Val di Sole Day 3 in Photos - UCI World Cup 2012

Jun 2, 2012 at 11:08
by Ian Hylands  
Start lists are at the bottom, full Qualifying results are here

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Steve Smith dislocated his left pinky. As a protected plate he opted to roll the start and let it heal up as much as possible before tomorrow s big dance.
  Steve Smith dislocated his left pinky. As a protected plate, he opted to roll the start and let it heal up as much as possible before tomorrow's big dance.

The twos have it. Emmeline Ragot and Aaron Gwin dominating the qualifying.
  The twos have it. Emmeline Ragot and Aaron Gwin dominating the qualifying.

GT Mechanic Marc Morriset runs on Belgian ale and for wrenching Slugger Beaumont to a 3rd position in qualifying he gets a fresh pour from none other than Atherton racing s team director Dan Brown.
  GT Mechanic Marc Morriset runs on Belgian ale; and for wrenching Slugger Beaumont to a 3rd position in qualifying, he gets a fresh pour from none other than Atherton racing's team director Dan Brown.

Most racers had their suspension dialed for qualis. Brakes on the other hand were a different story. This track eats brakes like a sumo wrestler eats sushi. Evan Warner applying a brake bleed to Logan Binggeli s stoppers.
  Most racers had their suspension dialed for qualis. Brakes, on the other hand, were a different story. This track eats brakes like a sumo wrestler eats sushi. Evan Warner applying a brake bleed to Logan Binggeli's stoppers.

An ecstatic Justin Frey working over Gwin s new RAD 40 forks.
  An ecstatic Justin Frey working over Gwin's new RAD 40 forks.

Italy Coffee. You can t turn round in the pits here in Val di Sole without the sound of a coffee grinder ringing in your ears.
  Italy=Coffee. You can't turn 'round in the pits here in Val di Sole without the sound of a coffee grinder ringing in your ears.

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Gregg Minnaar. Post run he immediately went back to the top and walked the track. He found a few lost seconds but I don t think Gwin left too many for him up on the track--or anyone else for that matter. Gwin is simply on another level right now.
  Marc Beaumont took third in qualifying; he's won here before, and he was looking smooth and fast on his quali run. But he's 8.1 seconds down on Gwin.

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Tracy Hannah gushed over the track yesterday mistakes in qualifying cost her the top qualifying position. She likes it steep though in 07 she killed it in Champery and Schladming. Look to see Mik s sister crank it up a gear for another podium position. Although she may be forced to give up the leader s jersey.
  Tracy Hannah gushed over the track yesterday, mistakes in qualifying cost her the top qualifying position. She likes it steep, though; in 2007 she killed it in Champery and Schladming. Look to see Mick's sister crank it up a gear for another podium position. Although she may be forced to give up the leader's jersey.

Emilie Siegenthaler roosting through some loamy goodness.
  Emilie Siegenthaler roosting through some loamy goodness. In some spots the duff was a foot deep.

Both number two riders had something to prove coming home seconds ahead of the other qualifiers.
  Emmeline Ragot rode like she had something to prove, coming home 6.6 seconds ahead of second qualifier Rachel Atherton.

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bigquotesGot down felt strong. Shoulder is hanging in there nicely. Times are close gunna hunt those boys down tomo!!! - Brendan Fairclough from Twitter

Italian Champion Lorenzo Sudding got a huge roar from the crowd as he roared down the course.
  Italian Champion Lorenzo Sudding got a huge roar from the crowd as he raced down the course.

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There were four of these neck collars in the rock garden before Manon Carpenter took a header. No word on her condition but she does have a protected plate and is on the start list for the finals.
  There were four of these neck collars in the rock garden before Manon Carpenter took a header. No word on her condition, but she does have a protected plate and is on the start list for the finals.


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Ben Reid looking to find lost seconds in the rock garden. Unfortunately Reid didn t make the cut--a harsh blow for everbody s favorite Irishman.
  Ben Reid looking to find lost seconds in the rock garden. Unfortunately, Reid didn't make the cut--a harsh blow for everybody's favorite Irishman.

Gee Atherton getting his game face on. Gee-man was pretty on it despite the tumble yesterday in practice.
  Gee Atherton getting his game face on. Gee-man was pretty on it, despite the tumble yesterday in practice.

Gwin looking over the track in his final practice run and finding 7.649 seconds.
  Gwin, looking over the track in his final practice run, and finding 7.649 seconds. Will he be able to repeat tomorrow?

Aaron Gwin warming up to a little War by Trip Lee.
  Aaron Gwin warming up to a little "War" by Trip Lee.

Greg Minnaar was smooth and fast but lost damn near 8 seconds to Aaron Gwin. Post track walk he was still looking for a few of those lost seconds.
  Greg Minnaar was smooth and fast, but not fast enough. Post track walk he was still looking for a few of those 8 seconds he lost to Gwin.

