RESULTS: Loudenvielle Elite Downhill Qualifying

There's been no shortage of drama in Loudenvielle so far, and qualifying day served up more of the same. After yesterday's training session was partially cancelled due to heavy rain to allow the organizers to work on the track in an attempt to preserve it in race-ready mode, today's schedule was modified to provide a little more time for the riders to get up to speed. As a result, the semi-finals were cancelled entirely with the top 30 male riders and the top 10 female riders set to go through directly to tomorrow's finals from qualifying. 6 female riders and 8 male riders were listed as protected for finals, presumably some kind of happy medium between the number of riders usually protected for semi-finals and finals.

The weather was much improved today but the track remained treacherous in many spots. There was extra drama in the elite women's category as a number of top riders had to pull over for a red flag and were given re-runs after the elite men had been down. The red flag was caused by Camille Balanche crashing (we are told she has a suspected broken arm - get well soon Camille!) As for the results, Tahnee Seagrave was on a flyer when she got held by the red flag, but she regrouped and threw down another great run for her second effort, putting three and a half seconds into her nearest rival. Whether or not some of the protected riders opted for taking it easy in the re-run we'll have to wait until tomorrow's final to find out (there were some green splits here and there in those first, red-flagged runs).

In the elite men's category, Loic Bruni put last week's disappointment at Worlds behind him to clock the fastest time of the day, almost three seconds ahead of compatriot Amaury Pierron. Newly crowned World Champ Loris Vergier nursed his fresh rainbow stripes into 11th place, some seven seconds back. We're also stoked to report that Aaron Gwin has made the cut for tomorrow's finals, which is no mean feat after over a year away from World Cup racing. He sure didn't pick the easiest one to come back to. The gaps are pretty tight on this short track and there should be plenty of excitement on tap for tomorrow's final - only the good kind, we hope!