DH Update
Greg Minnaar takes the the Mont-Sainte-Anne Downhill for the men. This is his first win at MSA, even with a foot dab in the rock garden that knocked him sideways, threating to take him down. Minnaar was thrilled as he took the top box in the podium and the series lead in points. In second by 1.73 seconds was Sam Hill. Gee Atherton, Steve Peat and Fabian Barel complete the mens podium. The top USA finisher is the young upstart Aaron Gwin in ten place. He’s definitely a story to watch.
For more story and video
The women’s podium had series leader Rachel Atherton followed by Sabrina Jonnier, Tracy Moseley, Mio Suemasa and Fionn Griffiths. The warm sun had baked the surface of the mud and harden the course making it the fastest course of the week. By the end of the race it was almost as if it hadn’t rained all week. I say almost. My camera and myself are still splattered in blessed droppings from the speeding tires of those that rode past. If you ever get a chance to watch a World Cup in person I would highly recommend it. The following photos are provided by Keith Valentine at Phunkt.com Check it out for more photos.
Saturday Afternoon Update:
Men DH Qualification
Greg Minnaar(1)
Sam Hill(2)
Gee Atherton(3)
Chris Kovarik(4)
Steve Peat(5)
Aaron Gwin(13) fastest American
Women DH Qualification
Rachel Atherton(1)
Tracy Mosely(2)
Emmeline Ragot(3)
Sabrina Jonneir(4)
Floriane Pugin(5)
Saturday Morning Update:
Oh my God! It’s was clear over night and sunny this morning. Many riders, including Andrew Neethling and Julien Camellini, commented to me on how there will be two tracks for today’s race. A much dryer section in the open and the still very rutted and sloppy wood sections. Tire choice is the main thing on many a rider’s mind this morning as they get ready to race.
Friday’s Update:
Hell yeah, it rained again last night. The ground is just saturated, and yet when the sun came out the exposed spots started to dry up and get hard, at least on the surface. In the woods it remained a slop-fest. If this continues for tomorrow, the riders could be running two different courses. A fast one and a slow one. The following photos are provided by Keith Valentine at Phunkt.com Check it out for more photos.
The rain has screwed the 4x cross course up and despite the act of placing plywood down on the lips today’s practice and qualifying was canceled. It was a rider choice and protest after several riders got hurt including Cedric Gracia. With streams running down the course riders found that they didn’t have enough speed for the upper sections and with the plywood many were over jumping the bottom jumps. The plan is to practice, qualify and race the final all on Saturday night. There are other rumors for a solution being floated, as well.
Thursday’s Update
Hello all from the World Cup at Mont-Sainte-Anne. We arrived here from Vermont after a few days of rest and relaxation. It’s rained off and on since we arrived. In fact, this whole region is being inundated with rain for a few weeks, so the ground is saturated and everywhere you look water streams down the mountain. The course is challenging everyone and making it difficult to find speed. Here’s a video of the first two days.
Andy