Elite Qualifying Results from the Fort William DH World Champs 2023

Aug 4, 2023 at 4:25
by Ed Spratt  
Vali Holl is looking to back up her rainbow stripes after her success in Les Gets last year.


The Elite racers are up against the clock for the first time this week. Check out the results from elite qualifying at the 2023 downhill World Championships at Fort William below.


Results:

Elite Women

1st. Vali Höll: 5:01.917
2nd. Tahnee Seagrave: 5:07.751
3rd. Marine Cabirou: 5:08.158
4th. Gloria Scarsi: 5:09.101
5th. Veronika Widmann: 5:10.548
Elite Men

1st. Loic Bruni: 4:25.570
2nd. Andreas Kolb: 4:26.350
3rd. Bernard Kerr: 4:26.800
4th. Thibaut Daprela: 4:27.566
5th. Luca Shaw: 4:27.725


Full Results:

Elite Women

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Elite Men

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Author Info:
edspratt avatar

Member since Mar 16, 2017
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165 Comments
  • 161 2
 BK Sport bring it home
  • 19 0
 He just has to pedal more in the first section tup
  • 30 0
 It would be legendary for a BK win at the fort!
What was the track condition for quali? How legit is this for a preview?
  • 33 0
 I'll ride down pleney naked if BK wins hahaha. Bring on the tigerrrrr
  • 6 0
 LIDL for the win!!!
  • 11 0
 @snomaster: I'm here now. Track today is literally 'perfect'. Dry, zero wind, track holding up well, can't believe it.

Tomorrow will be very, very different.
  • 1 0
 @Lagr1980: would you either way haha
  • 3 0
 @Lagr1980: We'll need video proof
  • 14 0
 He just needs to ask Ed for advice for the first sector.
  • 1 0
 Making sure he doesn't do another long day in the hotseat
  • 2 0
 @Lagr1980: I will hold you to that hahha
  • 2 0
 he's gonna put it all out there, can't wait to see him win tommorow.
  • 2 0
 @t-swing: would love to see him win, but honestly, I think the pope is going to take it again.
  • 73 2
 The Athertons are hard as fk
  • 30 0
 Time of 6 minutes... with a dislocated shoulder? That's probably 3 minutes faster than most people could do when 100% fit.... It's almost as if she is one of the world's best downhillers....
  • 15 22
flag Mtbdialed (Aug 4, 2023 at 6:51) (Below Threshold)
 @bigtim: only if you are counting all people....like non-mountain bikers.

I just looked. I have been there 1 time(2 days of riding) and made 13 runs down that track. my PR was 5:10. now give me a plus or minus of 10% cuz strava, but I am not super duper fast, just pretty quick for a middle aged guy.

