World Championships, Hafjell - Timed Practice -

Another beautiful day in Norway. The day was much clearer then yesterday.

Today was a short day, practice was very minimal across all classes and seniors got a timed practiced run to give them some gauge of their speed on the track. Alternatively not all riders chose to do their timed run at full pace or even near their race speed which always means you have to take the rimes with a pinch of salt! First of all back to practice, in fact back to yesterday, there was some unfortunate news AustralianA�Matt McCorkell won’t be competing in this years race due to his crash but we wish him all the best on his recovery! On that rather down note it was also sad to see Emeline Ragot walking down the track during practice, her bike being wheeled, a crash higher up the course resulted in an injury to her wrist that saw it plastered up!

For those that made it through practice it leaves a long gap between the end of practice and tomorrows racing (there is a short practice session beforehand). Nothing like a long period of time to get the nerves going... — For those that made it through practice it leaves a long gap between the end of practice and tomorrows racing (there is a short practice session beforehand). Nothing like a long period of time to get the nerves going…

It was the females who drew the short straw and had the early training session, half an hour from 7am!

It meant everyone was still a little blurry eyed!

Fortunately Tegan Molloy is still in the junior category so she got more of a sleep in!

It was timed practice for the senior guys and girls after the short morning practice, both were topped by the reigning champions, Rachel Atherton and Greg Minnaar. As we said earlier though it can’t be considered a definitive indication of everyone’s pace, Aron Gwin for example was 24th but we expect that to improve on race day.

Senior Women

1. ATHERTON Rachel 3:53.538

2. CARPENTER Manon 3:57.266 +3.728

3. NICOLE Myriam 3:57.480 +3.942

4. SEAGRAVE Tahnee 4:02.651 +9.113

5. KINTNER Jill 4:04.220 +10.682

…

7.A�HANNAH TraceyA�4:08.557 +15.019

Senior Men

1. MINNAAR Greg 3:27.399

2. HART Danny 3:28.214 +0.815

3. ATHERTON Gee 3:28.279 +0.880

4. BRANNIGAN George 3:28.981 +1.582

5. BROSNAN Troy 3:29.621 +2.222

…

6.A�HILL SamuelA�3:29.899 +2.500

11. ATKINSON Bryn A�3:31.494 +4.095

15. FEARON ConnorA�3:32.904 +5.505

23.A�HANNAH MichaelA�3:35.248 +7.849

25.A�MOIR JackA�3:35.778 +8.379

27.A�MUDD GraemeA�3:36.065 +8.666

Fastest during tied practice was reigning champion Greg Minnaar!

George Brannigan was in 4th, definitely flying under the radar for a low of people!

9th for Josh Bryceland who is a favourite for the win according to a lot of people.

11th for Bryn Atkinson who is looking comfortable on course.

12th for Brook MacDonald, lifting over the rocks clearly helped!

15th for Connor Fearon who has been doing some runs with Bernard Kerr (Bernard isn't racing here he is course sweep). — 15th for Connor Fearon who has been doing some runs with Bernard Kerr (Bernard isn’t racing here he is course sweep).

17th for the ever reliable Steve Peat who got pulled over in practice earlier this week by Rob Warner to be shown a video about road bikes of all things!

23rd for Mic Hannah, a podium at last years world championships something he is no doubt chasing here.

25th for Jack Moir, seen here practicing with fellow Aussie Graeme Mudd.

27th for Graeme Mudd who achieved qualification after his top 30 result at the Cairns world cup.

In a slightly different move to normal world cups the juniors came after seniors for their training, we spotted lots of ‘helpers’ on the side of the track from different countries all looking to give their juniors the advice that might be the edge to winning!

The rock gardens here are the size of small countries... Andrew Crimmins showing his passport on the way in! — The rock gardens here are the size of small countries… Andrew Crimmins showing his passport on the way in!

Ben Hill just after crashing, it was nothing too serious a cut to his hand but he's tough and will be okay! — Ben Hill just after crashing, it was nothing too serious a cut to his hand but he’s tough and will be okay!

There is only one more day left, the most important one of all! Check back once there are new world champions crowned!

Photos: Jason Stevens Photography and stock images. Facebook:A�www.facebook.com/jasonstevensphotographyA�or follow @jasonstevensphotography on Instagram

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