TOO GNARLY? Never. Val di Sole World Cup DH Timed Training Slideshow

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Can there be a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup DH track that's too gnarly? We know there are slow, technical trails that are difficult and perilous if ridden wrong, but we're talking World Cup-caliber downhill race courses. So, can it get too rough and too fast? Some riders think the 2019 Val di Sole course is at that limit - the limit of what's rideable at a legitimate race pace. Since we're not out there dodging the bomb holes and boulders, we'll leave it up to Sven Martin, @maddogboris and Dan Hearn to tell the story of the almost-too-gnarly as they deliver the destruction from a dry, dusty timed training day. Rain is in the forecast which makes our hind ends pucker that much more.

Amaury Pierron took his time on his final run and checked out how the course has bedded in. That didn't stop him charging between stops though. -Dan Hearn

Amaury won Val di Sole last year, and he is confident that he can do it again this year. Even though his fastest time of the day came early in the session, this is the last action pic of the day, as he was the last rider on track checking out lines. @maddogboris

Marine Cabirou with the fastest Elite Women's timed run today. Maybe she is a bit faster because there aren't many jumps to have fun on. @maddogboris

Marine Cabirou, number one today with a big margin and a big smile. -Dan Hearn

Thibaut Daprela goes quickest by five seconds in Juniors today. -Sven Martin

Thibaut Daprela impressing yet again with a big margin. -Dan Hearn

We bought beers from Johannes Von Klebelsberg three years ago when he was raising funds. Now he's smashing tracks and turning heads. Eighth fastest in timed training. #denimdestroyer -Sven Martin

Vali Höll pinned as always and in command of the series lead. There were no Junior Women's timed results today. @maddogboris

The GOAT in the zone and looking set for a top result in the steeps of Italy. 2nd today by just .358 secons. -Dan Hearn

Jason Marsh recons when Greg Minnaar is relaxed he is on for a good one. Greg was flying today. -Sven Martin

It's a rough track for the strongest riders and pretty hard to find smooth lines or places to rest. Tracey thunders through the rocks and roots. -Sven Martin

A chilled first run didn't go to plan for Troy this morning. OTB and a bit sore, but still pushing hard. -Dan Hearn

David Trummer has been super consistent all season and was 3rd fastest today. Impressive stuff from the young Austrian. -Dan Hearn

Danny Hart leaned and focused with 4th place. The Top 4 were only separated by .567 seconds today. -Sven Martin

Farina Eleonora sent it up top and was third quickest today. Expect another podium for the strong Italian rider. -Sven Martin

Loris Revelli must have had his espresso this morning. 5th place for the Italian. -Dan Hearn

Loris Vergier says this is about as rough as it can get in World Cup racing. He goes wide and high to try avoid most of it. -Sven Martin

If your name is Brook and you hit a section so hard you double over, you can believe that anybody else would have been tossed off their bike. -Sven Martin

Laurie Greenland is finding it a lot different to last year and has adjusted his riding accordingly. He's not worried about the rain tomorrow either. -Sven Martin

Bruce Klein, unfortunately still in B practice, always stoked to drift some corners for our cameras. @maddogboris

We had quite a few cool shots of Dakota Norton to choose from. Aggressive riding all day put him in 7th. -Dan Hearn

A few last-minute tire changes were going on this evening after people had seen the forecast for tomorrow. -Dan Hearn

Boulders and dust might look rad, but could turn nasty if the rain comes tomorrow. -Dan Hearn

Loic Bruni without a timed run because of a crash. Still a bit time for puzzle before finals on saturday. @maddogboris

Lots of stopping today by all the riders due to the many lines in most of the major sections. Loic double-checks the entry options into one of the toughest parts of the track up top. -Sven Martin

Triplets. Who knew? -Sven Martin

Finn Iles with the high line. @maddogboris

Red Bull ought to start putting branding on these. -Dan Hearn

Eddie blowing a tire off on a root. The roots here are more savage than rocks elsewhere. -Sven Martin

Eddie Masters doing some B-Zone EWS training during timed training today. Good work ethic from the dual-sporter. -Sven Martin

Thomas Estaque podiumed here last year, and with riding like this, he has a good chance to make it happen again. Always exciting to watch on wild tracks. -Sven Martin

Frank (Pardal) was on a charge today. Tucking and sending it where others were tentative. -Sven Martin

