RESULTS: South Korea Downhill World Cup Elite Qualifying

For as much as the off-season feels like it drags on forever, once the first race of the season comes around it all seems to come at us almost too fast. Track walk, a day of practice, and suddenly the riders are on the clock. Add in a new venue and a completely fresh track, and it becomes a test of who can get up to speed quickly and be ready to perform when the start gate beeps again. With just 20 qualifying spots available for the men and 10 for the women, the pressure is always palpable in the first elite session of the day (Q1), as nobody wants to find themselves missing out and having to regroup for Q2.

Make Your Vital Fantasy Picks!

In the women's category, Hattie Harnden put her extensive enduro background to good use, learning the track and piecing a good run together to book her spot as the last rider down the hill in finals tomorrow. There was a further shake-up in the established order of things as Valentina Roa-Sanchez and Gloria Scarsi rounded out the top three, while Myriam Nicole and Vali Höll crossed the line with several seconds to find on the track if they want to challenge for the win tomorrow (Vali did come off her bike in her run though, maybe something to take into account as you make your Vital Downhill Fantasy picks...). Tahnee Seagrave, Phoebe Gale and Eliana Hulsebosch all had green splits through the top part before running into trouble, which left them with something to build on for Q2.

In the men's category, the French looked determined to maintain their stranglehold on the top of the leaderboard, but that was before a couple of US young guns had their say. We knew the new crop of juniors were as fast as most of the elite field already over the past couple of seasons, and Asa Vermette showed that the hype is indeed real as he took the Q1 win by 1.2 seconds over Amaury Pierron. Fellow #USDH ripper Evan Medcalf joined in the fun, snagging the third spot another second behind Amaury. Aaron Gwin and Dak Norton were both on good runs, trailing by just over a second at the third split before running into issues further down the hill. The Alran brothers were looking to mark their arrival in the elite category much like Asa just did, but they didn't have it all their way today. Till made sure to book his spot in the finals with a solid 10th place run, while Max found himself having to reset for Q2 as he came up just short at the first time of asking. Now we had to wait for a couple of hours to complete the field for finals.

Qualifying Session 2

The women got Q2 action underway with strong performances from most of the established names. When the dust settled, the top 5 women laid down times that would have comfortably put them in the top 6 in Q1, with Phoebe Gale landing just 0.5 seconds off Hattie's Q1-winning time - we should have a good race on our hands tomorrow! Disappointment for the Santa Cruz Syndicate as both Nina Hoffmann and Eliana Hulsebosch came up short again.

The men's Q2 session turned into a hotly contested affair with the young guns once again shaking things up and putting the establishment on notice. First-year elite Bode Burke (proudly flying the American Samoa flag after a registration mistake), took the Q2 win with a time that would have put him inside the top-5 in Q1. Max Alran made up for his Q1 woes with a solid Q2 effort, beating his brother's Q1 time in the process, while George Madley rounded out the all-under-20 Q2 podium in third place. Aaron Gwin, Troy Brosnan and Richie Rude stood up for the old guard, but it was heartbreak for Dak who was left on the outside looking in by just a tenth of a second.

Finals tomorrow - keep an eye on the women as the top three qualifiers from Q1 are all on belt-driven bikes, which means they are in the running for the $100K Gates Belted Purse!