Our man Rich Thomas is out in Mont St Anne this week getting ready for the big World Cup. Here’s his first update, beamed all the way from Canada baby!
It’s nice to be back out here at the infamous Mont-Sainte-Anne, the renowned ‘man’s’ track. After racing here in 2012 I’ve been excited to return as the track is unreal. Here’s a little look at the beast this year.
The start is the same as usual but shortly after there are some new sections, built well with some interesting line choices, rock gardens and split lines, these new sections have really dragged out the top section so she’ll be a long one this weekend…!
After these new sections you get back into the old top woods with the big rolling boulders and awesome turns, the dirt up in these woods is amazing. The layout through the woods is pretty much the same with a few new added features and some standard track maintenance.
After the top woods the track opens up and gets really fast, they have groomed the open straights nicely but I can imagine this lasting long. Next up is the famous ‘photo’ shot from years past as the track come out and under the gondola, the track here has some new little features but some serious weather damage and looks fast and gnarly as hell…!
Finally there are some more fresh sections as you head into the steep rocky woods near the bottom, these slow the track up in some ways but add some more interest other than white knuckling your way down. From here the track pretty much follows the same line as before, looking in perfect condition at the moment.
The Finish looks good, not one I’ve ridden before but the container jump looks good and there is a tidy sized double right into the finish line.
All in all the track is looking incredible and I’m sure everybody will have the same opinion, roll on practice tomorrow. So that’s it, the weather is top banana right now but looking like it could get wild throughout the week.
Catch you later
Rich T
