Five Canadians qualify for La Bresse World Cup DH finals
Canada will be represented in Junior Men and Elite Women and Men at final World Cup round
Five Canadians have made it through Friday’s qualification run with fast enough times to contest Saturday’s World Cup Downhill finals in La Bresse, France.
The five rider set to contest the seventh and final World Cup of 2018 are split between Elite Men, Elite Women and the Junior Men’s categories.
RELATED: How to watch: World Cup Finals from La Bresse, France
Continuing a strong first year on the World Cup circuit, Lucas Cruz (Trek BC Devo) ranked 12th in Junior Men’s field. Behind him by just two seconds, Kovarik Racing’s Ben Wallace qualified in 18th. Trek Factory Racing’s Kade Edwards was the fastest Junior of the day.
Miranda Miller (Specialized Gravity Racing) qualified 14th in Women’s Elite, with Saturday’s finals being her last race in the world champion’s rainbow stripes before having to defend the title at Lenzerheide, Switzerland in September. Tahnee Seagrave set the fastest Women’s time, clocking a 2:49.743 down the fresh La Bresse track.
Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity Racing) was the top Canadian qualifier in Elite Men, crossing the line with the 25th fastest time. Mark Wallace (Canyon Factory Racing) was next, in 35th.
Former Canadian national champion Kirk McDowall was tantalizingly close to securing a spot in Saturday’s World Cup finals. McDowall missed out on the last qualifying position by 0.086 seconds.
Former downhill world champion Gee Atherton (Trek Factory Racing) set the days fastest time, beating local favourite Amaury Pierron (Commencal Vallnord) by 0.308 seconds. Pierron has already secured his World Cup overall title, but the French rider will still be pushing hard to win for the home crowd. Also looking to perform for the local fans, French rider and Pierron’s Commencal Vallnord teammate Remi Thirion had the third fastest time of the day.
Both Elite races will be broadcast live on Red Bull TV, Saturday 25 August, 2018. You can see start times for both races, and how to follow live timing from the Junior Men’s race here.
