RESULTS - MSA World Cup DH Elite Qualifying - Mountain Bike News Story

Scheduling a World Cup in Canada in October is always a bit of a gamble, but the weather gods may well have felt like they owed the racers and the fans a dry event after the apocalyptical levels of precipitation that we saw at some of the races this season. With Mont-Sainte-Anne busting out the fall wardrobe the track is in perfect condition for a big day of competition today. The overall Elite World Cup titles have already been decided, so there is less at stake than usual, and of course qualifying carries no points at the ultimate round of a World Cup so today's results may not be as indicative of true form as we are used to. Nevertheless, it's the last race of the season and with reportedly fewer team spots available in 2025 there will be plenty of riders wanting to put their best foot forward to secure a ride for the future - nothing better than a solid result in October to walk into those team negotiations with your chin up. Vital Fantasy Downhill players will of course be keeping a close eye on the proceedings as well, even though there's still the semi-finals to get through later today before finalizing the picks.

The Elite women got us underway today, with Myriam Nicole confirming her return to form with a great showing in qualifying. Tahnee Seagrave and Monica Hrastnik finished further down the rankings than usual, but they are both protected for the semi-finals so we'll see them again later today (there will be 18 women lining up for semis - 15 top finishers plus an additional 3 protected riders who finished outside the top-15). Word from the track is that several protected riders had red flags in their runs but opted out of reruns to keep the show rolling (again, with no points on the line the protected riders have little to gain in the qualifying runs). Freshly retired from the Enduro World Cup, EDR World Champ Isabeau Courdurier tried her hand at a little DH action but came up 2 seconds short of making it through to the next round.

Myriam Nicole-3 — Myriam Nicole in practice - photo by Jack Rice

As we moved on to Elite men, sad news broke about Amaury Pierron who apparently broke his hand in practice earlier in the day. We hope it's nothing too serious, and that he can make a quick recovery to go into 2025 firing on all cylinders again. As for the results, Matt Walker laid down the fastest time of the day, but a number of protected riders took cruiser runs so we wouldn't read too much into it all at this point. The top-60 riders earned a spot in the semi-finals later today, plus 7 protected riders who finished outside the top-60. We're stoked to see Greg Minnaar make it through for his last World Cup, and Aaron Gwin is also showing some speed with a comfortable qualifier. On the topic of #USDH, will Dak break his duck and leave Canada with his first World Cup win? He's looking like he's among the early pace-setters, so there's every reason to be hopeful!