Roots kept coming up. Some become hazards and need to be removed. Busy job this one today. -Sven Martin

Kate Weatherly keeping it low into 4th place in timed training. -Dan Hearn

Dual Pan-Off World Champs. -Sven Martin

Austrian National Champ sleeve for Vali Holl. Not just in Juniors, but the fastest women's time in the whole country. -Sven Martin

Vali sweating it out in the heat and humidity this morning. -Sven Martin

Where Remi Thirion couldn't crack the top 20 today, he sure made up for in style. -Dan Hearn

Troy with some perfect Oakley ad placement. -Sven Martin

Analyzing your own riding and laughing at your dumb mistakes is a common sight between Joe Bowman and the Syndicate. -Sven Martin

Greg Williamson wishing the shark-fin-berm-hop was as smooth and functional as those in Semenuk edits. -Sven Martin

As we told you yesterday, here's Mark Wallace in action with a little story about his bad luck at Canadian National Champs. @maddogboris

Silhouettes and sunshine. -Sven Martin

Trackside coffee the real way. Thanks. -Sven Martin

When you want to test sections bit by bit and you don't want to leave it for timed training. A few teams have various methods for doing so. Some use GPS data, others use precision frickin' laser beams! -Sven Martin

First to pioneer the inside rock roll that no one thought would be on was Greg Williamson, followed shortly after by Brendan Fairclough. -Sven Martin

Luca Shaw doing what looks like a simple little hop, but its an incredibly awkward, needle-threading maneuver into a tight tricky spot. -Sven Martin

Amaury warming down after warming up all day. -Sven Martin

Kye A'hern was riding aggressively and paid the price with a little crash. Luckily he's fine and ready to attack qualifiers. @maddogboris

Kaos Seagrave still thinks he is at LooseFest? @maddogboris

Dean Lucas with some smart ideas? @maddogboris

Connor Fearon dust explosion. @maddogboris

Italian roost for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. It'll be probably a different story for qualis. @maddogboris

Amaury's brother, Baptiste, 13th in timed runs. @maddogboris

Brook Macdonald with the 10th fastest time. No question, if he brings down a proper run, he can be easily on the podium on Saturday. @maddogboris

Mountains, sun and a road gap in the morning to start the day. @maddogboris

B practice riders soaking up the rays this morning. The clear skies might not last until tomorrow. -Dan Hearn

Look closer before you think we uploaded an out-of-focus photo. Gaetan Vigé had a massive crash today and we're not sure if he will be riding quali. @maddogboris

Injured Bernard Kerr helping Eliot Jackson doing his thing for the Red Bull pre-game videos. @maddogboris

Dean Lucas showing Jack Moir his lines. Guess they didn't work as well for Jack. @maddogboris

Our good, old buddy who probably invented Vital RAW. @maddogboris

Well done, Forrest Riesco! 14th place, 8.273 seconds off Amaury. Charging! @maddogboris

Troy Brosnan went down hard on his first run in training, but he was back on track after a little break. @maddogboris

Adam Brayton just out of the Top 20. Pretty sure he'll want to change this ASAP. @maddogboris

Troy Lee Designs train with Luca Shaw and Brendog. @maddogboris

Greg Minnaar and Luca Shaw checking out the lines of the other riders. @maddogboris

What can I say Eddie? Sorry, but the world has to see it. @maddogboris

Mille Johnset sprinting out the start gate. @maddogboris

With Matt Simmonds out with a fractured eye socket (ouch), Cannondale brought in Kenta Gallagher to continue their testing. -Dan Hearn

Flo Payet deploying the tripod and surfing into 11th in timed training. Good to see the big man at the sharp end of the bunch. -Dan Hearn

A broken knuckle at National Champs two weeks ago hasn't stopped Transition junior, Jamie Edmondson, from strapping up and getting on. -Dan Hearn

A great rider needs a great team to perform at their best. Loic checks out video clips gathered throughout the day to see what the rest of the pack is getting up to. -Dan Hearn

The clouds couldn't make their mind up today, constantly changing the light conditions. -Dan Hearn

Having a barbecue under a sign saying "BossDog" in a bad tattoo font is pretty much an invitation for Boris, right? -Dan Hearn

Charlie Harrison looked quickest through this section. There was no room for error on his line and he nailed it perfectly. A Top 10 today, and hopefully he can back that up in qualis. -Dan Hearn