Gwin absolutely flew down the track.
  Gwin absolutely flew down the track today in qualifying, almost 8 seconds up on 2nd place Greg Minnaar. Tomorrow's finals may prove to be interesting.

42220 DHI ME StartList Corrected42220 DHI WE StartList


Photos by Colin Meagher and Fraser Britton



Author Info:
IanHylands avatar

Member since Jun 23, 2008
588 articles

35 Comments
  • 31 4
 Sick photos! A lot of the captions don't make sense though....Sam Hill has had plenty of World Cup DH runs in the last three years, no? No one can touch Tracey Hannah? I believe 7 people "touched" her as they beat her in qualis.
  • 7 0
 Agreed, lately the captions have been forced and uninteresting, they dont add anything to the story.
  • 18 5
 The captions primarily come from the photographers taking the photos, the guys that are there at the site and immersed in the action. When Fraser says Sam Hill's first real World Cup DH run in 3 years I tend to trust him, he's been the team photographer for Monster Specialized that entire time, and he knows better than I do...
  • 3 3
 I wonder what Fraser meant by ''Sam Hill's first real World Cup DH run in 3 years'' ?!?
  • 7 1
 maybe because sam has been injured for pretty much the last 3 years, so has never been fully healed up, and south africa doesnt count
  • 2 1
 what ?!?
  • 1 1
 I think Turningisfun hit it just right. Obviously SH has been battling injuries off and on since joining Spesh's WC team. This may be his real first injury free season since the WC 2009 season. I think FraserBritton would know this as good as any UCI WC insider..
  • 4 2
 If I remember correctly, Sam was on the podium at Leogang last year....seemed like a "real" World Cup DH run then.
  • 4 0
 Very odd captions.
  • 1 1
 Tracey Hannah went OTB on her qualifying race and still got 8th. Meaning, if she can hold it together, she is probably going to dominate like PMB again.

These guys sit on the hill everyday all day and have to know who, what, when, where and how to shoot photos of these amazing athletes. They know what they are talking about. Sometimes they may forget that we have not been right there with them; maybe they are dead tired too because by the time they get these photos picked from the thousands they snapped all day and uploaded online it's really late at night (10:10pm CEST to be exact). There is some joy in trying to piece together all the juicy details of the day's happening too.
  • 2 0
 Great photos but I could do without the unsubstantiated and incorrect captions.
  • 1 1
 @Patsplit I agree with you fully. If I don't fully understand a caption it's generally because I wasn't there and don't fully understand what's going on. It's common for there to be spelling mistakes etc in the captions when I get them, a result of the late night edits, but it's very rare that a caption is actually incorrect. I stand by all of them and the guys that wrote them...
The Tracey Hannah one was a little mysterious, but according to Fraser she was looking considerably faster than anyone else in practice, and as far as I can tell you're correct about her qualifying run. Maybe a little presumptuous to say what he did, but hindsight can take things out of context...

@MrLahey I'm sure you have reasons for saying the captions are unsubstantiated and incorrect, perhaps you can elaborate and clear them up?
  • 14 0
 All of those shots are so sick! That new demo looks amazing in red and black!
  • 4 0
 No big jump for Danny "Look at the WHIP!" but I'm sure we will see him completely loose on track and a big slide on the big turn
  • 3 0
 looks like I'm getting up at 5:15am tomorrow.... WOOOOO!!
  • 1 0
 Definitelly worth it.
  • 1 0
 Great shots, Colin. Stoked to see the live action no matter how early tomorrow.
Is it just me or are this year's race whips the best they've ever looked?
  • 2 0
 Love the panning shot of Sabrina, awesome!
  • 1 0
 Stoked to watch the race! Redbull kicked ass with the last one. Not so stoked to wake up at 5:15 on a Sunday...
  • 2 0
 The carbon demo looks damn good..
  • 1 0
 Im wondering what the price range will be on the new carbon demos or if it will be comparable to the session 9.9
  • 1 0
 No need to go to bikeradar, there's a link to Pinkbike's exclusive article on the Carbon Demo under the photo of it above. You can find it here
  • 1 0
 I wonder if there only going to show the top 20 riders again, Live. I like to see more than just the top 20......
  • 2 1
 When you see Danny's photo you realise how fast he goes
  • 1 0
 anyone tell me what time the race is aussie queensland time?
  • 1 0
 Northern territory is around 10pm so u'll probs be around 9:30pm or 10:30pm
  • 1 0
 sam hill is gonna smash it this round Smile
  • 1 0
 Emanuel Pombo e Francisco Pardal, ESTAMOS CONVOSCO!
  • 1 0
 I don't see Brendog in the top 82??
  • 1 0
 53rd rider
  • 1 0
 can someone find out what pedals sam hill is running?
  • 1 0
 their the specialized ones not sure if their out yet though
  • 1 0
 thx
  • 1 0
 go danny go!







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