Results: World Cup Round 7 Meribel - Qualifications

 It's our national champion!

 And he's doing you proud!

 stoked for some underdogs for sure!!!

 Um chama Pardal e o outro Pombo .... ! No mínimo curioso =)

 Ganda Pardal!!!! Boa sorte! Aperta com eles!

 damn, look at the splits, josh was 59 sec, on first split what happened to him on second split, mistake ??

 WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?! I'm so confused!! Everything is all mixed up!

 Francisco. That's fun to say. Francisco

 ahahhaahah fuck!

 Josh keeps it rubber side down it's his! Ratboy was a sure thing from first round...said no one ever! Awesome.

 Pardal is going to fry your brains.
Blast the f*cking track Pardal.
Pure Portuguese Stalion.
He is the Cañone Bullet!

 Ratboy is going to be impossible to touch if he stays upright. Way faster than everyone else in splits 1 and 3.

 This should be a greeeeat podiun

1-Francisco Pardal
2-Sam Hill
3-RatBoy
4-StevPeat
5-Me

 HAHA! @vander16, after this crazy awesome season, that might be a possibility. Excuse me while I go train for MY World Cup debut.

 Crashed on a berm

 Apparently Bryceland crashed, losing at least 4 seconds as well..

 Except Steve Peat.

 SamHill will have a flat tire

 Yeaaaa

 Just watched he video of josh crashing! He will smash it today if he stays on!

 If gravity would be twice as powerful, who would have been sixth after the first three rounds?

 Thanks for this! That's awesome the overall is still up for grabs. I've been following the world cups since I was 14 and I still haven't figured out the points system haha

 Thanks so much for posting! Poor T-Bros, bad luck getting a flat in qualies

 @giantvt2 - you Sir are a gentleman and a scholar. I tip my hat to you.

 @shaun-ridefast-michael Gwin was in 3rd overall after Windham. (Brycland 1st, Brosnan 2nd)...

But there are points for qualifying so a good qualifying result could have caused people further down the table to shuffle around a little...

Bryceland had a 43 point lead after Windham, now it's 83 points thanks to a good qualifier (and Brosnan's flat tyre)

 In addition to the stats by @giantvt2...

Brosnan 2nd - Bryceland needs 9th or better

 thanks man !!

 @DHMF you win today's internet

 @freerideglory Hahaha... thanks bro

 Gotta love this yankees complaining about the air!

 @diogoa: what about us yanks?

 its why we go racing

 I expected him to do well but, damn! Really impressive.

 Well, Francisco Pardal (?) just pushed Sam Hill to 5th place. O_o

 tis the season!

 Pardal ! hero ! im feeling tactical qualifying by Hill.....that tanks been left half full

 brosnan got a flat, it's on his instagram

 neg propped you man, I meant thumbs down to the news. gutted for Troy as that's him out of the running now unless Miami has a mare tomorrow.......... anthings possible, plenty of sharp Alpine rock available

 ah no, I was hoping for an aussie world cup winner hoping Hill can get after it tomorrow!

 This is the most unexpected qualifying round ever. Stoked to see what happens tomorrow. Anything can happen!

 Did Peaty make the cut?

 Peaty is 18th

 Simmonds has a pretty wild line just before the first split i only saw him and Bulldog doing. Definitely saves a second or more.

 All I wanna know is the result needed for Ratboy to win the overall if either Gwin or Troy win tomorrow. Can anyone help?

 Doubt it saves a second seeing as he was a second back on josh??

 Yeah real average!! Twat

 How the hell do i deserve to be neg propped for stating the obvious? 'He's got a wild lind that saves a few seconds on the first split' but he's a second back! Go figure

 Because without it he might be a few more seconds back, and hence not in 1st at the bottom. #obviously

 Who's 2nd at split 1? could that be brosnan before his flat?

 Props aren't a prefect system, you get some you lose some. Hell sometimes I like to get drunk and neg prop good comments just so people can't sleep because they're wondering why they got negative props. muahahahaha

 @ dhx42
Peaty?
I counted 19th.....

 @oldmanDan my bad, may have counted too early. Stoked to see him in the top 20 after being unprotected. Hoping he can put together a good one tomorrow

 @SileTzar - see the post above by @giantvt2

 @dhx42

Stoked for him too! Good to see another old man keeping up with the kids!!

 It's on Saturday.

 Peaty is a top 20 rider so he's protected

 ^Not for this round

 When did he drop out of the top 20 in the world?

 #thisisnttwitter

 I had to go look. He's not even on the list of riders to choose from. Never even heard of the guy before.

 that bloody list leaves a lot to be desired sometimes.... try finding Mike Jones - Sam's team mate....

then again, have you tried finding the starters list on the UCI site? nion impossible

 @jmbrit you got that right.

