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 PoolIt 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.
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 |
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2. | ILES Finnley SPECIALIZED GRAVITY |
3:42.090 +0.465 |
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3. | WALKER Matt MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM |
3:42.604 +0.979 |
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4. | HART Danny CUBE FACTORY RACING |
3:43.709 +2.084 |
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5. | GREENLAND Laurie SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE |
3:44.009 +2.384 |
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6. | BROSNAN Troy CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM |
3:44.011 +2.386 |
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7. | DAPRELA Thibaut COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF BY RIDING ADDICTION |
3:44.790 +3.165 |
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8. | HATTON Charlie CONTINENTAL ATHERTON |
3:46.114 +4.489 |
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9. | TRUMMER David MS MONDRAKER TEAM |
3:47.944 +6.319 |
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10. | WALLACE Mark CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM |
3:48.696 +7.071 |
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11. | HARTENSTERN Max CUBE FACTORY RACING |
3:48.761 +7.136 |
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12. | GWIN Aaron INTENSE FACTORY RACING |
3:48.976 +7.351 |
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13. | KOLB Andreas CONTINENTAL ATHERTON |
3:49.595 +7.970 |
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14. | O CALLAGHAN Oisin YT RACING DUDES |
3:49.858 +8.233 |
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15. | SHAW Luca CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM |
3:50.371 +8.746 |
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16. | LEVESQUE Dylan SCOTT DOWNHILL FACTORY |
3:50.997 +9.372 |
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17. | SUAREZ ALONSO Angel COMMENCAL / 100% |
3:51.576 +9.951 |
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18. | INIGUEZ Matteo COMMENCAL VEE |
3:51.644 +10.019 |
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19. | ATWILL Philip PROPAIN POSITIVE SUPPORTED BY VEE |
3:51.947 +10.322 |
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20. | REVELLI Loris CANYON COLLECTIVE PIRELLI |
3:51.995 +10.370 |
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35. | SHERLOCK Seth INTENSE FACTORY RACING |
3:56.811 +15.186 |
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36. | JEWETT Jakob CANYON COLLECTIVE FACTORY TEAM |
3:57.641 +16.016 |
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54. | CRUZ Lucas NORCO FACTORY TEAM |
4:01.852 +20.227 |
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72. | FITZGERALD Henry NORCO FACTORY TEAM |
4:07.260 +25.635 |
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87. | LAFFEY Patrick CANADA |
4:09.596 +27.971 |
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90. | NERON Gabriel CANADA |
4:09.918 +28.293 |
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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 |
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3. | n°5 | CABIROU Marine SCOTT DOWNHILL FACTORY |
4:37.310 +12.297 |
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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 |
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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 |
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10. | n°12 | JOHNSET Mille COMMENCAL / 100% |
5:02.929 +37.916 |
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11. | n°8 | WIDMANN Veronika MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM |
5:04.520 +39.507 |
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12. | n°23 | VAN DER VELDEN Siel COMMENCAL VEE |
5:21.776 +56.763 |
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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 |
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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 |
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17. | n°18 | PAGEAU Rachel CANADA |
5:37.864 +1:12.851 |
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18. | n°24 | CHAPPAZ Mélanie FRANCE |
5:42.355 +1:17.342 |
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19. | n°9 | PARTON Mikayla GREAT BRITAIN |
5:44.768 +1:19.755 |
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20. | n°26 | CHARDONNIERAS Leane FRANCE |
6:05.466 +1:40.453 |
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21. | n°30 | MUIRHEAD Kalani YD RACING |
6:30.395 +2:05.382 |
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22. | n°34 | JOHNSEN Jonna DENMARK |
7:04.439 +2:39.426 |
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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 |
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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 |
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5. | n°7 | CRUZ Tegan ROCKSHOX TREK RACE TEAM |
4:00.111 +11.483 |
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6. | n°21 | FRANCOZ Alix DORVAL AM COMMENCAL |
4:00.449 +11.821 |
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7. | n°12 | HOLGUIN VILLA Sebastian IJ RACING-CHIGÜIRO EXTREMO TEAM |
4:00.791 +12.163 |
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8. | n°11 | CAPPELLO Davide ROGUE RACING – AFTER SKULL TEAM |
4:01.811 +13.183 |
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9. | n°27 | ABELLA Léo COMMENCAL VEE |
4:05.162 +16.534 |
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10. | n°14 | DAVIS Oliver UNION |
4:06.009 +17.381 |
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11. | n°8 | PIERCY Jack COMMENCAL LES ORRES |
4:06.535 +17.907 |
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12. | n°31 | BRODIE William GREAT BRITAIN |
4:06.981 +18.353 |
|
13. | n°9 | BECK Cameron YD RACING |
4:07.038 +18.410 |
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14. | n°42 | GOODWILL Douglas 555 RAAW GRAVITY RACING |
4:07.108 +18.480 |
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15. | n°77 | KOLECÍK Ondrej CZECH REPUBLIC |
4:08.231 +19.603 |
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16. | n°28 | SCHLEBES Nico GERMANY |
4:12.869 +24.241 |
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17. | n°3 | MEIER-SMITH Remy PROPAIN FACTORY RACING |
4:16.978 +28.350 |
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18. | n°32 | DRISCOLL Toby GREAT BRITAIN |
4:19.415 +30.787 |
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19. | n°44 | WAYMAN Alex YD RACING |
4:19.990 +31.362 |
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20. | n°10 | VIARDOT Kimi FRANCE |
4:20.205 +31.577 |
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21. | n°61 | MEDCALF Evan EVOLVE RACING |
4:20.404 +31.776 |
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22. | n°26 | HICKEN Benjamin SR SUNTOUR COMMENCAL BY GRAVITY SCHOOL |
4:21.885 +33.257 |
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23. | n°30 | PONTVIANNE Nathan FRANCE |
4:24.313 +35.685 |
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24. | n°35 | SKRYPNEK Coen CANADA |
4:27.028 +38.400 |
Junior Women
1. | n°3 | HASTINGS Jenna PIVOT FACTORY RACING |
4:57.150 |
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2. | n°1 | HEMSTREET Gracey NORCO FACTORY TEAM |
5:10.242 +13.092 |
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3. | n°9 | CLAVEL Vicky VVRACING ACADEMY |
5:13.458 +16.308 |
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4. | n°8 | PETROVSKÁ Vanesa NS BIKES UR |
5:17.406 +20.256 |
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5. | n°4 | YANKOVA Izabela GEN-S |
5:17.614 +20.464 |
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6. | n°6 | ROA SANCHEZ Valentina PROBUILDS RACING |
5:22.617 +25.467 |
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7. | n°7 | DA MOCOGNO Delia TEAMPROJECT.CH |
5:26.742 +29.592 |
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8. | n°2 | GALE Phoebe CANYON COLLECTIVE FMD |
5:33.095 +35.945 |
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9. | n°14 | BOULADOU Lisa FRANCE |
5:36.812 +39.662 |
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10. | n°10 | KENYON Aimi PINKBIKE RACING |
5:47.920 +50.770 |
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11. | n°12 | ITEN Emma SWITZERLAND |
6:03.932 +1:06.782 |
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12. | n°13 | LANGLOIS Suzy LES ARCS MOUNTAINBIKE TEAM |
6:21.400 +1:24.250 |
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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 |