RESULTS: Leogang Downhill World Cup Elite Qualifying

Yesterday's violent downpours subsided for qualifying day at the Leogang Downhill World Cup, but only to make room for persistent rain that hasn't let up since the morning. The team mechanics and anybody responsible for laundry will be hating life right about now, but at least the conditions on track are the same for everybody. As for any team showing up with white rider kits, that's on them.

Time To Make Your Vital Downhill Fantasy Picks!

Qualifying Session 1

As per the revised schedule with the elite women closing out the big show for the first time ever this week, the elite men were up early for the first practice session and were first to drop in for qualifying session 1. Dylan Maples stepped up for #USDH, taking the Q1 win by a fairly comfortable margin, although there were a lot of green splits further down the leaderboard so he probably left some time out on the track.

To place in the top-20 and book a slot in tomorrow's finals, you needed to be within 7.3 seconds of the winning time in Q1 today. That group included a mix of old dogs and young blood, with many a big name finding themselves going back to the drawing board for Q2. Times were stacked pretty tight from 7 to 12 seconds back in Q1, with a big group of riders set to head back up the hill to fight for the 10 qualifying spots up for grabs in Q2 later in the afternoon - including Luca fresh off his maiden World Cup win in Loudenvielle, Amaury, the Alran Bros, Finn, Double-O and Dak. Plenty of drama was yet to come!

In the elite women's category, all eyes were on home town hero Vali Höll, not just because she lives here but also because the elite women will close out race day tomorrow and the local crowd was surely looking forward to seeing Vali go last in her bid for another triumph in her house. The win may still happen tomorrow, but she won't be last to drop as both Marine Cabirou and Anna Newkirk bested Vali in Q1 today. Did Vali play it safe, or did she just want to avoid the pressure cooker tomorrow? Our money is on the former, but we'll only know for sure tomorrow if this was the plan all along, or if the treacherous conditions just got the better of her. As for the rest of the field, the Santa Cruz Syndicate will want to put Q1 behind them as soon as possible to focus on fighting for two of the five spots available in Q2, as will Tahnee and Gracey who also had issues in Q1.

Qualifying Session 2

The weather looked much the same by the time the second elite qualifying session rolled around. Remi Thirion laid down an early marker, but he would soon come under attack from all angles to ultimately fall short in his bid for a top-ten finish here. As we got to the pointy end of the field, the times came tumbling down with a bunch of green splits telling the story that 1000 pictures would have told, had qualifying been broadcasted. You can read a lot into some numbers if you put your mind to it though, like watching Luca Shaw go from first-time World Cup winner two weeks ago to seeing his qualifying hopes slip away one split at a time in the Leogang mud, while Finn was dismantling Dylan Maple's Q1-winning mark with ease. Amaury and the Alran Bros righted the ship in Q2, as did Pinky, Martin Maes and Danny Hart. It's always hard to tell if the track was in fact running faster or if Finn just found another gear, but take nothing away from anybody who actually made it to finals today.

suspense.jpg?VersionId=dnm6q6mvo — The highs and lows of World Cup racing, all in one timing screen.

In the elite women's category, Gracey and Tahnee got the runs they needed to punch their tickets for the big show, while Mille Johnset left it to the literal last minute as she had to go up for a rerun before securing her spot for tomorrow. Her splits were a rollercoaster of emotions, as she was off the pace early, quick in the middle, then fading towards the line. All in a day's work.