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<b>The pipes play for qualifying day...</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>The fastest man of the day, Danny Hart, is tired of 2nd place in Fort William and ready to take the top of the podium.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>This is how Danny got it done today.</b> -Joe Bowman
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<b>Rachel Atherton 6 seconds up. This is her first Fort William World Cup without injury and her strength is showing. Fox's Justin Frey in audio.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>With Alan Millway taking over coaching proceedings at GT, Gee has been spotted running power cranks. He kept them on for qualifying which will no doubt provide greater insight to his performance. He needs to find 0.176 on race day.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Taylor Vermin (As iPhone autocorrect would have it) proved himself on the World Cup stage today. He's stoked, but won't start celebrating too early...</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>And Taylor won't be celebrating too early because there is a lot of talent in the Junior field. Phil Atwill here, is one of the only juniors to have beaten Taylor. He flatted today, so watch for a clean run tomorrow.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Some history here. Ian Jones has marshaled on turn six for 12 years straight, come rain or shine. He has seen a thing or two...even more than Flipper.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Mick is looking forward to a happy ending on race day.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Mick's teammate, Fabien Cousinie, has been looking fast all week, but quali's were unlucky. The dad in the background is telling his son just how many lawns he'd have to mow to cover this JRA incident.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Josh Bryceland getting interesting hand gestures from his mates one second...</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>...then tasting the bog the next. Bryceland's crash put him in 88th place, but with the #7 plate, he's a protected rider and will race on Sunday.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Sam Hill qualified in 8th spot today, 6.5-seconds behind first but well ahead of many. His performance should silence the doubters from last weekend's performance at Innerleithen. Still 7 places to go before he's truly happy though!</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Doug Hatfield discusses Syndicate warm up routines as Steve and Greg watch Gee fly by.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Peaty's 20th year of World Cups and he is not afraid to get loose with the kids while maintaining some ritual before a race.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Half way down the track, one marshal is providing tubes for riders who need them. He often runs out by lunch time.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Cedric checking himself out on yesterday's Vital Show. Duncan thinks his style is too Euro. 79th on purpose? YEAH RIGHT!</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Women's 4X Pro Tour winner, Katy Curd, stoked on her victory!</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Women's 1 and 2 - Rachel Atherton and Emmeline Ragot, mirror image of the day.</b> -Duncan Philpott
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<b>Harry Heath, newly-turned privateer for 2013 does himself proud coming in 11th in today's qualifying. Josh Bryceland leads out Minnaar in the whip train earlier today before hitting the deck in his qualifying run.</b> -Joe Bowman
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<b>Lads, lads, lads.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Nick Beer is one of the unlucky victims of the new UCI World Ranking rule that no one is happy with. He flatted in his quali run today. According to his 2012 World Cup ranking (14th), he would have been protected going by the old rules. Switzerland has had no National rounds for him to earn points in 2013 and he skipped his National Champs last year for Crankworx. Now he pays the price with his random 27th World ranking and no protection. Is it fair? </b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Sam Dale eats babies apparently.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Where the trail sends. Ft William, Canada.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Gary Perkin has been away from World Cups for a while now and it seems he has forgotten how to use a real camera. #instachallenge. YEAH BIGGIE G!</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Brook MacDonald's heated bike burning a trail through the snow. Brook and Sam Hill, the last two flat pedal thunders, both in the top ten.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Manon Carpenter getting low, loose and stylie on turn 6.</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Wyn Masters sending the road gap with a flat in qualifying. His brother Eddie is in the finals though. #nipples</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Schwalbe launched the new Magic Mary tire in the pits today. It will replace the Muddy Mary and Big Betty and has already seen success on the World Cup circuit. They released two other tires as well. More details soon…</b> -Turman
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<b>While I was up on the hill there was another project going on in the pits. #svengetsfreeshitbro</b> -Sven Martin
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<b>Mountains, a little snow and silhouettes and only a few sleepless moments before race day!</b> -Duncan Philpott
Description
Danny Hart and Rachel Atherton uncork the fastest qualifying times of the first World Cup downhill race of the year. While Rachel put a good dent in the women's class, Danny edged out 2nd place Gee Atherton by only .167 seconds. Eyes are on 2012 World Champ Greg Minnaar and 2012 World Cup Overall Champ, Aaron Gwin, as they were lower in the results than expected. Race day is just a few hours away and anything goes. Enjoy the exciting photos, video and audio from Sven Martin, Duncan Philpott and Joe Bowman.
View replies to: QUALIFYING ACTION From the 2013 Fort William World Cup
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