a decent rider can get down it in 6min pretty easy. now that said, I don't think most people would even ride it with a recently dislocated shoulder. that's pretty f*cking tough, because that track is real rough on the upper body!
  • 2 0
 @Mtbdialed: on the new or old track?
  • 13 2
 @Mtbdialed: shame, some weeks ago you could have started among the ladies and gained some world champs fame.
  • 10 0
 @Mtbdialed: Shoulda entered, could have beat Jacob Jewett and Finn Iles.
  • 2 0
 @Mtbdialed: where did you rank on Strava? Top 20?
  • 1 0
 @Roost66: old I guess. woods sections from the previews this year look a bit different, but the upper section is super buffed out now so I would venture times are wash...
  • 2 1
 @Roost66: who both crashed. lol
  • 1 4
 @Muckal: I don't pay for strava to know that, but I think do have a top 10 on Top Chief.
  • 66 0
 Greg Minnaar, 42 years young, top 10 qualifier, beating out guys literally half his age, with a strong chance of winning this year. That kids, is how one displays GOAT status.
  • 6 3
 What I don't get. He's not a protected rider. Come on. It's Greg Minnar. The Goat.
  • 4 0
 @omegalung: he must be protected by default
  • 3 0
 just saw the go pro on youtube. he was running the suspension telemetry for his qualy run. Data Data Data. he's going for it.
  • 3 20
flag Madfella (Aug 4, 2023 at 11:27) (Below Threshold)
 He's rad for sure. But no chance of winning I'm afraid
  • 3 0
 @omegalung: It'd be cool if they did a grandfathered-in type of deal for the winning-est riders of all time. Maybe something like of all riders racing the top 3 or top 5 of all time. ...I know this is a bit of a can of worms to work in logistically, but it would sure be a cool concept to see them implement.
  • 36 0
 Big ups to Tahnee
  • 9 0
 Yeah, after this last year and some recent crashes, I was wondering if she was gonna stick it out. She actually went to Hardline and now P2. Hopefully she has a good final and boosts her confidence.
  • 3 0
 @motts: *hopefully she has a final. That crash across the line was brutal.
  • 34 9
 Paging user @bikes-arent-real : "[Bernard is] an outside chance, people just click Bernard because they know his name and like him. There are 10 guys who have a much better chance of it than him."
  • 17 1
 Maybe so but at least 8 of those guys are behind him, got to give him some credit.
  • 8 2
 @cypher74: If this was unclear for the people downvoting me: this guy said this yesterday and was clearly very wrong.
  • 8 19
flag on-the-move (Aug 4, 2023 at 9:09) (Below Threshold)
 Yeah it's not a world cup so they don't ride fast in Qualifying. Seems like you do not watch much Downhill racing. Thanks for the @, I'd like to see him win more than you know mate, seeing as I actually follow the sport.
  • 6 17
flag on-the-move (Aug 4, 2023 at 9:11) (Below Threshold)
 @Jvhowube: I'm still correct lol, he got 17th here last year year and only cracked the top 10 at Val di Sole with a rain advantage. There's 10 guys who have actually won world cups before and are consistently faster. Admit it everyone just clicks that because they watch his blog lmao.
  • 6 8
 And Kolb and Daprela have half the votes he has put together, you're all voting for personality's.
  • 4 2
 @bikes-arent-real: Stop upvoting your own outlandish hater comments.
  • 6 4
 @OneEyedHito: "hater comments" I guarantee I've watched more BK that you have lol, I'm a big fan. It's just statistics mate. he's got an outside chance but there are 10 guys there who have consistently beaten him and 9 of them have won world cups before, anything can happen on the day ofcourse, but statistically anything can happen means that any of them are more likely to win it, I didn't say he's going to come outside the top 10 either, I know you guys will think that's what I mean lmao. www.rootsandrain.com/rider798/bernard-kerr/results/filters/dh/seriesgroups244,325
  • 3 0
 The real battle!
  • 21 1
 World champs is when 79 riders start and Bruni takes gold.
  • 5 0
 What I don't understand is how he is always there at Worlds regardless of the rest of his season. Like either he has a hidden alien mode in his brain that unlock automatically at worlds, either he is not so motivated during the cups.
  • 2 0
 This is probably one of the least contested years for Bruni. No Amaury, no Jackson, Finn is still injured, and the rest of the field would be happy to just be near the podium.
  • 1 0
 @opignonlibre: there is only one Superbruni!
  • 1 0
 Nice Gary Lineker reference!
  • 1 0
 @mi-bike: it doesn't work for football anymore...
  • 2 0
 @mi-bike: neither for DH apparently
  • 16 2
 Hey pinkbike mods.... Is there any chance of separating out the posts for the juniors, the women and the men? I love reading the comments about each, but with them all in one post a top comment about another race means really good comments about another category acan be pushed to the end.
  • 15 1
 Rachel did a full run???
  • 4 2
 Surprised she bothered with a dodgy shoulder tbh - as a protected rider I thought all she'd have to do is roll through the start gate to be in the race tomorrow?
  • 12 0
 Gee said she'll be fine. So she had to I guess haha
  • 5 0
 @bashhard: But how is she so fast nowadays when she can't follow her brothers?

