It was a wet and wild day of World Cup downhill qualifying in Snowshoe, W.Va on Friday. Thick mud and wet rocks were a potent combination, causing some favourites to falter and unexpected names to shine.
11 Canadians are through to qualifying across junior men and women, elite men and, for the first time this year, elite women.
Elite Men: Wallace stays smooth
After struggling through Snowshoe in 2021, Commencal/Muc-Off appear to be off on the right, muddy, foot in West Virginia this year. Amaury Pierron, bouncing back from a major crash in Andorra, qualifies fastest. He’s followed closely by teammate Thibault Daprela. Bernard Kerr (Pivot) appears to be loving the muck, using the slippery Snowshoe course to qualify third ahead of Loic Bruni (Specialized). Ireland’s Ronan Dunne (Continental Nukeproof) also launches himself up the start list with a surprising fifth in qualifying.
Canada’s men had a less successful day on track. The remarkably consistent Mark Wallace (Canyon Cllctv) was the only Canuck who appeared to be on good pace with his 14th in qualifying. Finn Iles (Specialized) was next best in 33rd. He’ll have to turn that around to hold onto second in the overall standings behind Pierron. Kirk McDowall (Dunbar) is bacak at World Cups and onto finals with a 49th on Friday. Jakob Jewett (Canyon Cllctv) squeezes into finals in 55th.
That leaves Lucas Cruz and Henry Fitzgerald of Norco Factory Team just on the wrong side of the 60-rider cut-off in 62nd and 64th. Seth Sherlock (Intense Factory Racing) was close behind them in 69th. James Frost keeps Ontario DH on the results board with a 79th.
Elite Women: Pageau’s hard work pays off
Rachel Pageau (Commencal) is the first Canadian woman to make an elite World Cup final this year. Pageau, who has battled long-lost bikes by airlines, forcing her to race loaners and rental bikes in Europe, and injury on her way to this final, squeezes in in 14th.
The battle for the win appears to, once again, be between Camille Balanche (Dorval AM) and world champion Myriam Nicole (Commencal Muc-Off). Balanche put in a solid six-second gap in seeding, but Nicole was faster at the top half of the course. Anything could happen on Sunday in finals. Last year’s winner in Snowshoe, Vali Höll (RockShox Trek) lurks dangerously in third, ready to take advantage of any slip-up by the top-two.
Juniors: Canada on the move in West Virginia
Jackson Goldstone qualifies first by just shy of 12 seconds, a huge margin…
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