Vallnord kept the World Cup wildness alive with a loose and dusty new track in Andorra with some sketchy moments for everyone.
Holy smokes, Vallnord provided yet another classic heart-stopping finals day. So many sketchy moments.
Junior Women
Canyon Collective FMD’s Phoebe Gale backed up her multi-second qualifying win, with almost six seconds the good over Gracey Hemstreet who swapped places with Jenna Hastings. Gale’s winning run would be a full ten seconds faster than her qualifier.
Lisa Bouladou and Izabela Yankova were separated by 0.005, rounding out the top 5.
Phoebe Gale would have been 6th in Elite Women today.
Junior Men
Oh Canada! Four of the top five Junior Men were from Canada. Jordan Williams would be the only rider to spoil the Canadian party.
Jackson Goldstone took the win over his main rival Williams by 1.6 seconds, backing up his qualifying win. Tegan Cruz would slot into third, some 4.7 back on Goldstone, with Bodhi Kuhn and Tristan Lemire stacked up behind him in fourth and fifth respectively.
Goldstone’s winning time would be nine seconds faster than his qualifier and three faster than Vergier’s quali winning time.
Elite Women
Siel van der Velden would occupy the hot seat as the live feed kicked off with a 3:24.
Vero Widmann would take a serious digger on one of the upper jumps but would get straight back on and finish her run.
Anna Newkirk would hit split three over three seconds up on van der Velden despite being one down at split one. Four and a half up by split four, 4.3 up over the line. She’s still six off Balanche’s qualifier.
Monika Hrastnik hits the deck between splits one and two, ten down at split two but she’s gaining, only eight down at split three. Six down across the line. Not to be her day.
Mille Johnset is building into a heater. She takes the key section and is green on all the splits. Three up by split four. Four seconds the good and into the hotseat. Nobody has beaten Balanche’s qualifier yet.
Jess Blewitt goes 0.6 up having been down at split one. She’s 0.018 up at split three. The GT Factory Racing goes into the hot seat by 0.9. She let it all hang out on those last turns. She’s still almost two back on Balanche’s qualifier.
Eleonora Farina is into the red on the first two splits. She’s soldi in the steeps though, will she claw it back? 2.6 back. Not what she would have wanted. With four to go, Blewitt is guaranteed a podium. What a comeback after breaking her femur in Snowshoe last year.
Vali Holl hits the gas hard out of the gate. BOOM. Five seconds up at split three, building all the way down the hill. Finally a clean, attacking run. She’s four faster than Balanche’s qualifier. Three to go.
Myriam Nicole on track. She’s not been well this week but her third place qualifier was a strong showing. She goes 0.8 up at split two. She hits the key section flat out but goes down just three turns from the finish. She still goes 5th.
Nina Hoffman on track. 2.3 seconds back at split two. Losing another second to Holl at split three. Still good for second.
Only Balanche left. She almost drifts off into the trees and is down by over two seconds at split two. Not impossible but it’s a big ask. That gap builds to almost four by split three. Balanche is in trouble, she’s almost binned it three times. She goes third.
Vali Holl has done it. Finally. Fair play Jess Blewitt, broken femur last year. World Cup podium in Andorra.
Elite Men
Word is that Amaury Pierron took a massive stack in practice but will start his finals run. Benoit Coulanges also took a dive in qualifying but won’t start, a haematoma and a sliced forearm for his efforts.
Thomas Estaque is in the hot seat with a 2:49, some three seconds slower than Vergier’s qualifying win. His time is holding for now, but we’re not far off the big guns.
Max Hartenstern has the hot seat for but a moment before Oli Zwar bumps him into second.
Flo Payet can’t do anything in his 99th finals run with a rear flat.
Few riders are getting close to Oli Zwar’s time.
Eddie Masters is off the pace, but lights it up getting wild on the stump gap.
Troy Brosnan is looking to put his quali flat behind him. He’s losing time to Zwar still.
