Qualifying Photo Epic - Meribel DH World Cup 7
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 Meribel can claim the honor of being at the heart of one of the World's largest ski areas. They have a pretty expansive network of trails to ride as well. And you know, the scenery for this last World Cup of the season doesn't suck either. |
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| Matt Simmonds may have been king of the hill today here in France, but Bryceland still hangs on to that plate like a rat that just stole a mother-load of cheese. |
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| The big three with the Ratboy now sitting just a little tighter at the top. For Troy to win the overall he must win tomorrow and have Josh come 5th or worse. For Gwin to win the overall he must win tomorrow and have Josh come 7th or worse. |
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| In a league of his own. Unbelievably Bryceland made a mistake just after the rock garden and came off the bike, briefly laying on his back, but was still able to qualify less than a second off Saracen speed. It's slightly terrifying to think how much more time Josh could shed if he stays on all the way tomorrow. |
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| Troy's bike finally showed up and he was looking faster and faster with each run until a seriously unfortunate puncture kept him out of the mix in qualies. |
 | Qualifying didn't quite go to plan today... Tomorrow is a new day and I'm excited to show everyone what I've got! - Troy Brosnan - Specialized Racing DH |
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| Bryceland and Gwin both have had bad luck in one race or another this year, and for Troy Brosnan his ran out at the worst possible time. His flat means he conceded another precious 45 points to Bryceland in the battle for the overall. |
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| 2011 & 2012 overall winner flexing his fluro muscles over the road gap, looking for more where that came from. |
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| Gwin thinks he can win this race and he could well be right, but he's made life very hard for the overall now with 7th this afternoon. |
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| Meribel...shaping up just beautiful, through and through. |
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| It's quite cold riding the chair up the top at 8am, but the view of Mont Blanc at that time of morning just takes the pain right out of it. |
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| The climate and nature surrounding the track change as you descend to the village, but it's still not too balmy in Europe this summer at 1400m. |
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| Two days ago these two corners were perfectly flat. Who needs bike park berms when you can simply make your own. |
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| Brendog has been a bull in a china shop on this track and a very happy one at that. He qualified eleventh today, clearly feeling extra good to be battling a real Alpine monster. |
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| In the juniors, Luca Shaw smashed himself in his last practice run today and took it easy in qualies to see how his swollen elbow would cope. He said he's still got it in him for a win tomorrow though. |
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| A conservative run saw Luca into 14th, but there's no love lost in the junior class in which no points are available for qualifying. Hopefully he can run full tilt tomorrow and take on Vergier for the title in a fair fight. |
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| Jack Iles will be looking to follow up his North American results with a solid finish here in Meribel qualifying ninth on a self-professed 'rubbish' run. |
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| Lac Blanc/Scott's Thomas Estaque burning roost n rubber to 4th as the second fastest French junior after Vergier. |
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| Taylor Vernon is certainly back to top form and is looking for another win here in Meribel headed into Worlds. |
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| Laurie Greenland stormed the wide and loose today to take 2nd just a whisker infront of Taylor. |
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| Loris Vergier needs to win this weekend to take the overall, and he is definitely on the right track by taking first place in qualies. |
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| No stranger to the safety regulations here in France, Loris navigates his way through the 100% organic pad forest to a first place qualifying result. |
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| In the women's class, Zarja 'the charger' Cernilogar hasn't made it to many World Cups this year, but 10th today shows she still well up to speed with the big girls. Look out for her hair-handlebar color match repping Slovenia at Worlds. |
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| Casey Brown pinning her way to a mighty rad 7th qualifier. |
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| Emmeline Ragot came 3rd today despite a crash in the woods, and with the title still within reach she will be looking for nothing short of a win. |
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| Manon Carpenter drops into the last bit of woods in her quali run to come in just behind Rachel in 2nd. No big deal though; if Rachel wins the final, she would have to go worse than 7th to lose the title race |
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| 0.662 seconds off Atherton, will Manon have the power to take one last win tomorrow? |
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| The outcome of the ladies race is looking just as hard to guess as the men's tomorrow. Ragot took a fall in the woods, but still managed 3rd, 3.3seconds back. If she wins Manon needs 3rd to still take the overall. |
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| Rachybox hitting the ground running this afternoon to take the top spot, but still very unsatisfied with herself apparently swearing the entire length of the course in frustration at so many mistakes. |
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| Cascades of Meribel. Peaceful, unlike the course. |
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| Can we please have more of this on World Cup tracks? Steep, flat corners and high speed drifting seem to be rare these days. |
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| Mic Hannah sadly didn't make the cut today. The fact that he is back giving it his all after his injury earlier this season shows how tough the guy is. He'll be back on it in no time. |