 Pardal uncorked some great results in 2013 with a whole string of top 20's. I had him pegged as one to watch but he's been off the back this year, great to see him find some of the speed he's shown in the past.

 Sorry to be a dick...but it's 'nigh on impossible'.

 You're not sorry. ...... You just are.

 he his our national champion last year in andorra did 15

 He got 18th at Vallnord last year and has been tearing up the IXS, i'm surprised so few have heared of him! Similar to Thirion I believe the steeper the better for him!

 the majority of the riders tat apear on the photos are top 20, so it's a bit of luck if you apear, plus the red bull tv coverage you may or may not apear depending on your qualifying place also he is a privateer, if he was on a team it would have more coverge, but with this qualifying place it may happen next year

 We gave him lots of coverage on Vital last year

 as you can see not enough for people know who he is
we will see in a few hours how it will run for him, with him we(portuguese) have 2 more guys (vasco bica gois 44 i think) and (emanuel pombo 60 something) basicly this tree each won at least one national cup this year , and vasco was las year junior national champion, so pretty young

 Add in the Kiwis and it is currently 30 from 40. That is just mind blowing really.

 I wish we had alps or more than one chairlift in the UK - our stats would be even better

 Not necessarily. Canada is chairlift mecca and there are very few top class riders aside from a small handful. Tight, awkward, rooty, wet and short trails really bring the best out of people. Lap after lap of a-line doesn't.

 yes but what's your national racing series like? ours is super competitive and there are so many regional series to back it up, that's where racers are bred.

if we had bigger hills we would be quicker.

 and we wouldn't ride A-line, its ok for trail bikes :-)

my edit buttons ignoring me

 I would say that pushing up could possibly help. If you push up, you want to make the most of every run and it means you session far more, rather than just cruising down and not being bothered if you mess up sections as it's so easy to do them again

 Why are you forgetting Glencoe @jmbrit? If you got ride that you'll see why us brits are on top on a proper track

 IDK if the trails are what help the Brits, as we have all kinds of lift or push stuff here and aside from a few riders have not had anything WC worthy for a while. I think You guys just have some people that are very serious, talented and want to make this their life, not sure how the rest of the world is but our riders will always think, if this doesn't work out there is always something else.

 You could say the same in reverse for Slopestyle and Freeride etc. The overwhelming majority of the tops guys there are Canadians and 'Mercans. Us Europeans just don't go in for all that air-ballet! We like it fast and rough!

 In Canada our national cycling organization does a crap job of developing younger riders. It is laughable how bad they are - DH is an afterthought but they control the keys to amassing UCI points. Add in the challenge and expense of attending races across a massive country, and it makes it difficult to develop elite athletes to compete on the world stage. It really sucks because there is lots of talent percolating that just doesn't get the attention it deserves. Stevie is an anomaly that sadly may not get repeated for awhile.

 I think that in the UK, unless you race you don't really get an opportunity to ride DH. We don't have any resorts (other than Fort Bill which is hours from anywhere!) that you can just go and ride at. So a large % of riders race from a young age.

If we had lift assisted riding available on proper mountains (like alps etc) then I would race allot less & ride play ride more often.

 @bikejunk the same could be said for the USA. When was there a world cup in the Rockies, either USA or Canada? The place where mountain biking was invented and matured now has no real racing support or culture. Our large, spread out countries makes a national cup system very expensive!

 The riding in Canada is too plentiful and diverse, and the riding season too short, for many people to care about racing. It's the culture that breeds (or not) racers.
In Canada's case the immense riding has altered the culture to lack a desire to spend 5 of their precious summer weekends traveling to destinations to ride one trail that is probably far from the best in the area.
Coming from Australia, it's easy to spot the difference. In Oz, you have bugger all good trails, and the races are often on private land where your only chance to ride it is on race weekend. You can either stay home and ride the same old pretty average 3min track you've done 500 times (by yourself because everyone is at the race), or you can go to the race and ride something new with all your mates.
Short tracks that are on small hill usually have a lot of corners to make them last more than 10 seconds. They are usually not very technical and are only hard if you ride them fast. If you ride somewhere that you spend all afternoon hitting the same 3 minute track 20 times with the sole intention of getting faster and improving your cornering skills for that next race on private land, you have the perfect breeding ground for racers.
If on the other hand you are out scoping gnarly lines and building crazy stuff, pushing up huge mountains, riding 10 different trails in one day; you are breeding riders that like to travel to new places to sample epic goods other similar riders have been scoping and building year after year.

