World Cup Round 5, Mont St. Anne

Welcome to Mont St. Anne, in Quebec, Canada, A�an all time classic track from the world cup scene, with timeless sections that we all know from the mountain bike films of past. Today we are taking our track walk with the future of Australian Downhill, let us introduce the Australian Junior DH Team.

The Juniors full of excitement ready to head down the track

For anyone who is un-aware of the Junior team, these are the most outstanding young riders Australia currently has to offer, from left to right, front to back they are; Ben Hill, Jackson Davis, Ben Dengate, MaxA�Warshawsky, Michelle Crisp, Jared Rando (Coach), Joel Willis, Matthew McCorkell, Nathan Rennie (Coach). Not Pictured are Andrew Crimmins, Aiden Varley and Tegan Molloy.

From the roll in we could see some changes in the track, with the top section having a remodel and changing it up a little, the dirt up here is very fresh and quite loose, so we suspect that there will be some ruts forming very early tomorrow in practice, but only time will tell. There have been a lot of rocks inserted into this new top section, again we feel that the loose soil won’t hold all the rocks and that this top section will change rather dramatically from todays track walk.

Nathan Rennie rounds up his juniors like a Sheppard, spreading years of knowledge amongst the group

Matt & Ben eye off one of the new sections that have been added

The newer section slowly faded out as the classic Mont St. Anne track returned, however that had been some changes in bunting with the track being moved a little off teh classic lines to add a slightly new challenge, but still have the classic Mont St. Anne high speed sections. One of the newer little insertions was a small hip jump, while we eyed it off many riders walked past eyeing off different tactics to not waste time in the air but the clear the small creek beneath.

So many heads contemplating so many options

While the sun is shining the smiles are clear

As we entered some of the classic open sections we noted the bunting had move slightly in places, with some spots being very tight in a high speed line, we are sure riders are going to push the limit of how close they can get to the bunting poles. The classic open section we see on TV has had some work done to it, with a jump we think will add some spice due to its smallness being dropped in. The speed trap area is still very high speed and one to watch. The lower rock garden is still just as challenging as it ever was, with plenty of line choices still available. There are plenty of risky fast lines, but we feel if it gets wet many will revert back to the classic safer lines we have seen in the past.

From the rocks the track simply opens up and drops you out into the open where there is a drop and a double leading into the finish line. Come the end of the track we had some very excited juniors ready to ride tomorrow. We look forward to practice tomorrow and we hope you check back in here tomorrow for all the action.

If you would like to follow the Junior Team as they travel and race their world cup campaign you can do so on facebook by following the Australian Junior Downhill Team 2014.