Gracey Hemstreet top Canadian qualifier at Maribor World Cup DH
Which Canadians are through to Sunday's finals in Slovenia?
Photo by:
Bartek Wolinksi / Red Bull Content Pool
The stage is set for the third World Cup downhill of 2021 after Saturday’s qualifying round in Maribor, Slovenia. The Canadians had a mix of good results and close calls, along with a couple crashes.
Read on to see who qualified and who is sitting out Sunday’s finals.
Elite Men – Close calls for Canadians
Mark Wallace (Canyon Cllctv) leads the Canadian elite men in 31st. Lucas Cruz (Norco Factory Team) moves through to join Wallace in finals with a 54th in qualifying. Finn Iles is sitting out Maribor with a lingering injury from training.
Loris Vergier (Trek Factory Racing) led the elite men, 0.296 seconds ahead of fellow French rider and World Cup leader Thibault Daprela (Commencal Muc-Off). Laurie Greenland (MS Mondraker) was a full 3.375 seconds off Vergier’s time, in third, with G.O.A.T. Greg Minnaar (Syndicate) still hunting podiums in fourth.
It was a rough return to international racing for Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing), who is back on the bike after a broken wrist, and Forrest Riesco (Commencal Canada). The two Canadians ranked 61 and 62 in qualifying, with only the top 60 riders advancing to Sunday’s final. Showing how tight the elite men’s racing is, Sherlock misses finals by 0.090 seconds. Riesco was another 0.045 seconds back. Elliot Jamieson (Norco Factory Team), was 0.891 seconds behind Sherlock, ranking 71st. Henry Fitzgerald (Norco Factory Team) was 87th and Patrick Laffey DNF’d part way down the Maribor track.
Elite Women – Höll poised for breakthrough
Vali Höll (RockShox Trek) moves into the top qualifier position again in Maribor. The young Austrian is on the verge of a breakout in her first full year of elite racing following a stellar junior career. Höll’s struggled to convert that to results in finals so far in 2021, but looked solid on Saturday. Myriam Nicole (Commencal Muc-Off) followed close behind in second while world champion Camille Balanche (Dorval AM Commencal) qualified third.
Rachel Pageau did not start Saturday after a heavy crash in practice on Friday.
Junior Women – Hemstreet’s return
Gracey Hemstreet kick-started her race season in style on Saturday, seeding fastest in the junior women’s World Cup. Hemstreet was 2.867 seconds ahead of France’s Leona Pierrini. The Sunshine Coast-based junior is back racing after an injury saw her sit out the Canada Cup rounds this year.
Emmy Lan, the Canadian national champion, looked solid in her international debut. Lan seeded 11th on Saturday.
Junior Men – Lemire moving fast
Tristan Lemire led the Canadian junior men in qualification in fourth, 7.4 seconds behind Jordan Williams (Madison Saraecn). Jakob Jewett (Canyon CLLCTV) and Jackson Goldstone followed in 9th and 10th. They both move through to Sunday’s final as well.
It’s an impressive showing from Goldstone who hit the ground hard during timed training. Hopefully the junior Canadian champ is feeling 100 per cent again for Sunday.
