RESULTS: Les Gets World Cup Downhill Elite Qualifying

Qualifying day at a downhill World Cup is a big day for the elite riders, as they embark on the long and demanding path to next day's finals. Step one, make it through the qualifying round, from where the top 60 elite men and the top 15 elite women will continue on to the semi-finals later today. The weather was on its best behavior as racing got underway, but the ground is still holding plenty of moisture in spots and the track is difficult to attack. Valentina Höll laid down the time to beat in the elite women's category, with Mille Johnset confirming her recent good form just two seconds back. Tahnee was on pace to take the second spot until the very last section, so perhaps a mistake there to work on for semis. Myriam Nicole also qualified comfortably in third. Nina Hoffman had some issue in her run, but she is protected for semis, as is Camille Balanche who had a DNF (we don't know at present what happened and if she'll be OK to race the semis later today).

In the elite men's category, Dak Norton kept his dream of a first World Cup victory alive and well, qualifying in first with a second to spare - his #USDH bro Dylan Maples brought it home in fourth, hoping to do better and rain on the French parade tomorrow (when, ironically, it may well rain full stop). On the topic of the French, Remi Thirion rolled back the years with a second place qualifier, comfortably ahead of Finn Iles in third. Finn's team mate and overall series leader Loic Bruni was on pace up top, but lost 10 seconds somewhere before the third split. Andreas Kolb also had a couple of fast splits before running into some kind of trouble, he should be protected for semis by virtue of his top-5 placing in last year's overall. The semi-finals later today will see this story line develop for sure. Times were tight, and with 180 riders lining up to try to qualify, a few tenths of a second could mean the difference between making the semis or not today. As for the big show, that's a whole other kettle of fish. Stay tuned!