 @jimfunn We might not have the same trails as in France but that's because we don't have the same mountains, our trail builders have made the most of the slopes we have got and there are some great places to ride and definitely more than just Fort Bill. Glen Coe, Revs, llangollen, Nant G, Stiniongs, Innerleithen are as equally challenging, although obviously shorter and then there's plenty of uplift which is great on a DH or trail bike- FoD, Cwm Carn, BPW, Stiniong, Moelfre, Revs, Hamsterley. Put that with all the smaller push up tracks that are dotted around and there's loads of places to ride DH none of which are in the middle of no where. You can get to at least 2 of the big centres in no more than around 3.5 hrs no matter where you live in England. I've never raced and not interested but regularly get out on the DH bike.

 @hamncheez yeah, there was only ever the one at Angel Fire in 2005. Too bad really, as I recall pretty much all the riders really liked the course too.

 I hear you. In canada we rule at freeride but the media is full of hockey. Shit if crosby had a stomach ache it would make the news before a small article is posted about joyride

 At least you guys can play hockey. It is impressive for England to even qualify for the world cup. It would be unthinkable for us to win it.

 Remember when Danny took the title? Nothing

Gee, dan and rach? Nothing.

Piss poor in the uk considering our position in the sport

 Damn, I thought at least you Canadians were better off when it comes to media coverage...

 Wasn't Rachael Atherton like UK sports woman of the year or something?

 Steve Peat? Still no nighthood. Not that I believe in them, the monarchy is a load of pish, but while they are here Steve should have one

 I'll bet DH racing would get more attention from the British public if the BBC gave Ratboy a reality show.

 Or Warner for that matter.

 Haha imagine if Sir Dave Attenborough did a doco series following the eating, migration and mating habits of the rat. That'd be classic. In Sir Dave's whispering voice "Watch as the Rat, now appropriately intoxicated, begins his dancing ritual in order to find a mate... It seems has has the attention of more than one female, but this does not bother him one bit..."

 I wouldn't say that. Don't rule out Francisco Pardal who just came out from nowhere!

 Everybody gets lucky sometime.

 Anyone would run this better than the UCI. But they don't give a shit, the money they get from mtb is peanuts compared to what they get from organizing bisexual leg shaving conventions. Jk, roadies are tough ass motherfuckers. But the uci should get their heads out of their asses

 What about DH being run by the riders, kinda like "The Fest Series they should call it...... The Fast Series

 UCI are doing a better job than anybody else wants to, that's why they are doing it. 4x only got new organisers when it had to in order to stay alive, if you're that bothered about the way it's run then set up a petition of real worth with real vocabulary and real ideas, get it signed by the teams, racers, fans, websites, take it to the UCI and ask them professionally to acknowledge the fans and racers requests.

 +1 for @jmbrit

There's a lot to dislike about the UCI, but Red Bull is not the answer here. Mountain bike racing isn't a faddy extreme sport like X-Fighters or that Ice skating racing thing. I'd hate it if it was presented in that way.

I think most 4X racers want the UCI to readopt the sport as it isn't a big enough draw for fans or top riders under the Pro Tour. The EWS seems to manage OK without the UCI, but there isn't a competing UCI series. Also, I follow some of the riders on FB/Twitter and there are still complaints about the EWS tracks not being technical enough. Anne Caro frequently complains about stages that are too XC. So it seems they haven't been able to solve the main thing that everyone grumbles about with the UCI

I could moan about the UCI all day, but be careful what you wish for!

 UCI prohibits riders from racing in non-UCI events and tries to strong-arm other companies organizations to not be involved non-UCI events. An upstart racing league has little chance of success in that environment. A few are trying though. With Crankworx turning into a series, it could eventually evolve into that.

 Indeed elbandido

 And still the UCI does not decide on venues, venues applie for a race and then UCI approves. So I'd say we are lucky they dont shutdown venues like PMB or leogang because of the poor tracks and thus make a short season shorter. However I am very much in favour of venues that applie actually makes their tracks more challening for the riders. For instance leogoang has such a high potential and the builders do nothing with it, just showel in more dirt for berms.

 @elbandido: enduro is not downhill so ann caro can bitch all she wants but enduro is the abortion of MTB racing in my opinion. she needs to go back to downhill if she wants more technical tracks. Enduro is silly and stupid; bike racing needs to go back to XC and DH. I am bummed out that riders like Richie Rude and Leov are racing enduro because their proper place is in DH. Enduro is gayer than two boys f#@&%n in a barn and needs to go away. Enduro is watered down downhill. no more, no less.

