Qualifying Action from Lourdes World Cup Downhill

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Loic Bruni qualified first here last year, but this year he looks to be in a league of his own. 5.6 seconds up is a huge margin these days. 1st at every split. Perfection. -Sven Martin

The Rise of Loic! From Superloic to the Pope of Downhill. What's next? @maddogboris

This is Loic's bike post-race run. Just enough clearance left for the tires to spin. -Sven Martin

It was a big day for Tahnee proving she has what it takes to get to the top spot. Despite crashing in her run, she was still 3 seconds up, winning qualifying. -Duncan Philpott

Kevin Marry took the much-scrutinized Junior win in qualifying today. 1st at all three splits. Perfection. -Sven Martin

Three flat pedal riders in the top ten today. Josh (pictured and 2nd place), Brendan and Connor. If we see similar conditions in Cairns expect even more. -Sven Martin

Rachel has looked fast from early on, but slowly the other girls got their heads around the conditions. Only doing one practice run this morning may have not let her get truly up to speed for her qualifying run. It's going to be a big battle tomorrow. -Sven Martin

Gee with complete disregard for things like mud, off-cambers, roots, rocks, health, and safety - boosting twice as deep as anybody else. 3rd place. -Johan Hjord

Gee went down hard in practice. It didn't phase him much though. Third in qualifiers. -Sven Martin

Stevie Smith back in the game making light work of the tricky first rock garden in morning practice. A solid 4th in qualifying today. -Johan Hjord

You can never discount Troy Brosnan. Specialized have a lot of presence now with multiple potential winners -Duncan Philpott

Brendan zooming by into the last woods for a 6th place. -Sven Martin

Since Brendan is now fast as food, no one actually cares how he looks on the jumps. Sorry Dog. -Sven Martin

An unhappy Remi only broke the beam and then bailed from qualifying. He'll give it a crack tomorrow. His hand isn't broken, but it's far from healthy. -Duncan Philpott

Matt Walker (the younger one) 2nd in Juniors. And as a first year, too! No hype, all results. @maddogboris

Slick, slick, slick. -Duncan Philpott

With the light of Christ so bright here in Lourdes, maximum shading was needed. @maddogboris

Gwin tried a few lines that didn't work out in morning practice. #tapetester -Johan Hjord

Shaun Palmer has made a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2016 to pay his penance for a lifetime of sins by schlepping Junior's bikes up a flight of stairs to cleanse them in holy water. -MTBJESUS

7th in qualifying and now one of the all-around dependable competitors. Marcelo Gutierrez. -Duncan Philpott

Oscar Barnstorm broke his arm badly here last year. Great to see him overcome this section and qualify for the race tomorrow. -Sven Martin

Morgane Charre on the Bergamont Hayes Factory team this year and into 5th place today. Reflective clear lenses for the win. -Sven Martin

Stepping out of wet ruts with NFG. Connor Fearon slid his way to 8th later in his race run. -Sven Martin

Reflector pedals at a World Cup. Well when it's so dark for 8am practice, why not? -Sven Martin

Yes. The big show for Steve Peat in his final year of World Cup racing. 48th counts! @maddogboris

Alexandre Fayolle goes from Vital Privateer of the year winner to Top 11 in qualifying today. -Sven Martin

Finn Iles has been fast all week. A quick run then entangled in the catch netting kept him off the top spots today. Tomorrow is the real race though. -Sven Martin

Dan Hearn on the billy can coffee and tea duties before qualifying kicks off. -Sven Martin

Aaron Gwin in a puddle of muddy water after going down higher up the course. Watch out for him tomorrow just like last year. -Sven Martin

These roots were the cause of many shapes. Manon Carpenter getting it sideways on the way to third. -Duncan Philpott

The latest in suspension analytics. Tracking juniors at 1/6th of a second. -Duncan Philpott

@MTBJesus is gluten-free (believe it or not) so he snacks on a 5-meat meat wrap. -Sven Martin

TIMBER -Sven Martin

#oops. Sven's fisheye heads for open waters.

Forrest Riesco knows how to get in Vital. Manual counter-steer bro. -Sven Martin

Happy Birthday Rupert Chapman. Surviving today to race tomorrow is a present in itself. So long Vanzacs No-Quali parties. -Dan Hearn.

Double duty today for the teams. It's a two man (and woman) job to keep the machine oiled. Kathy and Doug GSD. -Sven Martin

Greg Minnaar was going for his best Fred Dibnah impression all day today. A spill in qualifying means he's off the back in 32nd and will start among the protected riders. -Duncan Philpott

Lots of this and that in #VitalRAW today. -Sven Martin

Craig Evans finally qualifies in style here in the trickiest of all race conditions. -Sven Martin

Top tube inspiration for Craig Evans seeing him through to the final round. #godsavetherat #dontlookdown -Duncan Philpott

Eddie Masters went creative and found some new lines over the rock. #afraidofhucks? @maddogboris

Emilie Siegenthaler ran solidly in 4th place, 7 seconds ahead of 5th. With line help from Eliot and Bernard, she's on the right track. -Duncan Philpott

Gwin in a precarious position. -Johan Hjord

One less-than-happy hand for Matt Walker (the older one). An operation inserting some wire this morning puts him on the road to recovery. -Duncan Philpott

Lunch breaks prompt intuitive usage of 300mm lens hoods. -Duncan Philpott

Gwin crashed first round last year and came back to smash it. The hype hasn't disappeared and the Number 1 plate is still lurking in the pits. -Duncan Philpott

Thomas Estaque brought the 74 plate inside the top 20. His splits steadily declined from 10th. Perhaps a sign of someone who can't afford the off-season time for the rigorous training done by the factory pros. -Duncan Philpott

Roost flying from Piche. One third of Lac Blanc Commencal who had two Top 20 results and one Top 40. -Duncan Philpott

Loris Vergier crashed up top and lost a lot of time. He ragged his way down to finish inside the Top 10 from 40th. #sleeper -Duncan Philpott

Stumps were cut down between qualifying groups. More for rider safety than making any part of the course easier. No ruptured spleens please. -Duncan Philpott

The British Juniors were going well today with 4 in the Top 10 despite multiple crashes among them. Charlie Hatton pinned it to 3rd place. -Duncan Philpott

This was only qualifying and Loic Bruni was mobbed like a winner at the end of the day. Who knows what tomorrow brings? All we know is we can't wait to find out! -Duncan Philpott

Racing action has returned to the UCI World Cup with DH qualifying in Lourdes today. Conditions were slick and sketchy with a course that took no prisoners. Loic Bruni and Tahnee Seagrave managed to claim fast times on the day with significant margins over their closest competitors in the Elite classes. The fans are hyped and the tension is high with race day just a few hours away.

Sven Martin, Duncan Philpott, @maddogboris, Dan Hearn and Johan Hjord bring you the muddy mess that is the Lourdes World Cup!