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Finn Iles flies back into racing with second in Qualifying in Leogang

Goldstone leads fast Canadian next generation with top time in junior World Cup

Photo by: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

It was a day of thick mud and fast Canadians at the Leogang World Cup on Friday. A small hoard of Cancuks thrived in the treacherous, peanut-butter mud of the Austrian course to make it through to Saturday’s finals.

Finn Iles bounces back into second spot

After sitting out the Fort William World Cup to give himself full recovery from a minor concussion, Finn Iles picked up right where he left off at round one in Lourdes. The Specialized Gravity Racing rider qualified second on Friday in Austria. Only Benoit Coulanges (Dorval AM) could best Iles time, and then only by 0.456 seconds. A trio of Brits, Matt Walker, Danny Hart and Laurie Greenland, followed in third through fifith.

Mark Wallace (Canyon Cllctv) looked comfortable in the steep mud, qualifying tenth. Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing), Jake Jewett (Canyon Cllctv) and Lucas Cruz (Norco Factory Racing) all move through to finals, qualifying 35th, 36th and 54th, respectively.

Henry Fitzgerald, Patrick Laffey, Gabe Neuron and Forbidden’s enduro cross-over Rhys Verner all slid just outside the top-60 cut-off in Leogang.

Elite Women

On the elite women’s side, a battle is breweing between World Cup leader Camille Balanche (Dorval AM) and local favourite (and 2021 World Cup winner) Vali Höll (RockShox Trek). Balanche, who won the 2021 World Cup in Leogang and 2020 world championships there, set the fastest time in qualifying. Höll, who has had little luck racing on her home track until now, sits just 0.607-seconds behind.

Rachel Pageau (Commencal), narrowly misses out on qualifying for finals in Austria. The Quebec rider ranked 17th on Friday. Since the UCI only allows the top 15 women (plus protected riders) through to the final, the Canadian misses out by just two spots.

Jackson Goldstone just missed a second World Cup win this year in Fort William.  Photo: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

Juniors slide into finals with speed

Jackson Goldstone qualifies fastest by a massive 9.561-second margin. A trio of Canadians will join him in the junior men’s final. Tristan Lemire and Tegan Cruz qualified fourth and fifth, with Coen Skrypnek (Gravity MTB) in 24th.

Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Factory Racing) sits second after the junior women’s seeding. The Sunshine Coast racer will have to make up 13 seconds to Jenna Hastings (Pivot Factory Racing) if she wants to extend her perfect season to a third race.

Curiously, since the junior women’s race is still technically a “seeding” rather than a qualification, the junior women’s final will have more riders (18) than the elite women’s race (16).

Qualification results: 2022 World Cup DH#3 – Leogang, Austria

Elite Men

1.
COULANGES Benoit
DORVAL AM COMMENCAL
3:41.625
2.
ILES Finnley
SPECIALIZED GRAVITY
3:42.090
+0.465
3.
WALKER Matt
MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM
3:42.604
+0.979
4.
HART Danny
CUBE FACTORY RACING
3:43.709
+2.084
5.
GREENLAND Laurie
SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE
3:44.009
+2.384
6.
BROSNAN Troy
CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM
3:44.011
+2.386
7.
DAPRELA Thibaut
COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION
3:44.790
+3.165
8.
HATTON Charlie
CONTINENTAL ATHERTON
3:46.114
+4.489
9.
TRUMMER David
MS MONDRAKER TEAM
3:47.944
+6.319
10.
WALLACE Mark
CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM
3:48.696
+7.071
11.
HARTENSTERN Max
CUBE FACTORY RACING
3:48.761
+7.136
12.
GWIN Aaron
INTENSE FACTORY RACING
3:48.976
+7.351
13.
KOLB Andreas
CONTINENTAL ATHERTON
3:49.595
+7.970
14.
O CALLAGHAN Oisin
YT RACING DUDES
3:49.858
+8.233
15.
SHAW Luca
CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM
3:50.371
+8.746
16.
LEVESQUE Dylan
SCOTT DOWNHILL FACTORY
3:50.997
+9.372
17.
SUAREZ ALONSO Angel
COMMENCAL / 100%
3:51.576
+9.951
18.
INIGUEZ Matteo
COMMENCAL VEE
3:51.644
+10.019
19.
ATWILL Philip
PROPAIN POSITIVE SUPPORTED BY VEE
3:51.947
+10.322
20.
REVELLI Loris
CANYON COLLECTIVE PIRELLI
3:51.995
+10.370
35.
SHERLOCK Seth
INTENSE FACTORY RACING
3:56.811
+15.186
36.
JEWETT Jakob
CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM
3:57.641
+16.016
54.
CRUZ Lucas
NORCO FACTORY TEAM
4:01.852
+20.227
72.
FITZGERALD Henry
NORCO FACTORY TEAM
4:07.260
+25.635
87.
LAFFEY Patrick
CANADA
4:09.596
+27.971
90.
NERON Gabriel
CANADA
4:09.918
+28.293
94.
VERNER Rhys
CANADA
4:11.394
+29.769

