Intro Text
Riders forced by classification to practice early this morning at the Leogang World Cup Downhill were like guinea pigs led to the slaughter. With no lines burned in to the new off-camber section at the top of the course, damp blades of grass did their best to shelter the precious loam from the clawing knobs of (insert your favorite DH tire here). While putting up a valiant effort, the blades of grass gave way and gorgeous dark brown dirt ruts were carved in the Austrian mountain side. Leogang had found its groove again.
We learned that Aaron Gwin has hand issues but will still try to hold on through race day. Loic Bruni and Rachel Atherton went fastest in the Elite timed training session and Kye A'hearn keeps building steam in the Junior class. Mike Jones finished 2nd and the rest of the Motley Mondraker crew melted hard drives with their attacks in today's Vital RAW. Leogang, Austria, often hated on, is finally delivering in a well-rounded, full-on fashion.
Sven Martin, @maddogboris and Dan Hearn deliver the photos and rider interviews in our good, old-fashioned slideshow format. You, the viewers, have spoken, and we're back to the classic format. If you're a "sit back, press play" kind of person, run the slideshow as normal. If you want control, hit the "One Page" option at the top and you can cruise through the photos more quickly and decide what audio interviews you want to hear.
Slideshow dramas aside, we're freaking AMPED for what Leogang will continue to bring all week!
Good to see Mike Jones right up there in timed training. The Motley Mondraker crew are all pulling their weight this year. -Sven Martin
5
0
Fastest Junior Men today Kye A'Hern on the inside Line! @maddogboris
5
0
Finn scrubbing the first of the long, fast tables. Always so hard to choose...
5
0
...the one frame when it comes to scrubs and whips. -Sven Martin
10
8
Tahnee sliding around the one of the first turns on the track which was a lot slicker this morning. -Sven Martin
5
0
Speedtuck for the win...or at least for the fastest time of the day! Good start of the weekend, Lolo. Just do the same on Sunday. @maddogboris
5
0
Rachel Atherton dwarfed by the mountains and clouds here in Austria. -Sven Martin
5
0
Happy days for Rachel Atherton. Putting the woes of Fort William behind her and it paid off today in her worry-free riding. -Sven Martin
10
8
Tracey Hannah was pinned all day and finished with the second-fastest time behind Rachel. @maddogboris
10
8
Aaron Gwin only did two runs today, still suffering from his crash last weekend. Using the time to get familiar with the track. He is one of the few riders that can turn it on when he needs to come race day regardless of run count. We hope his recovery continues. -Sven Martin
10
8
Times were super tight in training. Loris was just 1.7 seconds slower than Loic and down in 5th place. -Dan Hearn
10
0
Kade never misses an opportunity to throw a whip in training. -Dan Hearn
5
0
Connor Fearon loving the top section on the flat pedals. Eddie and Rupert join the discussion. @maddogboris
5
0
Those bike park corners hook up real good! Bernard Kerr in audio, but those hairy legs aren't his. -Dan Hearn
5
0
What smells worse, inside or out? -Dan Hearn
10
8
Will Hart steps out but keeps the throttle wide open on his first run this morning while Alex Rankin enlightens in the audio. -Sven Martin
5
0
Lachlan Blair sliding into action bright and early and showing the rest of B practice how it's done. -Dan Hearn
5
0
Fastest bike on track today with all the pertinent data captured and settings to be made on the race bike which will be used tomorrow. Jack in audio. -Sven Martin
5
0
Amaury Pierron looked on form and ready to try and claim his second World Cup win. #PierronPan -Dan Hearn
10
8
The wet, fresh, chunky grass caught a few riders out today. Mick Hannah on his first run. #ostrich -Sven Martin
10
8
Wojciech Czermak smashing the berm so hard he blows the tire off and sealant everywhere. -Sven Martin
10
8
Leaned over lanky Luca loves lashing the lit lefts. Lekker Bru. #nascar -Sven Martin
10
8
Dakota Norton scrubbing off the stump bump jump. Sickness. -Sven Martin
10
8
One of those typical alpine days today. We saw it all from a thick foggy inversion to bluebird to stormy skies later in the day. -Sven Martin
10
8
