This morning’s practice sessionA�finished without a hitch, the odd flat tyre or crash but no notable events.A�By this stage most riders should have a fair idea on their lines and the timed practice session is the first true indication of rider’s speed. For the juniors their time determines the starting order with the fastest time being the last person down the hill for finals. In Elite men the time does not play a part in the start order, this is determined by rank.

With timed practice out of the way it was time for the timed run. The first riders down the hill were the junior females and Australia’s Danielle Beecroft proved she is a real chance of a medalA�by coming in third place.

The junior mens field was made up of 76 riders with Australia looking to feature heavily at the pointy end. For their timed runs we sat in the one spot to get an idea of how each rider negotiated that section of track. It was interesting to note that the Australian riders all took the A-line (as shown in the photos below) whereas many of the other top junior riders didn’t.

Junior Men

1. Loic Bruni 3.34.17

2. Noel Niederberger 3.38.96 + 4.80

3. Fraser McGlone 3.40.79 + 6.62

4. Connor Fearon 3.41.10 + 6.93

5. Jan Cepelak 3.41.71 + 7.54

…

10. Jack Moir 3.43.85 + 9.68

20. Dean Lucas 3.45.71 + 11.54

22. David McMillan 3.45.77 + 11.61

29. Joe Vejvoda 3.48.95 + 14.79

36. Tom Crimmins 3.51.70 + 17.53

47. Luke Ellison 3.55.16 + 20.99

 

After the junior men elite women started off the proceedings for the elite riders. With Tracey Hannah out injured the closest Australia had to a representative was Claire Buchar who finished tenth but is here representing Canada. Elite men is what a lot of the fans really come to see but with the timed run not having any bearing on Sundaya��s start order, it is hard to know just how much the riders were pushing. Either way it was Sic Mic Hannah who topped the time sheets half a second ahead of Steve Smith. Talking to Mic before his run he was calm and with a solid year of racing under his belt his confidence should be high, leta��s hope tomorrow pays off for him. Three of the big contenders, Greg Minnar, Aaron Gwin and Gee Atherton took out third through fifth respectively.

Elite Men

1. Mic Hannah 3.26.63

2. Steve Smith 3.27.16 + 0.52

3. Greg Minnaar 3.27.94 + 1.30

4. Aaron Gwin 3.28.79 + 2.16

5. Gee Atherton 3.29.06 + 2.39

a��

16. Bryn Atkinson 3.36.05 + 9.42

20. Troy Brosnan 3.37.14 + 10.51

29. Jared Graves 3.38.74 + 12.11

32. Sam Hill 3.39.92 + 12.76

43. Mitch Delfs 3.42.30 + 15.66

107. Josh Button 4.20.13 + 53.50

Tomorrow is the big day, finals! We cana��t waita��

Typical Alps weather in Leogang, perfect one day miserable the next! It has been raining forA�24 hours non stop, you wouldn’t believe it unless you were stuck in the middle of it like the riders here at Leogang. The mud meant riders lacked some speed for the big jumps in the middleA�of the course but the comments were that the track was super grippy. This is testament to the local trail builders who are all to aware how much water can fall quickly in these parts.

With such average conditions riders weren’t taking too many chances,A�Aussie junior David McMillan snapped his shock early inA�practice but managed to get it fixed in time to get a couple more runs in.A�The rest of the juniors were looking fast and will all be contenders on Sunday. In senior men the usual suspects were all going fast, Bryn Atkinson looked super pinned, whipping off jumps most riders were struggling to clear. Jared Graves was busy all day, possibly doing the most runs of any Australian rider, clearly a man on a mission. As was Mic Hannah who was riding with his trademark flat out style.

More rain is forecast for tomorrows timed practice session which could provide an interesting indication of who has genuine speed here at Leogang.

The 2012 World ChampionshipsA�kicked off here at Leogang, Austria today with the official track walk followed by an open practice session. The open practice session meant all categories were allowed on track at once, thisA�causedA�some congestion as riders would catch slower riders in front of them. While the track is certainly steep, fast and wild the riders felt it had been tamed down since the last World Cup held here. Conditions were good for the riders, if anything the dry conditions meant big braking ruts were forming in corners.

Rain fell here after practice and is continuing into the night, it will be interesting to seeA�how muchA�more rain falls before tomorrowa��s practice session. Many riders already have the spikes out in anticipation of what is going to happen! Check back to downhill247.com soon!