Photo Epic: The Dust Hasn't Settled Yet - Windham DH World Cup, Qualification
Aaron Gwin was fastest on the day with a 2:39.987 qualification time. He was two seconds and change up on second place Loic Bruni. That's huge on a track as short as this. Aaron Gwin is no stranger to winning here. With two races to go in the season, he has a target on his back. Track conditions will play a big part in how things shake out tomorrow. Bone dry is an understatement. In some places it's a river of dust. Large rocks break loose from the powder every few riders leaving gaping holes that weren't there eight minutes before. Gwin could have an advantage on this kind of terrain, but he will have to look out for the likes of Bruni, Brosnan, Bryceland, and Minnaar. Loic Bruni was second fastest today, followed by Troy and Greg. So far, this race is looking stacked.
Rachel Atherton once again took the stop spot for the women and it would be enough to stake her claim on the 2015 season overall. Pom Pon is clearly back up to speed with a second place and Manon Carpenter right behind.
Jake Dickson took another first in quails for the junior men, followed by Crimmins and Charlie Harrison. It looks like it's going to be a hot one here tomorrow and we certainly can't wait to see how things shake down.
MENTIONS: @mdelorme / @natedh9 / @briceshirbach
Rachel Atherton once again took the stop spot for the women and it would be enough to stake her claim on the 2015 season overall. Pom Pon is clearly back up to speed with a second place and Manon Carpenter right behind.
Jake Dickson took another first in quails for the junior men, followed by Crimmins and Charlie Harrison. It looks like it's going to be a hot one here tomorrow and we certainly can't wait to see how things shake down.
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 Ben 'Wheels' Arnott was up with the sun, getting Laurie Greenland's wheels all set. |
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| Superstar Legend Explorer is blending right in with his camo shirt. |
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| Alex Marin giving the bike a final brake check before heading to practice. |
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| Pom Pon and Ruffin getting limbered up before practice. |
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| Tahnee Seagrave took a chilled-out approach to her morning. She qualified third, so it must have helped. |
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| Seagrave stormed the dusty 'murican woods today to beat Carpenter at all splits and take third. This means war tomorrow... |
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| The Windham dust gets about another inch deeper every lap. Expect some mighty explosions with any small deviations from the line for finals... |
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| Rachel Atherton was out in front again. Pom Pon was closest to her at 2.39 seconds back. |
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| A thousand dust-coated obstacles in Atherton's way couldn't stop her roaring to another quali win this afternoon. 50 more points in the bank and the series' overall is all hers without even needing to touch the bike on race day. Congratulations to Rachel, your 2015 WC overall title winner, on one hell of a season! |
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| Emilie Siegenthaler crashed on her already injured shoulder during qualifications, but is happy with her run and thinks she can pull out a bit more time on race day. |
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| 14 years without a bike and Cameron Zink hooks 90s downhill superstar, Missy Giove, up with a YT to race at Windham. One huge petition to get around her lack of points later and she is riding the track blind, in jeans, without a track walk. Yes, she crashed plenty this week, but she made the cut for 17th today! |
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| Manon Carpenter qualified fourth. She was ten seconds down on Atherton, and will need to find some significant time out there tomorrow. |
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| Tracey Hannah was fifth in qualifying. She definitely has what it takes to make the top three here. |
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| Myriam's back no question; today riding at what looks to be full speed and power, already hounding away at Rachel's heels, just 2.4 seconds behind. |
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| Alex Marin keeping it low and fast on his way to qualifying fourth. |
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| If you're going to pencil, pencil right. Loris Vergier knows. Straight-as-an-arrow perfection. |
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| Andrew Crimmins was second fastest today for the junior men. Rest assured, he and Greenland will be keeping it close tomorrow. |
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| Jackson Frew has been locked in attack mode since rolling down the start ramp for the first time. Today he claimed 6th, just a modest 3.6 off the pace. |
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| Charlie Harrison likes these loose conditions. He qualified third in junior men. |
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| Top qualifier for the second time in a row in the juniors is Jacob Dickson and it could be his race if only he can keep it together in the dust storm on track tomorrow. All easier said than done... |
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| Neil Stewart was blowing up corners this morning and qualified fifth. We like his style; fast and loose. |
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| It's been a season riddled with a steady mix of set backs for Markus Pekoll, but finally today he broke into the top 10 for qualies, landing 8th place. Tomorrow's a big one for the Austrian! |
