Qualifying Action from the Leogang World Cup Downhill

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Gwin and Jordi discuss settings and changes to be made after a full day in the wet on the still somewhat-new bike set up for Gwin. It's all about fine tuning. 1st place. -Sven Martin

Riding the track like it was dry, Aaron Gwin, stormed this section. -Duncan Philpott

Rachel Atherton, 8.5 seconds ahead of the rest of the field today. Can she make it 10 in a row tomorrow and re-write the record books? Her mechanic, Joe K. in audio. -Sven Martin

GoPro recaps before practice starts in the Atherton pits. -Sven Martin

It's great to see Elliot Heap win his first Junior qualifier. He looks at home on the wild fresh cut. -Duncan Philpott

Flying under the radar in full black rain stealth gear, Loris was keeping his speed under wraps until qualifying. 2nd place. -Duncan Philpott

Tahnee Seagrave may have taken the long way down the hill, but she slotted into 2nd place. -Duncan Philpott

3rd place for Mike Jones today! Gotta make Sam Hill proud. @maddogboris

Minnaar swinging off the back of the pony today. -Sven Martin

Manon early this morning in some very different conditions to yesterday. Umbrella for the vignetting. -Sven Martin

Troy had no issues sticking his dry lines in the wet. -Duncan Philpott

Eliot Jackson scrubbing the wet "woods" section. -Sven Martin

#captioncontest @maddogboris

Tracey Hannah during her 5th place qualifying run today into the steep, slippery left-hander. -Sven Martin

Flo Payet riding strong and consistent this year. 13th today. -Sven Martin

Oversize Leogang XXXL sagging ski gear for the rain. -Sven Martin

Roll-offs mandatory today. -Sven Martin

Some people weren't prepared for the wet! -Duncan Philpott

Dreamy Dunc trading morning coffee for some hay-fever-inducing pollen. -Sven Martin

First runs in the now muddy, slippery conditions and riders were unsure how to approach the track. Bernard went for it like it was dry and almost pulled it off. -Sven Martin

Tough morning for most. Brook not fazed though. -Sven Martin

Local Austrian, Oliver Zwar, switch one-handed-knee-drag to revert over the slippery G-Out riser. -Sven Martin

The track has roughed up plenty with the changing weather shaking riders to pieces. -Duncan Philpott

Joe Smith feeling right at home as if this was deep dark wet and wild Wales. -Sven Martin

Rupert Chapman kept coming back for more. Keeping his hands clean, the most important goal. Eddie speaks on his behalf. -Sven Martin

Dust wipes and seals working overtime today. -Sven Martin

Roost central. -Sven Martin

Old lenses make for excellent rain peak extenders. -Duncan Philpott

Keegan Wright having a blast! #happymaddogphoto

Mist and sun would come and go turning the hill into a movie set at times. -Sven Martin

Reece Wilson, opposite, two-footed-stretch-out-to-eggplant on his last practice run before seeding. -Sven Martin

Gaetan Vigé boosting into 3rd place today. -Sven Martin

Miranda Miller fourth in her first World Cup race back from injury. Feeling quite at home here in the mixed up, greasy conditions. -Sven Martin

Danny Hart on a great year with another fast result. 4th in seeding. -Sven Martin

The pedaly straights are slow rolling with all the rain. -Duncan Philpott

Josh, who had a crash, was caught up by Loris in his seeding. They finished together like this. Josh is protected and will race in the final twenty while Loris qualified 2nd. -Sven Martin

Harry Heath had a 'mare today. Snapped bar meant he had to try finish his run with half a bar and no way to grab the rear brake down the rest of the track. -Sven Martin

The rain-soaked gondolas scoop up riders for their first runs of the day. -Duncan Philpott

Fisherman specials for rain gear. -Duncan Philpott

After puncturing in timed runs Brendan got a solid qualifying down, inching his Gambler closer to the podium. -Duncan Philpott

Finn Iles horns. @maddogboris

The mist rolls through ensuring the track has no chance of drying out. -Duncan Philpott

An impressive qualifying result Baptiste Pierron for 14th place. You can't discount the french in the wet. -Duncan Philpott

Off the brakes on the steep roots was wilder than you can imagine. -Duncan Philpott

Counter-steering on slick roots to second place in junior qualifying. Sylvain Cougoureux was a the fastest until the bottom of the track. -Duncan Philpott

Muddy and awaiting TLC. First the journalist Q & A session after a good qualifying result. -Duncan Philpott

Smiles in the pits after Simmonds slots back into the Top 10 for qualifying. -Duncan Philpott

Aaron Pelttari gets to work straight after qualifying with a full strip-down and rebuild after pressure washing the bike multiple times a day. -Duncan Philpott

Fischbach, the German National Champ, had a consistent run and bumped a few of the Top 10 regulars to finish up in 8th place. -Duncan Philpott

There's some work to do for Matt Walker to progress up the podium after a mistake-filled quali run. -Duncan Philpott

Saturday morning carnage! Drifts, slides, crashes, impacts. We saw everything! @maddogboris

Racers in the mist with more of the same for race day! Stay tuned for the chaos...YEW!!! @maddogboris

Wet and wild in Leogang as qualifying at the 4th round of the UCI World Cup went down. Gwin, Rachel and Elliott Heap take top spots but with wild weather predicted for race day, finals are up for grabs. Sven, Duncan and Boris keep dry and send us the photo and interview goods from Austria.