 I don't know why this hasn't been posted on pb yet
www.redbull.com/en/bike/stories/1331673771792/rob-warner-gets-in-the-grill-of-the-world-s-elite

 Bullshit, for Ratboy to have a Crash he would have to had around a 6 second advantage(minimum), with the top boys running between 0-3 secondsits impossible that he crashed. A bit too much Fanboyism here !!!

 He lost 4.25 seconds. Video of in on www.morroccomedia.com

 I knew that

 I thought CRC Nukeproof made a mistake letting go of Simmonds last season, thought Joe smith would have been the one more likely to get the chop....... In saying that, Joe has definitely been a lot more consistent this season. Sam Hill has just looked stronger and stronger since joining the team and is definitely getting close to the top level he is so used to performing at. Having someone like that on a team can only be a good thing for the younger team riders. He has certainly pushed Joe that extra bit he needed this season and with young Mike Jones seriously impressing a lot of people this year, i think the team must be quite pleased with the season as a whole. Mike Jones may have turned a few heads when he signed for the team in place of Simmonds but he has certainly turned a few more heads with some very impressive results. I hope Simmonds does well though because the guy has been knocking on the door for a while now.

 Not matching someone else's higher offer and getting chopped are not the same thing.

 That may be true, but I think if Matt had still been on the Nukeproof team this season then with the teams level of performance lately he may have had an even better year than the relatively successful one he has had with Madison Saracen. Dont know what the wage difference is between what he got paid from Nukeproof compared to Saracen. I would say there is not much in it

 It's a bit hard to predict how your previous or future teammates are going to perform in July when you sign a contract 9 months previous. Contracts are up, offers are made, riders make choices, and bills/mortgages get paid. It's a business and no one has a crystal ball.

 Yeah man its becoming more like a British national championship... I wouldn't say I like that but its true...

 Hannah may not qualify - he isn't protected and is way down in the low 70's that would be bad ! so bad.

 there's nothing tactical about doing poorly in qualifying since precious points are at stake. It is most likely a mechanical (flat?) of some sort given how fast he was a the first split.

 Mick just missed the cut...
Troy was 20 seconds back at second split, then 1 min at the finish, constantly losing time so I'm thinking it was a mechanical (flat tire?)

 If you look at the sector times TB and GM had goodish first sectors and then went waay slow. Probably took dirt naps. They will be up there tomorrow...

 Bummer about Mick. Maybe he's saving it for Worlds?

 Yeah, with Troy and Greg being 2nd and 5th respectively at Split 1, definitely mechanical of some kind.

 Gutierrez last man in at 80th wow !

 yes ka-brap I was being pedantic, of course he wouldn't go tactical at this point in the series battle

 Troy suffered a flat during his run. I saw it on his FB.

 it's on ladies !

last race men and women TITLE DECIDER, barnstormer of a weekend YES !

smart money on Manon - top 5 takes it? NO pressure lol

 Top 4 I think for Manon to guarantee title

 Based on qualies she's got 11secs to spare!

 Fingers crossed, no flat or mechanical

 1. Josh Bryceland – 1047
2. Troy Brosnan – 964
3. Aaron Gwin – 943
4. Sam Hill – 824

Sam can't win. Josh needs 4th to guarantee title

 2x Portuguese national champion, riding for Commençal.
(he did some top 20 last WC season, i think..)

 15 in andorra

 4th

 www.uci.ch/mountain-bike/ucievents/2014-mountain-bike-uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-presented-by-shimano/162153114/widgets/live-timing-165840

 Yeah, I can never find it through UCI's stupid website. They need to make that easier to find when events are happening.

 www.uci.ch/mountain-bike/ucievents/2014-mountain-bike-uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-presented-by-shimano/162153114/widgets/live-timing-165840

The UCI site has been redone. Go and take a look. It is easy to find if you go to the Mountain Bike section.

 Cheers guys, on my mobile so difficult to find for me

 In fact it's not working on mobile, just gonna have to wait for pinkbike I guess

 Why not??? For a race with this much riding on it, on this awesome track? I'd wake from a coma to watch it live.

 1. Matthew Simmonds
2. Josh Bryceland
3. Loic Bruni
4. Francisco Pardal
5. Sam Hill
6. Remi Thirion
7. Aaron Gwin
8. Danny Hart
9. Brook MacDonald
10. Gee Atherton
And gotta mention #11 is Fairclough. Should be interesting!

 Thank you tclaridge. You're a gentleman. Agreed about Brendog. It's going to be a race to remember that's for sure.

 Rat Boy is 2nd while Gwin is at 7th

 oh, I looked at junior list. sorry.

 Log out and train harder!!!