Qualifying Analysis - Leogang World Cup 2021

---

Qualifying Results

---

Full results, here.

---

Sector by Sector Results

---

---

The Story of the Session

---

---

Talking Points

---

The Woods


There's no doubt about it, the woods section was the defining feature of this Leogang course once again. In both fields, the rider leading at the third split (the bike park section) lost their lead in the first half of the woods and it's also true that the rider who was fastest in sectors 4 and 5 combined ended up the top qualifier.

We've no doubt there will be tales of woe filtering through over the next few hours but from scanning the timesheets the biggest losers here seem to be Loris Vergier (who fell from 8th to 43rd), Mick Hannah (18th to 48th) and Nina Hoffmann (3rd to 7th). There were winners too though. Amaury Pierron (70th to 21st), Eleonora Farina (10th to 4th) and Mark Wallace (52nd to 15th) were among those able to recover from weaker top sections to end up in strong qualifying positions. As expected, this is where the race will be decided tomorrow.

Troy Brosnan Cooked up a Special Run


Without a doubt, the best rider through the woods section was Troy Brosnan. You may associate Australian riders with their dry, dusty home trails, but Brosnan proved they have no problem in the slick mud either. Over the two bottom sectors, Brosnan was more than 4 seconds faster than the next fastest rider, Amaury Pierron. For comparison, last year Reece Wilson was about 2 seconds faster than his second-placed man David Trummer through those same sectors in finals. Does Brosnan have a new line up his sleeve that nobody else has twigged or is he simply on another level this weekend? We'll probably have to wait until tomorrow's full broadcast to find out.

The Track Seems to be Running Better Than Last Year


It's clear the woods are causing carnage once again but the times would suggest that it's holding up better than last year. The times are about 20 seconds faster for the women and ten seconds faster for the men than the Seeding results from World Champs last year. Of course, qualifying at a World Cup means more than Seeding at a World Champs but that's still a significant difference and probably means the mud isn't stopping riders dead like it did last year.

Riders you Might Have Missed


Here are some riders going fast that you may have missed from a quick glance at the timesheet:

Amaury Pierron - Fastest in timed training yesterday and second fastest through the woods today. Something clearly happened to Pierron in the top section of the track but he's lost none of the pace he was carrying yesterday.

Loris Veriger - Loris was the fastest through the first split and eighth at the third. We can only assume he had a mechanical or a crash as he ended up 17 seconds back in 43rd.

Frida Ronning - The Norwegian rider who resides in the US was running well up until the woods. Cracking the top 10 for the first time tomorrow could be a possibility for her.