PERFECTION? Lousa World Cup Downhill Mountain Bike Training 8

That track tho...

sspomer
10/28/2020 8:13pm
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Who needs a bunch of words when there's a DH track like the one at the Lousa, Portugal, World Cup? @maddogboris and Dan Hearn drop the roost-flinging, wheel-bending photos from an epic first day of training as a double-header weekend kicks off to close out the 2020 season.

If you're wondering, Sven Martin, is back home in South Africa with severe FOMO right now. Thankfully, he's been keeping our Instagram humming with his virtual presence, curating stories and feed posts. YEW!!!

Thanks to SRAM for making our World Cup DH action possible!

Yeah Tracey! Fastest in time training, 5 seconds ahead of p2.

It’s Tracey Hannah’s last two World Cups and the scene won’t be the same without her!

Angel Suarez leaning her in!

Fastest in timed training - Greg Minnaar!

1/30 sec of a speeding Mick Hannah going down the hill.

Plenty of ruts in the lower woods ready to catch the tired riders out. 4 days to go.

Mille Johnset isn’t the only one stoked on the track here in Lousa.

Whipping through the morning mist.

No chairlift here, so it’s pickups and vans all day. With Covid restrictions in place, many teams chose to have their own shuttle vehicle to keep separated from the rest of the field.

Tahnee Seagrave was looking pinned all day long! Let´s get rid of the number 7.

It's always a highlight to see Kade Edwards riding!

Christopher Grice gettin low on the big boy's line!

Matt Walker silhouette!

This big open section shows off Lousa and will give a long shot for the TV cameras.

It’s a long track with a lot of features, so riders will be fatigued by the finish line.

David Trummer time warping into town.

Who did it better? Brendog...

...or Bernard???

Deathgrip for the win?

Nina Hoffmann is hunting for a second win after her success in Maribor.

Matt Walker is stoked to be bearing the number 2 plate and is looking on form to keep that number small and the points large.

Myriam Nicole seems to enjoy some foot-out, flat-out action. The weather forecast looks pretty sunny...otherwise we might expect to see her on flats again.

Wild, Wild Loris Vergier! Who´s money is on the Frenchie?

Charlie Hatton with some serious steeze on the hip jump.

Francisco Pardal just lives 40 min away and would probably one of the local favorites. Unfortunately he hurt his shoulder before the race.

Damn, how cool would it be so see Hugo Frixtalon sending it? Get well soon buddy.

Kaos Seagrave back in group A Practice! Yeeoooww

One of Vital's favorites @elrealgringo! Different camo style in Autumn.

Yes that's how we know Phil Atwill!

FMD's Dennis Luffman saving the triple for qualis! Right buddy? #NotKaos

Dust and a bit of sunlight. @maddogboris

Mud on top, dust underneath. Here you see one of the 3 options to ride this corner. Fully outside berm, high berm to cut-in (pictured) or full inside!

Early morning myst and rain didnt stop Seth Sherlock from going sideways on his first run down the hill.

The day started a bit wet but, ended up pretty dry and even dusty.

Prime conditions!

Aaron Gwin went for the Inside Line here...

It's more a catch berm for the drop 5m higher up!

Slippery inside line!

Not sure if it was good or bad that the fog slowly disappeared in the morning.

Move of the day? Matteo Iniguez tidying up the track.

Another one of Thomas Estaque! Doesn't matter if in the air or on the ground...he always looks rad on a bike!

Sounds and looks like that all riders are freakin stoked about the track here in Lousa.

Zwar showing the cool upper line with a sharp right hand exit.

Despite puddles and mud around, the course dried out extremely fast and loose dust quickly took over.

Pinkie precision.

Finn Iles knows the way of the scrub.

David Trummer quietly ramped his speed up through the day and looking like he has the pace for a solid run tomorrow.

This Is Lousa. And it rocks!

Martin Maes checking inside lines and having a blast on the loose track.

Loris Vergier finding landmines and clearly set on extending his World Cup lead.

Brayton showing the moto way to tackle the upper berms.

Some pretty deep holes appeared by early afternoon and a few inside lines soon became mandatory. Lucky Kade eats pushups for breakfast

Dakota Norton finding the grip in the loose upper corners.

Danny Hart is looking to turn his unlucky number into something a little smaller.

Local lad, Gonçalo Bandeira, laid down a hot timed training run and is here to take the win in his home town.

Remi Thirion is loving the track and looking good in the process.

Great to see Kaos back in A-practice and enjoying trains with his bros.

This is one of the most feature-rich tracks of recent years. Jumps, berms, off-camber, roots, drops, traverses, steeps… you name it, it’s got it.

Seth Sherlock getting groovy.

Radially railing in the morning sun. (Soon to be inside-only to avoid blown out berms and holes.)

A misty morning kept B practice riders on their toes.

Goodnight Lousa, can’t wait to see what the racers make of you when they’re against the clock! Dan Hearn

Good night Lousa!





Related:
Lousa, Portugal
Insta Hub
Downhill
UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
SRAM
8 comments

View replies to: PERFECTION? Lousa World Cup Downhill Mountain Bike Training

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Will_Schwabacher
4 years ago
I think for the race number 2 on the Lousa track they should have it end before the flat pedal section.
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Nozes
4 years ago
Thanks for the love guys. It took our country 30 years to get it's first World Cup,but we sure delivered!
And a tip on spelling Lousã for English speakers: "loh-zahn".

Keep up the great work!
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blast_off
4 years ago
These shots are insane! The Thomas Estaque ones with the orange pants, amazing.
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