Practice eh - Mont St Anne DH World Cup 5
Life is like a box of chocolates and so is Mont Sainte Anne... You never know what you're gonna get. This morning started out slick, became bone-dry and then went fully South to finish with a lightning accompanied torrential downpour. Last year a massive storm moved in as Smith prepared for his winning descent to blur the vision of the other big names, but leaving him undeterred and at full-throttle. Today Danny Hart showed how comfortable he is at blistering MSA pace and set the standard with Hill, Brosnan and Minnaar all a tire nobble back, while Atherton and Smith may both be out of contention after hitting the deck. Of course tomorrow the riders will have to show their true colors and we'll get our best guess as to who can do the business and really make it rain when finals come around.
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 With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the true North strong and free... O Canada. |
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| Fire it up... Finally time the wheels of the World Cup series got rolling after 6 whole weeks sabbatical. |
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| Dropping into the fog and slick, fresh, track first thing in the morning. |
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| USA's Kyle Thomas rolls down the start gate for his first training run at his first ever World Cup race. |
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| First rides and first plates, but still humble enough to do his own zip-tie work. Brosnan gets to grips with his new set-up. |
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| The initial greasiness got things off to a tentative start and it took some time for even the biggest of names to find their feet. |
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| Brendog and Gwin modelling the latest in TLD fluro wears. |
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| Dark in the woods? Follow the neon orange road. Maybe slightly to the side of it for best results. |
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| Troy Brosnan putting down the gas on his new Specialized S-Works Demo railing into the top five fastest time training runs today. |
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| Pom Pon has podiumed the last three years in a row here in MSA and she's looking sharp as ever taking some brave lines in practice. |
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| The queen of 2013 is currently running the unthinkably high number 4 plate. She took a win on this track in 2012 and would love a repeat now more than ever. |
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| Wyn Masters of style. |
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| Always a surprise how small a photographer can make himself when the weather comes in. |
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| The Bulldog has a great East Coast track record and is looking to build on his podium last month. |
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 | The track is really good especially the new top berms that they've made and the new rock gardens which are a little bit techy now with all the ruts cutting in. I do enjoy riding this track every year when I come back ey. The track is so wide open and different to all the other ones, I am just having fun on my bike and it is so good to be back racing World Cups. I had a podium here in 2011 when I got 3rd and in 2012 I got 6th, so I hope I can back those results up this weekend and maybe even go and do better - Brook MacDonald - Trek World Racing |
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| Tracey Hannah's day did not have the best start. A massive crash on her first run left her pretty shaken,but she pulled herself back up to finish 3rd in the afternoon's timed runs. |
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| Andrew Neethling navigating the rocks. |
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| Stevie Smith is the favorite of many for the win this weekend, but sadly another injury may rule him out. |
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| Luca Shaw didn't have the run he wanted when we left off in Leogang. No doubt he will be gunning to get the number one back. |
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| Sam Dale leads, Ratboy follows, and Bulldog takes a nap. |
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| Nick Beer off the new shark-fin hip up top. |
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| Look at that beautiful dirt. No bike park tracks here. |
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| Emmeline Ragot, fastest in timed training looked impressive all day long. |
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| Another year and another shot of the classic MSA hip under the gondola. Neethling does the honors. |
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| The classic narrow bobsled run through the woods at MSA. This section of trail has remained unchanged since 1996. |
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| There aren't many riders able to get as loose as Blenki. Number 10 doesn't do his podium threat justice, but a flat in Fort William and a crash after his first place qualifying in Cairns have left him off the back so far. |
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| Loic Bruni is hungry for a win and keep the streak going of first timers. |
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| Lunch delivery for the course marshals. Perhaps they could get a donkey for the job. |
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| Connor Fearon also looking like one of the fastest guys out here today. |
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| Phil Atwill boosting out of the top section, and entering the super rough mid section. RRP Ghost are filling the ranks of the IXS cups right now and he, Molloy, Fischback and Trummer are all capable of top results at a World Cup. |
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| A course this rough and you'll be needing your toolbox...or a mechanic. If you can't find either you can borrow the set chained to the lift station wall. |
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| Sam Hill's last win came on this track and he is looking for nothing less than the top step his weekend. If his early speed in the woods in any indication, he will definitely be a threat here. |
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| Sam Blenkinsop never goes out of style. |
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| The open piste sections of Mont Sainte Anne are rough and fast. |
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| The dominator of 2011 and 2012 here in Quebec had a shaky start today with a flat in the first turn of his second run. He and Troy are enjoying the new bikes and needless to stay looked more than at home by the end of timed training. |
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| Greg Minnaar was looking plenty comfortable on his new steed today. He looked smoothest in the middle sections of the track. He was fourth fastest in timed training today. |