Thibaut Daprela will also be looking to put a poor qualifying run behind him. He’s mixing the lines up and is up at the splits. Green at the first two splits to a second down at split three. 1.8 back at the line, goes fourth.
Zwar’s time is looking solid. He’s done something special in the third sector. We’re into the fastest 20 qualifiers.
Angel Suarez Alonso goes green at the top two splits. Hopefully he can keep it rubber side down unlike in Lenzerheide. He sends the stump gap and gains a second for his efforts. He loses 1.6 seconds in the last two turns but goes 0.3 up.
Luke Meier-Smith capitalises on Suarez’s slow bottom sector having been down on all the splits to the Spaniard. Takes the hot seat by 0.159.
Danny Hart takes to the track. He’s taking some funky lines and sends the stump gap perfectly but he’s over two down at split four.
Matt Walker on course. He lifts off in the first rock section and he takes a dive… Game over. He’s back up and finishes his run.
Charlie Hatton looks to improve on his 15th place qualifier. He’s hovering around the 1.5 second mark down on Meier-Smith, before going over 2 back on the last split.
Austrian national champion David Trummer gets moving. He’s 2.3 back at split two. This is going to be easy to claw back. Five back come the finish line.
Antoine Vidal builds into a wild run but is around the 1.5 mark back the whole way down. 8th place.
The GOAT is on the way. He’s just 0.129 back at split two. 0.77 back at split three. Perfectly over the stump gap. But he’s 0.8 down at split four. Fourth, half a second back.
Pau Menoyo Busques won the Catalan Cup here but is only half a second down going into split two but is losing ground to Meier-Smith. 4.2 back…
We’re into the top 10.
Here comes Andreas Kolb, your European Champ. 1.2 back in 18th. Times are stacked. There may be a headwind building on the top section. He’s gained 0.6 in the third sector. Gains another 0.1. Kolb goes fastest by 0.3. A clean, fast run.
Can Bernard Kerr unseat Kolb? Kerr is only 0.5 back at split two. He’s pushing hard and getting loose. Only 0.7 at split three. It’s still doable. He makes the stump gap look very easy. He’s now 1.3 back at split four. 2.4 at the finish, 8th place.
He comes Laurie Greenland. He’s 1.2 up at split two. Hot damn. Can he hold onto it? He sends the stump gap no bother. It’s all about the last few turns, he’s a gnat’s whisker back at the last split. It’s a scrappy lower section, so he goes 1.4 back over the line.
Dakotah Norton is up next. Just 0.2 back at split two. Kolb was lightning fast on the lower slopes though. 0.695 back at split three. He’s in touch. Drops to 0.9 back at split four. 14th just 3.2 back.
Hugo Frixtalon is hitting the top turns fast. He’s 1.1 up at split two. Like everyone else is bleeding time to Kolb in the lower slopes.
Aaron Gwin is on track. He’s up at split one but we know it’s the lower slopes that matters today. He’s almost two up at split two. 1.3 up at split three. He’s pushing hard. Aaron Gwin is back. 0.6 up on Kolb. He may have had a slow front flat.
Iles is up 0.7 at split one. Building to 1.3 at split two. This is classic Iles. Up at the splits and getting loose. 0.7 up at split three. 0.9 up at split four. He almost hits the barriers off the finish drop. Goes fastest. 0.7 into the lead over Gwin.
Three French riders to go.
Bruni on track. Bruni is 1.1 back at split two. Bruni is up. Where has he found that time? Nails the stump gap. The shoulder must be feeling good. He’s 0.4 up at split 4. Bruni goes fastest by 0.2. Surgical precision by SuperBruni.
Will Pierron overcome his stack in practice? He’s a 1.6 back on Bruni at split two. 2.6 down at split three. He’s on damage limitation surely today. He’ll move ahead of Matt Walker who took a dive. 12th for Pierron. Just Vergier to go.
Vergier is the last man down the hill. He’s 0.03 back at split one. He’s up. 0.3 at split two. He’s building, 0.6 up at split three. 0.9 at split four. He’s got to stay on now. 1.4 up at the finish line. What. a. run.