Elite Women

1. n°1
BALANCHE Camille
DORVAL AM COMMENCAL
4:25.013
2. n°3
HÖLL Valentina
ROCKSHOX TREK RACE TEAM
4:25.620
+0.607
3. n°5
CABIROU Marine
SCOTT DOWNHILL FACTORY
4:37.310
+12.297
4. n°2
NICOLE Myriam
COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION
4:39.801
+14.788
5. n°6
FARINA Eleonora
MS MONDRAKER TEAM
4:50.225
+25.212
6. n°4
HOFFMANN Nina
SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE
4:50.417
+25.404
7. n°11
HRASTNIK Monika
DORVAL AM COMMENCAL
4:50.645
+25.632
8. n°14
RØNNING Frida Helena
UNION
4:55.795
+30.782
9. n°10
BERNARD Mathilde
SCOTT MANIGOD SHOT
5:00.567
+35.554
10. n°12
JOHNSET Mille
COMMENCAL / 100%
5:02.929
+37.916
11. n°8
WIDMANN Veronika
MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM
5:04.520
+39.507
12. n°23
VAN DER VELDEN Siel
COMMENCAL VEE
5:21.776
+56.763
13. n°32
FERGUSON Louise-Anna
GREAT BRITAIN
5:25.045
+1:00.032
14. n°20
PIERRINI Léona
OSMOS GRAVITY TEAM
5:25.913
+1:00.900
15. n°16
SALAZAR Mariana
LES ARCS MOUNTAINBIKE TEAM
5:26.574
+1:01.561
16. n°29
KUPFERSCHMIED Ramona
SWITZERLAND
5:37.468
+1:12.455
17. n°18
PAGEAU Rachel
CANADA
5:37.864
+1:12.851
18. n°24
CHAPPAZ Mélanie
FRANCE
5:42.355
+1:17.342
19. n°9
PARTON Mikayla
GREAT BRITAIN
5:44.768
+1:19.755
20. n°26
CHARDONNIERAS Leane
FRANCE
6:05.466
+1:40.453
21. n°30
MUIRHEAD Kalani
YD RACING
6:30.395
+2:05.382
22. n°34
JOHNSEN Jonna
DENMARK
7:04.439
+2:39.426
23. n°35
GUTÖHRLE Sophie
AUSTRIA
7:46.902
+3:21.889

Junior Men

1. n°1
GOLDSTONE Jackson
SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE
3:48.628
2. n°5
STEVENS-MCNAB Lachlan
UNION
3:58.189
+9.561
3. n°4
KIEFER Henri
CANYON COLLECTIVE PIRELLI
3:58.341
+9.713
4. n°13
LEMIRE Tristan
COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION
4:00.037
+11.409
5. n°7
CRUZ Tegan
ROCKSHOX TREK RACE TEAM
4:00.111
+11.483
6. n°21
FRANCOZ Alix
DORVAL AM COMMENCAL
4:00.449
+11.821
7. n°12
HOLGUIN VILLA Sebastian
IJ RACING-CHIGÜIRO EXTREMO TEAM
4:00.791
+12.163
8. n°11
CAPPELLO Davide
ROGUE RACING – AFTER SKULL TEAM
4:01.811
+13.183
9. n°27
ABELLA Léo
COMMENCAL VEE
4:05.162
+16.534
10. n°14
DAVIS Oliver
UNION
4:06.009
+17.381
11. n°8
PIERCY Jack
COMMENCAL LES ORRES
4:06.535
+17.907
12. n°31
BRODIE William
GREAT BRITAIN
4:06.981
+18.353
13. n°9
BECK Cameron
YD RACING
4:07.038
+18.410
14. n°42
GOODWILL Douglas
555 RAAW GRAVITY RACING
4:07.108
+18.480
15. n°77
KOLECÍK Ondrej
CZECH REPUBLIC
4:08.231
+19.603
16. n°28
SCHLEBES Nico
GERMANY
4:12.869
+24.241
17. n°3
MEIER-SMITH Remy
PROPAIN FACTORY RACING
4:16.978
+28.350
18. n°32
DRISCOLL Toby
GREAT BRITAIN
4:19.415
+30.787
19. n°44
WAYMAN Alex
YD RACING
4:19.990
+31.362
20. n°10
VIARDOT Kimi
FRANCE
4:20.205
+31.577
21. n°61
MEDCALF Evan
EVOLVE RACING
4:20.404
+31.776
22. n°26
HICKEN Benjamin
SR SUNTOUR COMMENCAL BY GRAVITY SCHOOL
4:21.885
+33.257
23. n°30
PONTVIANNE Nathan
FRANCE
4:24.313
+35.685
24. n°35
SKRYPNEK Coen
CANADA
4:27.028
+38.400

Junior Women

1. n°3
HASTINGS Jenna
PIVOT FACTORY RACING
4:57.150
2. n°1
HEMSTREET Gracey
NORCO FACTORY TEAM
5:10.242
+13.092
3. n°9
CLAVEL Vicky
VVRACING ACADEMY
5:13.458
+16.308
4. n°8
PETROVSKÁ Vanesa
NS BIKES UR
5:17.406
+20.256
5. n°4
YANKOVA Izabela
GEN-S
5:17.614
+20.464
6. n°6
ROA SANCHEZ Valentina
PROBUILDS RACING
5:22.617
+25.467
7. n°7
DA MOCOGNO Delia
TEAMPROJECT.CH
5:26.742
+29.592
8. n°2
GALE Phoebe
CANYON COLLECTIVE FMD
5:33.095
+35.945
9. n°14
BOULADOU Lisa
FRANCE
5:36.812
+39.662
10. n°10
KENYON Aimi
PINKBIKE RACING
5:47.920
+50.770
11. n°12
ITEN Emma
SWITZERLAND
6:03.932
+1:06.782
12. n°13
LANGLOIS Suzy
LES ARCS MOUNTAINBIKE TEAM
6:21.400
+1:24.250
13. n°17
MCCULLY Bethany
GREAT BRITAIN
8:45.817
+3:48.667
14. n°11
ARTZ Emma
NW GRAVITY COLLECTIVE
9:04.050
+4:06.900