(this is a sarcastic comment and an old reference)
  • 14 0
 Feel the BERN!!!!
  • 12 0
 Tahneé’s Back: Yey!!!
  • 6 0
 SO sick to see her up at the pointy end again! It's been a long road.
  • 2 0
 Tahnee’s arm: yeowch!
  • 15 2
 What happened to Richie
  • 7 0
 I thought the whole plan this year for Richie Rude was to compete at World Champs DH?
  • 26 9
 maybe they checked his friend's water bottle again?
  • 2 0
 I don’t believe he made the downhill roster for the US. So he couldn’t race. Seems to be planning to do some World Cup races after EDR finishes. Guessing snowshoe and st Anne
  • 3 4
 @bashhard: love it
  • 1 0
 @dwhere: big fan of Richie I've raced against him a few times back in the day he was like young teen crushing it ...
  • 1 0
 @airtym: yeah, why did they post of video of him riding the course?
  • 1 0
 @Motivated: someone pointed out it was filmed a while back before some of the recent changes. Idk if they hoped he would make the team when they filmed it
  • 1 0
 @dwhere: I agree with that. He raced US Nationals and Crankworks few weeks back with a full painted turquoise frame. Rumor about the frames is that he and Mick have the only two frames.
  • 10 1
 Rachel putting down a run is incredible
  • 8 0
 Hell yeah Gloria Scarsi killing it up in 4th on with minimal time on the DH bike
  • 1 0
 She is an amazing rider. From european champ in track cycling to enduro and now DH, really awesome to see her performing so well
  • 1 0
 Yep she really is impressive. I did not know her, just look at a bio, pretty crazy
  • 2 0
 Her grandfather invented HDMI cable!
  • 10 0
 TAHNEEEEE
  • 7 0
 Luca & Dak need to bring it home for the USA! Happy to see Neko out there battling after the injury
  • 1 0
 Smooth Luca! He’s like a dolphin on a bike!
  • 7 0
 Ed Masters in top 20 after being off on injury for so long?!?!? wow - ED TV is gonna be on fiyahhh this weekend
  • 5 0
 Correction, that would be Ed Bull Media.
  • 1 0
 Main line with confidence! Ed Masters has what it takes!
  • 6 0
 Speed trap accuracy is potentially off? Seems highly improbable that 4 men are tied for first, down to the thousandths of kph.
  • 3 0
 Pleased I'm not the only nerd to spot that!
  • 2 0
 @darlos-finest-son: there’s plenty of nerds! They’re out here spotting it!
  • 8 0
 BK BK BK BK........
  • 4 0
 Can someone do an analysis on the gap from Women to Men? Because based on no objective data it feels like the gap has been closing, only 34seconds over 5 minutes is properly fast
  • 2 0
 You got time! Yeah!
  • 4 0
 A few big names way out the back, were they playing with seeding? Finn and especially Greenland, I figured this is his track.
  • 1 0
 Yeah, personally I think they didn't want to push themselves too hard unnecessarily. Both riders coming off a recent injury, and while they're riding well this week so far, I bet they wanted to take it easy since they are both protected and will be seeded in the final ~20 riders regardless of their qualifying positions.
  • 1 0
 @osephj: Greenland had a good crash
  • 1 0
 Finn also wrote on Instagram he had some mechanical issue cause a crash in his quali run, in addition to having had a stomach virus causing trouble the night before. Hoping he can still pull a good run in the finals.
  • 1 0
 @donimo: his gear shifter was hanging off when he passed us in the woods, presumably crashed somewhere on the first half of the track.
  • 7 0
 daprela go go go
  • 2 0
 Le cœur! It means heart in French! Daprela! The guy!
  • 5 0
 Does anyone know what happend to Finn Isles?
  • 1 1
 Looks like a crash?
  • 2 0
 Still sore from Crankworx crash,
  • 2 0
 Hope finn is 100% for the finals.
  • 1 0
 @onegear29: yeah maybe saving it for the big race!
  • 1 0
 @bikesandbeers: Looks fast as on vital raw
  • 2 0
 He wrote on Instagram he had some stomach bug bothering him the night before, but also a mechanical issue caused a crash in the quali run. Hopefully his luck turns for the finals.
  • 3 0
 @donimo: cheers for the info mate!
  • 2 0
 Finn Iles!
  • 4 0
 Anyone know of any livestreamed commentary alternatives? Guy doing the BBC junior finals is sending me to sleep
  • 4 0
 So Nina Hoffmann had some fast splits at the beginning, Rachel did an easy run or is her shoulder more damaged?
  • 1 0
 I thought Nina would not ride after her crash today? So a crash in quali again?

