Mont Saint Anne is hosting the DH finals tomorrow, coverage starting 7.30pm UK time on Red Bull TV.

Should be a corker with Sam Hill and Steve Smith back in the mix, both previous winners there, and it looks like a Loic Bruni kinda track too.

Though Gwin will probably take the win by 10 seconds or something daft.

just as well you said

i always expect Sunday

That is prime Saturday evening TV viewing right there! 😀

Track looks brilliant. Love it that they’ve took berms out and replaced with off camber corners. hard to work out the size of the rock face/drop- Looks just big in some pics and massive in others.

Out for dinner with friends. Going to have to avoid the internet until I can watch the replay.

Scruff, take a look on Pinkbike at the track walk pics – that rock slab has a Laurie Greenland shaped person hanging down it!

The XC is on Sunday, all on http://www.redbull.tv/live

Track looks brilliant

+1

Claudio track preview on Redbull

Is Bryceland healed up?

Thiron injured and Peat still not riding, Smith, Hill, Miami & Pom Pom all on their bikes.

BOOM !

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/rider-povs-mont-sainte-anne-dh-world-cup-2015.html

Sadface for Thirion out of action. Very strong line-up otherwise though.

Quali results should be in within a few hours.

Brosnan qualifies fastest in men, Rachel in women.

Danny Hart second, Rat 4th, Fearon 5th and Fairclaw 6th!

Gwin seems to have taken it easy (bike problem?) and relying on protected status, which means he’ll be down the hill before the top 20.

He’s making a habit of this. Hopefully it won’t kill the fun this time.

Gotta love Claudio – his enthusiasm is fantastic. Looked as if he was really holding back behind Tahnee too, so he could ‘enjoy the view’ 😆

Rumours on other sites suggesting some of the big hitters you’d normally expect to see in the top-10 have intentionally held back in qualifying so they can come down the hill earlier today as rain is predicted at some point during the Men’s final….not sure i believe that or not, i know Matti Lehikoinen employed this tactic at Champery in 2007 (and won) but riders are missing out on points from qualifying and i cant see guys like Minnaar and Gwin, who are in the hunt for the overall points title doing the same.

Anyway, good to see Hart right up there….if its wet and muddy like his World Title run in 2011 then i reckon its his….I also think he only needs the one breakthrough Word Cup win and he’ll be on a roll and winning them left right and centre, fingers crossed.

Brosnan also looking good and it was the same World Champs in 2011 at a treacherous Champery that Troy took Junior Gold with a time that would’ve bagged him a Silver in the Seniors…behind Hart…so for me its between those two today…if its wet of course.

If it stays dry?….anybody really, its so open this year.

Minnaar is capable of coming out of nowhere for the win.

Brendan could win, he’s showing great form this year and having Neko as a team mate is the kick up the arse he needed, he’s another one who i reckon just needs to win one and then would clean up for the next few years.

Bryceland was apparently setting great first split times in practice and is supposed to be fully healed now.

Gee is Gee, always a solid bet….needs to step it up this year against the fast new juniors who’ve graduated to the ranks but he is always a threat.

Loic is consistently fast this year, starting to look like ‘Mr 2nd place’ at the moment but just needs that first win before it starts to become a big mental stumbling block.

I’d like to see CRC’s Joe Smith turn his domestic form into WC success but like Simmonds and Dale at Saracen i just dont see him in the same class as the names above.

Gutierrez is a dark horse, blisteringly fast during dry practice and has kept it pinned during wet qualifying too so starting to show WC level consistency…that’d be nice to see.

Dream pick for me would be Sam Hill though, he qualified around 34th (i think?) and is getting better the more riding he does….some rumours suggest he’s deliberately coming back slowly and showing great maturity and that he might be faster at the moment than he’s letting on…some more far fetched rumours go on from that to suggest he’s keeping his powder dry for the World Champs in September.

The course looks great, i’ve been watching videos on Pinkbike, Dirt, Wideopen etc over the last couple of days and in the dry it looks like the riders are skating across marbles and in the wet those fast rock sections look bloody lethal….those guys and girls really earn their money!

Cheers for the PSA. We had forgotten.

Seems most of the poor quali results were down to crashes, and a snapped crank in Gwin’s case.

Expecting the Brits to do well if the conditions are anything like as grotty as in qualifying.

Yep good PSA I’ll be tuning in.

Anyone else having problems with the feed on redbull tv?

Yep sad face

Fine here

If I tried to ride that with a flat, I’d just die. And not even in a cool way, in a slow and embarassing way

MON THE <SPOILER>!!!1!

