Strong winds characterised today's World Cup qualifying in the Bikepark Leogang, which was decided between two of the best: Greg Minnaar (RSA) set a truly fabulous time with bib number one - only one rider was able to go one better and that was Leogang double winner Aaron Gwin (USA), who clearly seems to feel at home in his living room again. "I had a few problems at the top, but from the middle of the race onwards it was a solid run."
Pekoll in 25th place after restart
After a heavy crash by Remi Thirion in the finish area, there was a restart for the next five riders, including Austrian Markus Pekoll. The Frenchman was flown to Salzburg Hospital, but after a check-up he was given the all-clear. The restart ended in 25th place for Pekoll: "I tried to see the second run as an advantage, not to let myself get rattled and to concentrate on the essentials. I had a run that was okay, but not sensational. The pressure was already high today, the interest here at the home event is now enormous. I wanted to offer the Austrian fans something, I took that seriously and now I'm happy that I managed to put in a good run."
David Trummer finished in 31st place and will also feature in tomorrow's final: "The course is relatively easy, but that makes it all the more difficult to be faster than the others. The wind was the biggest issue today, a few jumps were definitely at the limit. I'm glad that I qualified today because I also caught a strong gust once. Hopefully there will be no wind tomorrow," said Trummer.
Women's final without an Austrian
The two Austrian starters Simone Wechselberger and Elke Rabeder had no chance of qualifying for the final in the strong field of women. "I just slowed down too much," explained Rabeder. The fastest time in qualifying was set by Australian Tracey Hannah, who now wants to tackle the double after Fort William in the absence of injured Leogang double winner Rachel Atherton.
Mödlinger eighth in the junior final
In the juniors, only Moritz Ribarich from the red-white-red triple pack can qualify for the final of the best 20. The Mödling native finished eighth with a solid run. The men's qualifier was led by Great Britain's Matt Walker, who beat Canadian Junior World Champion Finnley Iles in the lower section of the course. Third place in the qualification went to Briton Kaos Seagrave.
1A supporting programme
At tomorrow's Grande Finale in Leogang, the supporting programme will be just right again: The women's final will be kicked off with a show by trials world champion Tom Öhler, the Flying Bulls will then give the starting signal for the final show-down of the downhill men.
Premiere in Leogang: live broadcast in German for the first time
A special highlight for 2017: In addition to the English-language stream, Red Bull TV will also offer the entire race action from Leogang with German commentary for the first time. None other than Austrian sports commentator Christopher Ryan will be making his comeback after several years and will guide viewers through the final on Sunday together with co-commentator, bike pro Tibor Simai. Servus TV will also be broadcasting the final live for the first time.