Rachel is an animal! Eek
  • 1 0
 @yoobee: according to Insta Nina had to backtrack to stay in the tape and not DQ, so she had a clean run just some confusion with taping
  • 1 0
 @daceto817: new taping! TuffBlox! Gill nets! She’s got this!
  • 5 0
 Dns for Ronan Dunne? Crash in practice?
  • 3 0
 Crashed back home last week. Sore wrist.
  • 1 0
 @jokullthor: ah, bummer. Was looking forward to seeing what he could do.
  • 17 0
 Disqualified for too much swearings
  • 4 2
 Damn. He’s been fun to watch.
  • 1 0
 Live Laugh Six Red Bulls Ronan Dunne is ripping!
  • 5 0
 Go BK !!!!!!! Also stoked to see Luca and Dak up there!!!!
  • 3 0
 Dakota is going for it!
  • 4 0
 Glad Neko is back! Is he that off pace at the moment, totally understandable or something possibly happen on track.
  • 1 0
 The people champ!! Cool he’s out there on a steel bike too.
  • 5 0
 The way Vali is riding these days, she will be hard to beat.
  • 1 0
 Valentina Höll!
  • 3 0
 For world champs it's not actually qualifications right ? It's just seeding ?
  • 2 0
 Top 80 Men and Top 40 Women qualify at Worlds ... So with less then that ... Yep!
  • 3 0
 Emmy Lan switching to DH? Or just widening her repertoire. What a rider!
  • 5 1
 Allez CAMILLE!!!!
  • 2 0
 She’s there to win!
  • 4 0
 Let's Go BK!
  • 4 0
 What happened to Laurie?
  • 1 0
 They call him Lozza! He happens!
  • 3 0
 Damn I hope Bernard gets it in the uk for the uk fans
  • 2 0
 He can do it!
  • 3 0
 I reckon Loïc’s gonna take it.
  • 2 0
 LB #1!
  • 2 0
 Are there semis before the finals at worlds too?
  • 5 0
 Not for worlds…
  • 2 0
 Looked it up. No. Just finals. Old format.
  • 4 4
 Who will be coverimg the live stream? I have gcn+ and its not on there or is it region lock still. It qas easier and better when it was red bull.
  • 8 0
 Bro there is an entire article about this. Also Red Bull has never had full rights to world champs
  • 1 0
 It is on GCN+ (I'm watching the junior finals right now), but yeah seems to be regionally locked for the US based on the what can I watch page. Because why not. Good luck trying to find out who's showing this over there, I might recommend a VPN instead. (With Red Bull VPN was the only option here too, still to this day I have no idea who supposedly was showing the races in Finland as we were locked out as well, but really there was no other service showing these available even with money.) help.globalcyclingnetwork.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360015571479-United-States-of-America
  • 1 0
 Only on FloSports in the U.S...sucks!
  • 4 0
 Sign up to windscribe vpn for free and connect via the UK to the BBC. You can see it all there
  • 2 0
 Tiz cycling.
  • 2 0
 V.P.N.
  • 1 0
 We’re stealing it! FreeVPNs on our iPads! We trick GCN app into thinking we’re somewhere else! Coffee is ready!
  • 1 0
 For a myriad of reasons this is the most disappointing World Champs of the last 20 years
  • 2 0
 Where can I watch this?
  • 1 0
 SBS online you lucky dog
  • 1 0
 Fort William Scotland in England Europe! And on the internet! It’s a go!
  • 2 0
 @owl-X: Fort William Scotland in England? How to make yourself popular with the locals.
  • 1 0
 @commental: thin lizzy and U2!
  • 2 1
 Is the qualifications broadcast in the UK at all?
  • 1 0
 Been trying to find out for an hour or so Frown
  • 1 0
 They never have been before afaik
  • 1 0
 Don't think so, junior finals is on at 2.30 on iPlayer
  • 3 0
 To be honest Worlds quali would be a bit of anticlimax to televise as it doesn't mean much - not even the start order iirc
  • 2 0
 FWIW ... Junior Finals also listed on GCN+ for today ... at 0630 (I am VPN'ing in from UK)
  • 4 2
 Bruni and Kolb, nice!
  • 14 0
 And BK!
  • 3 1
 @dkendy1: Let's Go Race Fans!!!
  • 1 0
 Fan fic incoming!
  • 2 2
 Team GB clean sweep in the DH tomorrow, Juniors and Elites!! We could even do the XC too!
  • 2 0
 I've 5 quid says you're wrong
  • 1 0
 I can’t see it but hope someone gets a podium for GB tomorrow. Vali and Bruni look good for the wins and conditions will stay decent by the look of it.
  • 1 0
 You’re on the team!
  • 1 0
 Congrats to Charlie!
  • 1 0
 @suspended-flesh: amazing run!
  • 3 1
 Bruni is back!
  • 1 0
 In front!
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