RESULTS - ELITE Downhill Qualifying - Leogang Mountain Bike World Cup 9

Weather makes for a chaotic Elite qualifying session in Leogang, Austria.

sspomer

6/16/2023 6:31am

After a sketchy, weather-plagued Junior Final race, Elite World Cup Downhill racers dropped in for their qualifying runs in Leogang, Austria, during the 2023 UCI MTB World Series.

The well-known Leogang track had been running dusty, dry and fast for practice during the week, but wind and rain arrived to muck things up.

Elite Women's qualifying took place between weather holds and local shredder, Vali Holl took the top spot with a 3:32, two seconds ahead of Camille Balanche in 2nd. Nina Hoffmann secured 3rd place with Monika Hrastnik and Tahnee Seagrave rounding out the Top 5. #USDH ripper, Anna Newkirk, landed in 12th for a spot in the semi-finals. The 15 fastest women today qualify for semi-finals.

The Elite Men's session was all over the place with top names down the list and less-familiar names toward the top. The Top 60 Men qualify for semi-finals, but there are also protected rider rules in place. What those rules are seems to be a bit vague at the moment according to various chat groups between racers and media. Not many seem to fully understand who is protected and who isn't. Weather aside, riders did what they had to and Davide Palazzari snagged the top qualifying spot with a 3:11.755 with Matt Walker just .2 behind in second. Ian Guionnet took 3rd spot with Johan Garcin and Loris Revelli cracking Top 5 results respectively.

Flat pedal fans will be stoked to see Sam Hill in the semis and #USDH destroyer, Dante Silva had a cracker with an 8th place result.