OP thanks so much for the PSA didn’t realise it was Saturday until I saw the thread Got to see Rachel and Ratboy take the wins, so close in the men’s, excellent 😀

Just sat and watched this…..awesome track.
My kids were screaming at the end when brosnan came down and just lost to ratboy 8)

Well that was quite satisfying.

Feel a bit bad for Loic, but good to see the Rat back on top.

Makes the overall very interesting now.

Insanely close!!!!

I was worried it’d be another shitty borefest of people going slower than Gwin again after he went down early.

That was good! Thought TB was going to get in then. Looking forward to the xc tomorrow!

I was worried it’d be another shitty borefest of people going slower than Gwin again after he went down early.

Ditto, so happy to be proved wrong.

Bryceland and Hart’s lines on the steep, open section toward the bottom were just beautiful. Poetry in motion as they say.

What a race. What a track.

Good win for Ratboy. Really thought Bruni had done enough there.

Track was immense, a proper test of rider and bike….and long at nearly 5 mins….more of the same please UCI, less sub 3 minute tracks and Bike Parks and more like MSA….Fort Bill can stay, it has a similar feel to it from what I can see, they just need to widen some of the top sections to give riders the option for different lines….can’t wait for Val di Sole later in the season!

I love watching Ratboy ride, as little pedalling as possible, loose on the bike and let it roll….sublime, looks slow until you see the splits/sectors come up and realise he’s fastest!….also liked seeing Loic dig in and really ride once his chain came off, huge respect and only adds credibility to the thoughts of Mojo Suspension’s Chris Porter who despises clutch mechs and stated publicly that they interfere with how the suspension is supposed to work….once the chain comes off the rear of the bike can do the job it was designed for without pedalling, shifting etc getting in the way.

Bruni probably would have won if his chain had stayed on of course.

He was **** charging.

Windham and Val di Sole should both be awesome races TBH.

Not to mention the World Champs at Vallnord this year. Hope Thirion can heal up in time for that one.

Xc on at the moment too 🙂

deviant – Member

only adds credibility to the thoughts of Mojo Suspension’s Chris Porter who despises clutch mechs and stated publicly that they interfere with how the suspension is supposed to work….once the chain comes off the rear of the bike can do the job it was designed for without pedalling, shifting etc getting in the way.

Not really- he claimed at the time that Mulally’s chainless run in the world champs backed him up but Neko had already said it was nothing to do with that- he just rode like a mother***** because he thought his run was spoiled anyway, and ended up going faster than he thought. Unless you think that the teams haven’t bothered to check if the (tiny) force of the mech is ruining the bikes’ handling, and none of the riders have noticed.

*ignores thread like a good STWer*

crazy busy weekend, means this will have to be watched on repeat later in the week.

dont tell me the good bits

Cracking race, knew the result before I actually watched it, but it didn’t really dull the thrill!

Manon seems happier now She’s told herself she’s not going to win the WC overall this year, perhaps she’s taking it a bit easier now, concentrating on clean runs, no injuries and the Worlds in Sept.

Ratboy is well again then!

Manon freely admits she’s having problems with technique this year and some bad habits have crept in….on Pinkbike she said her manager Will Longden emailed her a pic from Fort Bill (i think?) where she is looking at her front wheel instead of down the track…she joked about it, he’d included the caption “chin up” but the message was clear, she is spending too much time worrying about where her front wheel is going that she isnt reading the trail far enough ahead and therefore isnt able to carry as much speed as she would like….her words not mine.

I was intrigued and watched for her run at MSA and she’s right, the same as those spoofs of Froome looking at stems….Manon stares down at her front wheel.
Its something i’m guilty of but i’m a rank amateur, it was interesting to read and then watch a pro suffering from similar bad habits….i’m sure once she breaks the habit and raises her vision she’ll be right there with Atherton again…..trouble is something will have caused her to start doing it in the first place…nerves?…that crash at Fort Bill?…this is when a good Sports Psychologist earns their money.

Claudio was saying similar things about Neko, Warner asked him why Brendan is in resurgent form and Claudio simply replied; “having Neko in the team has fired him up”….on the flipside he said Neko is struggling mentally since his crash in Lourdes….the head game in sport is not to be underestimated!

the head game in sport is not to be underestimated

Absolutely! Certainly in downhill, confidence is everything, if fear or doubt start creeping they’ve had it.

Was amazed when Warner was interviewing Minnaar before the coverage started and Minnaar said he drags his brakes too much. Clearly his definition of dragging brakes is wildly different from mine!