Practice Photo Report: Following The Herd - Leogang DH World Cup 2018
Round 3 is well underway here in Austria and the day started like Bambi on ice even for some of the most experienced of riders... or a newborn calf descending a steep and slippery alpine meadow at best. After a night of heavy rain, thick and soupy mountain fog reduced visibility and kept things extra moist for the first riders on track, and few had a clue where they were going on the fresh-cut course. For those unlucky souls it was a mostly a case of following the herd and tentatively stomping down the hill until ruts formed and some grip was finally found while the clouds burned away in the summer sun. By the time elite men were on track at noon, it still wasn't to be plain sailing, however.
The abundance of new and heavily altered sections was tripping up the big-timers from the get-go, not least the ultra-wide and off-camber straight following the first turn. Of course, it didn't take many laps before we were seeing some heinous displays of speed; it never does, and by the time we'd had our afternoon coffee and kaiserschmarrn, timed training was upon us and riders were pushing the limits. Loic Bruni set the fastest lap of the day with a 3:18, followed by a return to top flight form for Mike Jones and fresh elite, Finn Iles. Rachel Atherton looked to be in a league of her own in the women's field, but without flogging dead horses we all know timed training isn't fully revealing. Still, whoever is 'on it' clearly means business, so let the speculation begin.
Will Gwin make it four on the trot? Will Seagrave defend her crown/tiara?
A sight for sore eyes... fluffy cotton wool blanketing the valley floor.
Aaron Gwin's mechanic, John Hall, stares up the mountain with a head full of Leogang memories; some with tire malfunctions, some without. Some with chain malfunctions, some without. The results were unaffected. Kind of makes you wonder how he motivates himself to get up in the morning...
Sticky mud greeted the first riders on track in early morning Group B practice.
Tahnee Seagrave stretches out before heading up the hill for her first runs of the day.
Riders feeling their way in the fog at 8am.
Boosting into the mist first thing in the morning.
Tegan Molloy drops below the fog layer during morning practice.
Miranda Miller dropping into a temporary summer-scape.
The elite women will have to go extra hard if they want to avoid being shown up by Vali Holl on home soil.
Pom Pon tries to find the grip on the new fresh cut section right out of the start gate. By afternoon things were all dried up, but in the morning it was a mess here.
The mist soon burned off and somehow the weather behaved immaculately throughout elite practice and the timed training.
Luca Shaw will be out to put wrongs to right starting tomorrow with qualies.
Loic Bruni gets his elbow taped up before a hard day of training. He is almost one hundred percent but the taping is to help prevent re-injuring anything in the case of another crash.
Mick Hannah tastes the fresh dirt of the first turn.
Gee Atherton tries to keep it low over the first jump on track.
Bernard Kerr might not be able to walk properly after breaking his foot earlier in the year, but he's off to great start here on the bike, going 6th fastest in timed training.
Aaron and Neko inspect the first few turns, which changed massively throughout the day.
Finn Iles sideways into the dark and headed for 3rd fastest time.
The newest member of the World Cup winner's club means business. Amaury is just getting started.
Lucky number 13, Reece Wilson, still stoked as can be on riding bikes after Fort Bill.
Brook Macdonald performing in front of the crowds looking to make sense of the new off camber up top.
Connor Fearon in a speed spiral entering tunnel 1.
Last week's second place finisher Loris Vergier is also looking quick on track in Leogang.
Kade Edwards making his bike sing on the motorway section.
Gee keeps it high on the awkward off-camber traverse before plunging into more familiar terrain.
Kye A'hern won his first junior race last week in Fort William and is looking to back to back here in Leogang.
Fresh UK talent, Charlie Hatton, looking pinned doing laps with Gee Atherton.
The first turn got the better of Jacob Dickson, although it's one of the more stylish crashes there was today.
Mark Wallace versus a million meadow flowers.
Did we mention that the ground is soft? Just one of many monster ruts on track.
Remi Thirion back on track one year on from his crash here that took him out for the remainder of the 2017 season.
Phil Atwill has a plan to blow up everything until he gets his season back on track.
Aaron Gwin looked to really be struggling today, potentially due to an injury picked up in Fort William. While other racers were racking up runs he was resigned to a handful and they were taken at a chilled pace.
Tahnee Seagrave took her maiden elite win here last year and looked good on track today, although she went down quite hard in timed training and didn't complete a run.
Brendan Fairclough looked extra aggressive during the TT and posted a time well in touch with top dogs.
Luca Shaw will be hungry to avenge his Fort William mechanical.
Fastest in timed runs was none other than Loic Bruni.
Danny has been a bit under the weather since Fort William, but is through the worst of it now. He'll be relishing those fresh sections.
Marcelo Gutierrez looked on form today, but that shouldn't be surprising with the Colombian being consistently strong on all tracks.
Tracey Hannah went second fastest in the women's TT, a few seconds down from Rachel Atherton, who really went for it.
Laurie Greenland digging into some hard-pack up high.
Emilie Siegenthaler hammering the berm into tunnel two.
Sam Blenkinsop, fully pinned and stylish as always.
Mike Jones has been quiet the last season or two, but taking the 2nd fastest in timed training today suggests he might be about to come back to the fray aboard his new Mondraker.
Alex Marin exits the first rock garden.
Pick up your Twix wrappers, people, before Leogang calls you out fair and square.
Mark Wallace popping into the shadows in one of the many Leogang tunnels.
Tahnee Seagrave enjoying the improvements on track in Leogang this year and looking to repeat her winning performance from 2017.
Charlie Harrison pushing for a top 10 TT this afternoon.
Speed tucking it over the jumps and into first in timed run for Rachel Atherton.
Kade Edwards in orbit.
Dakotah Norton with a top 10 plate at round 3... Can he keep this dream alive? We hope so.
The ruts got deep today...mighty deep. More rain and who could tell how this track will change.
Picture-postcard views and last week's winner, Amaury Pierron, at full tilt to sign off a great first day on the hill here in Austria.
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How's the Serenity ?
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A thread about it from April 2017
There has never been a rule in any resemblance of this in DH.
Yes... I am aware of these things.
Even in road it is a ridiculous rule as there is no set minimum for production volume or price. So you could race a prototype and make 1 production relics available for an unattainable $50k and skirt the whole regulation.
LOL???
Also, the motorway jumps are dangerously to short.