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| Wyn Masters about to get wild through the slick woods. Massive rainstorms after practice and into the night will not make this section any easier to ride tomorow. |
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| Native to Canada, home of the Schleyble-top, Forrest Riesco represents. |
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| Steve Smith and Loic Bruni are two definite wild cards this weekend. Steve won here last year, and Loic is fired up after coming so close to the top spot one round prior in Leogang. |
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| Jill Kintner is looking for another podium, and MSA is her kind of track. The American national champ should do well here. |
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| Aaron Gwin on the new S-Works Demo. Will the new bike be the weapon that helps him get the number one plate, or will he need more time on it? |
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| The rain from Maine arrived today, and was thoroughly insane. |
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| Jack Moir blasting out the non existent step down hip. |
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| Neil Stewart, winner of Euro Whip-Off Champs a few weeks ago at Crankworx L2A throws some style of the first of the two big hip jumps. |
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| Patrick Thome showed some speed today taking 10th in the timed runs. |
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| Ratboy steeze |
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| Could we manage 5 winners in 5 rounds? Could we manage a third first-time winner in a row? It would make one hell of a season and we're pretty sure Loic's game. |
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| David McMillan was one of the most stylish riders all day and we'll be stoked to see what he's able to do here. |
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| Greg Minnaar seems to have gotten used to his new Santa Cruz V10 pretty quick. |
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| The ruts, holes and slick corners caught more than a few riders out in the steep woods. |
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| Andrew Neethling throwing up the now long lost turf that will now be sloppy mud come tomorrow after what most would consider a full on monsoon just after time training ended. |
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| World Cup style points. Craig Evans gets tabled up top. |
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| Emmeline Ragot will be looking for another win here in Mont Sainte Anne, she was certainly carrying good speed in practice today. |
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| Dirt's Harry Heath 8th fastest man down the track today on the all new Orange. |
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| It's not hard to tell if Sam Hill wants to win this race. After a few easy cruises through the new sections, he hit practice flat out to make the second fastest TT - a 4.19. |
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| Danny Hart - fastest man in timed training today. Will he maintain his form throughout the weekend? |
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| Gee Atherton took a big fall in the rocks this afternoon and went to get x-rays during TT. It's not clear whether he'll be able to race, but he'll be heading up the lift tomorrow with a wrist brace to find out. |
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| Steve Smith may have sprained his good ankle today clipping a rock going full speed and will have to see tomorrow brings after a night of ice and rest. |
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| Brosnan's done it here before as junior with a time that would have put him in the top 10 in the men's. Better believe he can do it again. |
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| And this is how practice ended... Heavy rain and water cascading down the track. |
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| Batten the hatches, tie everything down. The pits may look like a tornado hit come morning. |
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| You know that feeling when leading the series is so easy it's boring? Nope, not many people do, not even Brosnan; just a yawn at the end of a long day. |
| It rained a bit at the start of practice and the track got some holes and ruts in it. Then it dried out which made it a lot rougher and a lot better... The World Cup tracks have been getting a bit freeway-ish so it's good to get some more bumps in this one! I am feeling really fit and strong for the second half on the season and I'm looking forward to see what we can do on this new bike. I have been out a bit on it before now, getting used to it, but this is the first real test we've put through it. It does feel a bit different but it's really fast and smooth so we'll see how we're gonna do tomorrow in qualifying. Right now in the first laps of practice, on one of the wildest tracks of the circuit, it's holding up really good. All in all I feel ready to try and get another win here, just have to wait and see what tomorrow holds when everyone starts to go really fast - Troy Brosnan - Specialized Factory Racing |
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+1 all these photos are awesome. The shot of trace just shoots emotion straight through you.
ask your girlfriend, mother, dog, me, him, her, someone.
We can tell that only spell check is being used. That's lazy and frustrating!
Line choice is great to have, the wider trails are good, it shows variation and really increases the need for riders to pick great lines and test different lines. Having a single track dh race would be a bad move in my opinion. MSA has lots of wider track and you can take different lines, its just the riders will find the fastest line so you see many taking similar lines anyway. But removing the choice of different lines is a move backwards IMO.
The freeway of flat pedally tracks is bad, but having lots of line choice in rough steep difficult terrain is brilliant.
You may not like how little kit or padding they have on, but everyone makes their own personal decisions about what works for them. I used to think it crazy to not at least have elbow pads on, but after trying many different styles of elbows for numerous makers, I have to say I feel better, and therefore ride more relaxed, and therefore better.
Clever or not, I'm making my own decision fool!
Heal up fast Superheroes of stoke!
I have heard 2 stories:
1. The larger frame sizes were delayed in manufacturing/shipping (unlikely)
2. the team riders were not happy with the bike (linkages and suspension curve) and they have asked for changes before production (likely)
It seems insane to launch a bike in such a way and have 1 rider ride it at the first race it was announced only to have the other riders still riding the old bike 3 rounds later .. hmmmm
Manufacture issues are way more likely, especially when they are both riding a Large.
Maybe Brosnan's frame is the cheaper carbon model as we have seen in previous carbon demo iterations?
Just my thoughts...
I'm assuming it's renthal but it looks like a new model??