It almost felt like a trip from hell to heaven. From yesterday's pouring rain and plenty of fog the weather changed over night to what you can call paradise. Today was seeding time here in Willingen at the second round of the iXS European DH Cup and the conditions could not have been any better. The course dried out quickly and the surface got faster and faster each run.
Although the track seems to be an easy one, there were some serious moments today seeing wheels blowing up, riders going down and collecting countless punctures. It was Jure Zabjek, the winner of the first round in Slovenia, who had the fastest time of the day in the elite men. He hit his marks very well but still there is no big margin to the rest of the field. Ondrej Stephanek and Matt Walker were the closest sitting in second and third respectively.
In the elite women's race Monika Hrastnik came out swinging. She wasn't on track too often in practise but looking extremely confident in her timed run. The margin she is leading with added up to 5.475 seconds. Filipa Peres and Simone Wechselberger complete the top 3.
The one who stood out of the crowd in today's qualification was without a doubt Valentina Hoell. The Austrian U17 female rider uses to impress the industry every time she rides a bike and today was no different. Valentina won her category and would have been first in the elite women as well. Her time was half a second faster than the winning run by Monika Hrastnik.
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@Racement
I wish they hadn't moved away from Tissot Timing!
I I yay!