Ghost rider sets off this morning. -Sven Martin
10
8
Caro Gehrig trading in her enduro bike for the big rig this weekend. -Sven Martin
10
8
Brook Mac stretching chains and burning rubber. -Sven Martin
10
8
Wide, wet and fresh. This is the new first turn here in Leogang. -Sven Martin
10
8
1/10th of a second of Danny Hart's high-speed day today. -Sven Martin
10
8
Jerome Caroli from Switzerland racing his shadow down this afternoon. -Sven Martin
10
8
SRAM knows how it's done and teaches them young. Todd Anderson teaching Canyon Young Guns mechanic, Jule Palm, some special tricks. -Sven Martin
10
8
Without the signs at the top of the hill it would have been impossible to find the start. #smartaustrians @maddogboris
10
8
Unreal views this morning! Freakin sick, Mother Nature! @maddogboris
10
8
Full moto outside line for Matt Walker! @maddogboris
10
8
Just Phil Atwill doing his best to impress the Austrian Girls with his half-traditional Austrian outfit. How many numbers did you get bro? @maddogboris
10
8
Jacob Dickson flying over the roots! @maddogboris
10
8
What ya looking bro? I still can't say "bottle", so don't even think to ask me again about it. @maddogboris
5
8
GT Factory Racing Team Train. Wyn followed by Joey Foresta. @maddogboris
10
8
Is this the straightest air Kaos Seagrave has ever done?! @maddogboris
10
8
Paula Zibasa feeling good on home soil. Looks like she could adapt easy to the changes. Fastest Junior women's time for her! @maddogboris
10
8
I had some time to kill while waiting for Sven and Dan, so I tried my best to give you some #DuncanPhilpottMemoryEditing. @maddogboris
10
8
Kind of the story of today. Okay actually just of the morning. After a muddy start, the track was nearly bone dry at the end of the day. @maddogboris
10
8
Vali Höll hasn't done a timed run, so we are excited to see her quali run time tomorrow. Would it be maybe possible for her to get the fastest women's time of the day on what's basically her home track? @maddogboris
10
8
Usually I would be stoked to see just clouds and mountains like this. Imagine how stoked we all have been to shoot the training in these conditions, too. @maddogboris
10
8
That's how it looks like when you forget to change your camera setting from "panshotmode" back to normal. Somewhere in between da luckz and da skillz? @maddogboris
10
8
Close, closer, Finn Iles! @maddogboris
10
8
Team Scott setting up their own Freelap Timing System to get as much data out of the training as possible. @maddogboris
10
8
Jamie Edmondson roosting the outside Line! @maddogboris
10
8
What with phones and Instagram, it's not easy to impress the kids these days. @maddogboris
10
8
Poor visibility and a rapidly changing course kept things interesting for the early risers. Myriam navigates the fog. -Dan Hearn
10
8
Even in a crowd as big as the one checking out the first turn, Brayton still wants to be the centre of attention. Pretty typical. When everyone else is glued to the ground, he's boosting. -Dan Hearn
10
8
It took Kye A'hern a few attempts to get the first section cleanly, but he made it work and was fastest in timed training. -Dan Hearn
10
8
Loic led Andrew Neethling down the hill for the course preview, much to our delight. -Dan Hearn
10
8
Sylvain Cougoureux bringing some style to practice this afternoon. -Dan Hearn
10
8
Brendan looked to be having a blast on track and was on pace in timed training. 3.7 seconds push him back to 11th place. -Dan Hearn
10
8
3.7 seconds back for Marcelo, but 10/10 for cornering body position. -Dan Hearn
10
8
Gaetan Vige's style on a bike is hard to ignore. -Dan Hearn
10
8
The new top section caused problems right out of the gate! -Dan Hearn
10
8
The flatter, looser upper turns make for a welcome change from what we are used to at Leogang. -Dan Hearn
10
8
Commencal Junior, Thibaut Daprela, finding a line through the off-camber drift-fest. -Dan Hearn
10
8
Wet conditions made for some roosty turns and we loved it! -Dan Hearn
10
8
The course looked like a motocross track in places after practice today and we hope it gets better! Stay tuned for more action from Austria as the race progresses. -Dan Hearn
10
8
Intro Graphic
More features:
PLACEHOLDER for related Slideshows view
Description
Photos and interviews by Sven Martin, @maddogboris and Dan Hearn.
View replies to: How Leogang Got Its Groove Back
Comments