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| Before qualis, Needles called it almost perfectly. Gwin, Brosnan, Bruni and a possible Bryceland were his guesses at the top dangermen from his time spent studying the practice sessions. On the podium here in 2011 himself, he knows the 'balls to the wall' approach the Windham track demands of riders looking for medals. |
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| Brendan's having one hell of a season, luckily a mechanical in the qualies won't spoil it as a protected rider. |
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| This is one of the few repeat venues where Greg actually hasn't taken the win before. After just losing out to Gee at the end of the 2010 season, second place remains his best result on the east-coast track and with 5 seconds to find for the final we expect no root, rock or whoop go unscrutinized in morning practice. |
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| Gee Atherton was sixth in timed training today. Will the Gee-man be up on the podium tomorrow? |
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| Neko's younger brother and mechanic, Logan Mulally hopes his brother has a fast run in him for finals, after clipping his chain guide on a rock at the top of the track and losing his chain as a result. Mishaps here are hard to overcome in such a tight field. |
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| Pivot's team mechanic, Joy Noy was one of the first to arrive and last to leave the pits. With Eliot Jackson crashing hard during qualies, it's up to Bernard Kerr and Emilie Siegenthaler to hold it down for the squad. |
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| Fashions come and go, but if you can get ahead and spot the next one before the rest of the pack, you'll go far. Louis Hamilton has an epiphany on the next peak related trends after a dirt nap. |
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| Danny Hart qualified twelfth. While these conditions aren't the wet stuff he excels in, he could very well do some damage tomorrow. |
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| Home soil advantage? Aaron Gwin went fastest today. He owned both splits and was up by two seconds and change... a significant gap for a track this short. |
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| Up and coming Americans, Phil Kmetz and Dakota Norton sharing some stoke after qualifying well within the 82 rider cap. |
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| Can Ratty do it again? He was sixth in qualifying, but will he own it tomorrow? We will have to wait and see. |
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| A lot of people didn't travel such a long way to not make the cut in the qualies. Aussie, Dave McMillan, of Vanzac fame finds out how low he can go... the results of which are coming to a Sequence Saturday near you. |
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| Eliot Jackson crashed hard at the start of his run, and finished just outside of the bubble. He's looking ahead to Whistler for redemption in the coming week. |
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| Brook MacDonald smashed his way to a seventh place quali result today. It would be good to see him up on the box here. |
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| Riders found the track to be in a constant state of flux. A line might be there on one run, and gone the next. |
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| Sam felt good about his qualies, and is hoping to find a touch more speed come race day. |
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| Stevie Smith was moving at a solid clip today. He was a convincing 8th in qualifying. |
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| The Gwizard, over 2 seconds up on the rest of the World and the speed and smoothness is right about mind-blowing. Can anyone reel him in and shut down this kind of sorcery? |
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| 'Times and rankings', 'times and rankings'. Norwegian champ, Isak Leivsson, gives the 'style' some TLC up in the woods. |
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| Ballsy creative lines ridden with some serious authority... Troy wants to carve his name into the Windham shale before the weekend is out. Three seconds is all that stands in his way at this point. |
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| With Loic Bruni's unbelievable consistency this year it's possible for him to take the overall without actually winning a single race. Aaron Gwin must be well aware how expensive any kind slip up could be at this stage, with the young French legend in the making, riding to second in qualies. |
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| Pain is weakness leaving the body. And fear? You can just put that on hold for the weekend. Wallace lost an appendage in the rocks today and a bunch of media are happy they didn't lose one of their own. As a protected rider in the top 20, Mark will be glad he still gets his start tomorrow. |
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| Until tomorrow here's one of Missy Giove still blowing up corners better than most dudes. |
MENTIONS: @mdelorme / @natedh9 / @briceshirbach
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I agree shes in stark contrast to the elite pros but that's what the sport needs...color...personality. Look at Ratboy for example.
GO Missy
If the race was in SoCal, then we can say he has home court advantage, but not at Windham.
$10 says she tries to hard and blows out ff the bike
Debt to society? She has done more for the sport of mountain biking than most. She enhances society. She has no debt to society.
I believe its legal in 8 of the united states.
If you always follow the law with out question you might as well live in a dictatorship.
Laws are meant to be challenged if they are not in the best interest of the country as a whole. I love democracy and the judicial system.
War on drugs is a blatant example of how some people still use hate as a tool to control people.
In the end I must respect your opinion. And I have mine.
Thanks.