All about the 2022 Downhill World Championships Qualifier Runs
Downhill qualification shows who has found the fast lines, and who is up to speed.
Photos: Fletcher, Rousu, Albrecht
With practice first up after a day of Downhill practice on Wednesday, the riders racing the UCI 2022 Mountain Bike World Championship in Downhill had their qualification runs to complete.
Over 200 riders went against the clock in the elite and junior races for men and women. Matt Rousu was on course to give us a bit of a lowdown.
'Riders are approaching this week a little differently here in Les Gets. There’s an extra day of practice compared to the World Cup series, so some riders took it a bit easier today as Dean Lucas explains “I feel like you get up to speed on day 1, then fine tune on day 2 before executing on day 3. But here we have 4 days so you kind of plateau on day 3 and it’s kind of difficult to keep the same height of intensity for that long, it’s a strange one for sure, but I’m having the best time here so far”.'
'Having said all of that, it was the usual suspects who topped the leaderboard today, Coulanges, Pierron, Suarez, Brosnan, Illes etc.. Myriam Nicole threw down the gauntlet and won quallies by nearly 7 seconds.'
'Hoffman, Farina and Hoell all bunched together there. Ellie Smith and Cassie Voysey having solid runs also to see them race on Saturday!'
Juniors qualifying
'In the Juniors it was reigning World Champ Izabela Yankova who dominated today, a surprise to be honest with the likes of Hemstreet and Gale sliding down the leaderboard.'
'But she did win the rainbow jersey last year so we know she can handle the pressure, this one will be interesting… Elise Empey had a storming run to qualify 8th too!'
'Jackson Goldstone would have to settle for 2nd today, my partner Leighann saw him spin a full 360 down on one of the lower berms so it would be his nemesis Jordan Williams who would qualify 1st by 3 seconds. A lot of our Aussie lads had interesting runs too, crashes galore but good enough speed in the end to all race the big show. Remy Meier-Smith was on podium speed before his crash in the lower woods…'
Click through the gallery at the top to see all Australian riders and how they qualified.
Qualifying according to Troy Brosnan
Jack Fletcher caught up with Troy Brosnan after he placed 5th in qualifying, which puts him right in the fight for the World Title.
'It felt good. Whenever you slide into the top 5 in a proper qualification then you know the pace is right there, and you're looking good for the Finals. At the same time, we have an extra practice day to sus some stuff out and really dial it in. I'm excited, I'm happy with my run. But I feel like I have a little bit more so I can hopefully bring back that 2 or 3 seconds that I need, and see what happens on Saturday!'
The track is proving popular, but it is changing rapidly. Troy has his own take on that for racing.
'Yesterday was pretty good, the track cut in. It was soft and nice and not too blown out. Overnight it's like it got completely destroyed! There are some big holes and dust. With an extra day of practice on Friday and then on Saturday – the track will be gone for sure! But that's how us top riders like it, as it's kind of what we're used to be the end of the day when we go down near the last. The more blown out the better for me – so bring the holes on.'
Get a closer look at Troy Brosnan's World Champs Canyon Sender CFR
With Troy breaking his ankle in February at the Australian National Championships, he's had a completely different lead in to World Champs than he would have otherwise – but it's far from terrible (broken bones aside).
'It's hard to explain, it feels like it's kind of built me into the perfect lead up to Worlds. I haven't had to grind out to be ready for round one and then dip in the season to come back up and be ready for Worlds. I've just been focusing on Worlds, and all the World Cups leading up to it have been little steps in the right direction. And now we're here – let's see if it has paid off.'
There's talk of rain, and in 2021 the Les Gets World Cup was wet. Forecasts are changing though. But Troy is ready for whatever is coming.
'It will be interesting. It said it was going to rain a lot, now not heaps. Who knows, wake up and look at the sky and see what happens. There's not much you can really do when it happens. It will be interesting and a bit different. without practice on this exact track in wet weather. It's almopst better when its wet and dries out… but if it does rain, let the best man win.'
