Track Walk Photo Report: Mont-Sainte-Anne DH World Cup 2018
Few tracks make your hair stand on end quite like Mont-Sainte-Anne. With a history and heritage not many tracks can touch, it has been the site of drama aplenty over the years. Not least last season when Aaron Gwin snatched a near impossible victory despite a sodden track. The challenge the track poses stretches far greater than the unpredictable weather, however, from death grip inducing straights where bravery is highlighted to tight and twisty woods where precision is key. To tame Mont-Sainte-Anne requires a careful balance of risk versus reward. Who will overcome it this weekend is anyone's guess.
This year's campaign has been one plagued by injuries, misfortune, and for some, triumph. As we arrived into MSA the men's series has a runaway leader in Amaury Pierron, but he has a whole host of hungry riders behind him who have been chopping and changing their places in the overall, race by race. The likes of Greenland, Vergier, Shaw, Brosnan, and Bruni to name a few. Both of last season's big hitters Aaron Gwin and Greg Minnaar have been laid up injured at points but whilst Gwin remains out, Minnaar is back in the midst of things. The big news from the women's field is that Myriam Nicole has returned from her back injury sustained in Val di Sole and is set to 'interfere' with the tight title battle between Rachel Atherton and Tahnée Seagrave. It looks like that one is going to go down to the wire, but which of them will seize the momentum once all is said and done on Saturday?
Talk of some fresh changes held true with the flat-out blast on the ski piste now negotiating a couple of chicanes before diving into some fresh cut in the woods with a sizeable drop thrown in there for good measure. This section will cut up and change run by run with line choice bountiful for those who seek it. It's the same old classic Mont-Sainte-Anne track though, the challenge never changes or gets easier. Although there's not much in the way of a significant pedal it's still a physical beast with little to no letup, riders are taken from one technical section to another by warp speed straights which are technical in their own sense, meaning there's no rest physically or mentally. After a sizeable deluge yesterday the track has been left soft in places, slippery in the woods, and there's also the occasional rain rut thrown in there for good measure. There could be more moisture coming tomorrow, but the forecast for the remainder of the weekend looks to be dry so the racing should be red hot, as long as there's not a repeat of last year's mid-final downpour. Tomorrow we'll get the ball rolling and begin to shape the picture for the scene to come.
The serene St Lawrence River flowing past Quebec City before sunset.
Quebec's iconic hotel Frontenac.
The whir of electric air pumps on setup day in the MSA pits.
Time to break open the boxes and find out if the bikes survived the trip.
Luca Shaw reporting for duty this morning at the Syndicate pits.
First round podium rider Dak Norton has more than a niggling shoulder injury but is racing here this weekend.
There's not a lot of riders in the pits who aren't carrying injuries. Unior Devinci's Jure Zabjek is back but his pinky doesn't seem to be too enthusiastic.
If there's one set of forks that need to stay the right way up in finals this weekend, we could see a new face on the top step.
The well-greased St. Anne machinery that keeps delivering the best riders in the World to the top of the mountain.
There's no snow but the slopes are far from dormant.
One kinda famous start hut.
I wonder how many times this lift has been shot and how many angles are left after 26 years of racing here.
Across the smooth wooden decking of the cafe and down onto the cobbles.
The runaway series leader Amaury Pierron will be looking to take his 4th win of the season.
There are sharp rocks aplenty ready to give wheels and tires a beating.
Danny Hart refreshed after some good time at home, looking to repeat his 2016 successes.
Kade and Rachel discuss their way down from a rock drop up top.
Monika Hrastnik smiling on her break-out season, hopefully she can keep a good thing going here for her first time at MSA.
It's a tough track - even on foot.
Recent heavy rain has left everything extra lush and green outside the tape.
The landing of the shark fin in the woods has seen another year of erosion and is now especially savage.
Amphibious friends are moving in with the extreme humidity.
The upper woods are the usual mix of soft dirt and loosely planted boulders.
The new rock wall feature will be a make it or break it situation for some and that includes the B line.
The Welcome mat to the new bit in the woods tells you all you need to know of what to expect.
Not the most practical of trackwalk snacks but one of the most refreshing.
The Seagrave siblings are reunited with Kaos returning from injury.
The track maintenance team was working hard to fill in the ruts left by yesterday's rain as best as they can.
WynTV on track.
The Chainsaw lives on.
A threatening cloud swung by this afternoon and luckily moved right along.
The tape maze before exiting onto the highway.
Mick Hannah checking how soft the landing of the drop is before taking the plunge tomorrow morning.
Finn Iles and Miranda Miller investigate the Stevie Smith rock roll.
Team Canyon scope the classic step-down hip now with a souped-up landing.
Quite a bit of work went into the berms on this course. It's a shame they're be rutted out by tomorrow's A practice.
Loic Bruni and Tracey Hannah studying the slabs that start at the entrance to the lower woods.
The rocks in the woods are slick with the moisture hanging around and not looking like its going to go anywhere anytime soon.
The Polygon UR team scouting the final sections of rocks on the last minute of the track.
What a smile! #LongLiveChainsaw
Atomic blond, Myriam Nicole, ready to make her comeback after her back injury in Italy.
Team IFR congregating after the fiercely rough exit of the rock roll.
Loic Bruni is surely due a big result and there are only 2 races left to get it before it's time to defend the rainbows.
Quintessential Quebecois rock, unchanged from the last years, because well, it's literally set in stone.
Buck the dog keeping away from the sun on this very hot and humid day.
Canada eh.
MENTIONS: @natedh9 / @rossbellphoto / @andy9
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verb
gerund or present participle: niggling
cause slight but persistent annoyance, discomfort, or anxiety.
"a suspicion niggled at the back of her mind"