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| Marshy tends to Greg's wheels after a rough day on the slopes. Poor Greg's been in the wars lately, walking away from a gnarly car crash in San Fran where his car rolled twice thankfully with only a whip-lashed neck. |
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| Greg finished 141st on a puncture this afternoon, but luckily is protected and will hopefully have better luck tomorrow. |
| I was feeling sore so I took it easy today and then flatted in the qualy, but I know I'm going to have to push all the way tomorrow. It's such a great venue here, we've been really lucky with the mix of race tracks this year actually - Greg Minnaar - Santa Cruz Syndicate |
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| Harold Molloy, a Ghost riding in plain sight to a healthy 28th qualifier today, dominating the grass turns at the bottom to salvage a sloppy top. |
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| Steve Peat, stylish as always, locked down his unprotected qualy to round out the top 20. |
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| Slugger charging into the off camber roots. Fourteenth in qualies today and looking hella quick all weekend. |
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| Mike Jones was just off the podium last round and has been looking well on the hunt here, hitting a lot of the same lines as mentor, Hill. |
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| Joe Smith sailing to back-side the stream (if you can call it a stream) gap. Smith qualified twelfth today, just ahead of Jones. |
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| Gee Atherton qualified tenth today. He will be looking harder than ever to shed time out on the track tomorrow to hold onto his podium finish in the overall. |
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| The Bulldog bouldering to just inside the top ten today and could easily podium on a brutally rough track like this one. |
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| Is there a track better suited to Brooks style? Our smashometer says no. |
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| Remi Thirion straight into beast mode for his qualification run. He certainly has a passion for this track and would love to pull it out the back tomorrow for king and country. 6th today proves his threat level. |
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| Surprised as he may have been to find he'd slipped back a place after the first 80 riders were down, the number eight won't be late tomorrow. 2.1 seconds tardy today, but with any number of mind-bending SH specials tucked away for the final. |
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| The World Cup herd rolls fast and deep... Number 83 plate, Francisco Pardal was just about in tears today after qualifying in the top five, in the biggest surprise turn-up since Ed Masters rode to 4th in the Cairns qualies. The rarity of results like this are a reminder just how consistent those in and around the podium have to be to hold their own against the sea of formidable contenders, week in week out. Here's hoping the Portuguese champ can pull it off again tomorrow... |
| So much fun in my qualy today!! Is a BIG dream for me!!! This is AMAZING. Thanks everyone!! Francisco Pardal |
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| Loic Bruni could do anything sitting third tonight. He so hungry for that win. Can he do it here on home soil, or is Ratty just to strong of a force to fend off? |
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| Bryceland attacked the top section like no one else this afternoon leaving stunned media and supporters in his rat-like wake. Launching into the first rock section to create two consecutive, silk-smooth, stepdowns was massive, it was stealth-silent and above all it was deadly fast. Hill and Jones were the only others at least within the top 20 to attempt it and even they couldn't grease it anything like the special one in the black jersey. |
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| Josh Bryceland, riding the leaders jersey for the first time, has been riding with so much skill and confidence it's unreal. Tomorrow's a big day for him, but he seems more casual than ever. We asked his approach for the final with the immense weight of expectation and unimaginable pressure of a season at stake upon his shoulders etc etc... |
| Go flat out and try to win the f-ker! Haha, I don't think you have to take yourself too seriously... At the end of the day we're racing bikes down a hill, it's all fun and games! The way I focus is by having fun. I'm never purposefully trying to be some different guy, it's just the way I operate. Steve brought me up that way, you know, he knows when to get serious but he's always done it with a smile on his face and it's rubbed off on me... That's how we're doin it! - Josh Bryceland - Santa Cruz Syndicate |
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| Ratboy and Ivan hanging out. Only a few years ago, Peaty and Minnaar were the stars of the Santa Cruz pits while Josh lurked in the shadows. A few wins later, the English rockstar can't get away from the fans. |
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| The British are coming! Today 50% of the top 20 were UK riders. Matt Simmonds was the fastest man from the UK down the hill today and also the fastest in the World, just under a second up on Rat Boy. |
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| The writing has been on the wall for a while and today Matt Simmonds finally rode to his true potential. Tomorrow he will be the last man out of the gate for the first time in his career. |
| Sambo and I have been riding together a lot here, both buzzing about the track... I suppose it's a bit like what we like to ride back home. It's a bit wet and a bit rooty, quite wild! - Matt Simmonds - Madison Saracen |
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| Simmonds, the powerhouse, in a micro-moment of golden tranquility before smashing things apart in the next deep dark wood section. The 10 plate could mathematically claw his way onto the overall podium with a win here. |
| It was a bit of a surprise, I thought maybe it could be a solid top 10, but never to go into the lead. The crowd were cheering and when I looked back and saw green it was like I'd actually won the race not just qualy haha! I've been there or thereabouts a lot of this year, but on the wrong side of a second or two usually... I'm feeling confident. Also nervous. Never been last man down so that's a new one!- Matt Simmonds - Madison Saracen |
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| As the old saying goes- red sky at night, racers delight. Or something like that. Get a good night's rest, because finals day is going to be off the hook. |
By Nathan Hughes
Trailforks.com
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