The first points of the year have been handed out as qualifying has wrapped up at the opening World Cup in Lourdes.
The rain stayed away for the first proper timed runs between the tapes (yes, we know timed training exists) of the 2022 UCI Downhill World Cup. Here’s who did what in Lourdes qualifying.
Junior Women
Phoebe Gale made it another win in qualifying in the first race of the year, with almost 1.7 seconds between her and Gracey Hemstreet. Gale was fastest at all four splits. Lisa Bouladou rounded out the top three.
Junior Men
It looks very much like the Jackson Goldstone/Jordan Williams battle is set to continue, with the Santa Cruz Syndicate rider getting the better of his Madison Saracen rival by just shy of half a second. Remy Meier-Smith rounds out the top three.
Elite Women
Vali Holl has found her speed and pipped Myriam Nicole to the 50 points by just over half a second. These two were comfortable out in front of the rest of the pack with third place Tahnee Seagrave a good four seconds back. Nina Hoffman would need to make full use of her protected status with a crash that left her 30 seconds off the pace.
Elite Men
Finn Iles would be the only non-French rider in the top five, hot on the heels of his team mate Loic Bruni, who was almost 1.2 seconds out front. Less than two seconds separate the top five, with five seconds across the top ten. It’s all to play for. Eight French riders in the top ten is a strong showing, with only Danny Hart and Reece Wilson in the top ten for the Brits.