Cairns World Cup Downhill Qualifying Results - Sam Blenkinsop, Rachel Atherton, Loris Vergier Fastest in the Mud 12

Sam Blenkinsop, photo by Sven Martin

World Cup downhill riders battled the slick conditions of the jungle-laden Cairns course for qualifying today. Times reflect that mere survival was just as important as a strong run for the riders trying to make the Top 80 cut in the Elite Men's class.

With ramblings of past performances in similar conditions in Champery, Switzerland just a few years ago, everyone was excited to see what kind of drama might unfold in qualifying. In the end, New Zealand danger man, Sam Blenkinsop came out on top, just .72 ahead of Aaron Gwin, winner of the last World Cup round in South Africa. 3rd place Greg Minnaar was only 2.1-seconds back and then the gap widened. The 4th place finisher warms the hearts of Vital to say the least. Eddie Masters' Enduro training sure paid off as he was 6-seconds off the top pace today. Must be the Jandals.

Blenkinsop's teammate, Loris Vergier put a significant dent in the Junior Men's field, over 9-seconds ahead of American Luca Shaw of SRAM / TLD. GT's Taylor Vernon, in 3rd, was the only rider within a realistic challenge of the top spot and he was over 12-seconds off the pace.

Loris Vergier, photo by Sven Martin

Rachel Atherton took her wet riding skills and throttled her competition with nearly a 19-second lead over Manon Carpenter and the rest of the Elite Women's field. Times between the 2nd-5th place women were closer to each other with only a 7-second margin between the 4 riders but then times fell off quickly, most likely due to the tricky conditions.

Rachel Atherton after practice in Cairns. photo by Sven Martin

Elite Men's Qualifying Results from Cairns

1 BLENKINSOP Samuel NZL19881028 LAPIERRE GRAVITY REPUBLIC 4:22.233
2 GWIN Aaron USA19871224 SPECIALIZED RACING DH +0.728
3 MINNAAR Greg RSA19811113 SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE +2.178
4 MASTERS Edward NZL19890818 BERGAMONT HAYES WORLD TEAM +6.034
5 DALE Sam GBR19900212 MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM +7.074
6 ATHERTON Gee GBR19850226 GT FACTORY RACING +8.466
7 MULALLY Neko USA19930219 TREK WORLD RACING +9.035
8 BRUNI Loic FRA19940513 LAPIERRE GRAVITY REPUBLIC +9.218
9 FEARON Connor AUS19940119 KONA FACTORY TEAM +9.585
10 SIMMONDS Matthew GBR19870520 MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM +10.306
11 BROSNAN Troy AUS19930713 SPECIALIZED RACING DH +11.008
12 COLE Cameron NZL19880203 COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION +12.463
13 FAIRCLOUGH Brendan GBR19880110 GSTAAD-SCOTT +12.623
14 BRYCELAND Josh GBR19900323 SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE +13.443
15 NEETHLING Andrew RSA19840805 GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM +14.567
16 WILLIAMSON Greg GBR19920608 TREK WORLD RACING +14.829
17 WALKER Matthew NZL19900324 BANSHEE BIKES FACTORY TEAM +15.240
18 BEAUMONT Marc GBR19840925 GT FACTORY RACING +15.514
19 CUNNINGHAM Ruaridh GBR19890215 UNIOR TOOLS TEAM +16.494
20 HART Danny GBR19910920 GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM +16.497
21 SMITH Joseph GBR19900704 CHAIN REACTION CYCLES.COM / NUKEPROOF +16.544
22 MASTERS Wyn NZL19870418 TEAM BULLS - DH +16.870
23 MOIR Jack AUS19940208 BERGAMONT HAYES WORLD TEAM +18.633
24 PEAT Steve GBR19740617 SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE +19.772
25 THIRION Rรƒยฉmi FRA19900423 COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION +20.547
26 GUTIERREZ VILLEGAS Marcelo COL19900509 GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM +21.643
27 POTTER Reece NZL19940107 BANSHEE BIKES FACTORY TEAM +22.067
28 MACDONALD Brook NZL19911125 TREK WORLD RACING +22.828
29 FISCHBACH Johannes GER19880304 RRP GHOST +23.234
30 MOLLOY Harry GBR19910530 RRP GHOST +24.067
31 GEORGES Pierre Charles FRA19860206 LAC BLANC/SCOTT +24.394
32 CAUVIN Guillaume FRA19940521 HUTCHINSON UR +24.792
33 THOME Patrick FRA19911020 GSTAAD-SCOTT +24.924
34 HANNAH Michael AUS19831121 HUTCHINSON UR +25.184
35 SUDING Lorenzo ITA19860315
+25.273
36 BRANNIGAN George NZL19920409 TREK WORLD RACING +28.102
37 KOVARIK Chris AUS19780301
+28.165
38 CHAPMAN Rupert NZL19920409
+28.772
39 MATTHEWS Tom NZL19910824 BANSHEE BIKES FACTORY TEAM +29.773
40 BRAYTON Adam GBR19881019
+29.799
41 JACKSON Eliot USA19900619 PIVOT FACTORY DH TEAM +30.578
42 PAYET Florent FRA19861121 EVIL VENGEANCE TOUR +31.857
43 JONES Michael GBR19950222 CHAIN REACTION CYCLES.COM / NUKEPROOF +32.611
44 CRIMMINS Thomas AUS19950624
+32.634
45 PANDUR Ziga SLO19910117 UNIOR TOOLS TEAM +32.747
46 RIESCO Forrest CAN19940124
+32.826
47 JONES Jono GBR19940813
+33.162
48 GSPAN Dominik SUI19870716
+33.297
49 FIGARET Faustin FRA19931107 COMMENCAL +36.402
50 HILL Samuel AUS19850721 CHAIN REACTION CYCLES.COM / NUKEPROOF +37.019
51 MCGLONE Fraser GBR19940531 PERTH CITY CYCLES +37.344
52 SPAGNOLO Damien FRA19850428 MS MONDRAKER TEAM +39.049
53 PEKOLL Markus AUT19871013 MS MONDRAKER TEAM +39.196
54 BEER Nick SUI19870917 DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING +39.553
55 KNOTT Peter AUS19950616
+39.747
56 LEIVSSON Isak NOR19931017
+39.947
57 ROPELATO Mitch USA19920303 SPECIALIZED RACING DH +39.976
58 MCCARROLL Sean AUS19771105 BANSHEE BIKES FACTORY TEAM +40.274
59 KURTZ Cyrille FRA19860809 EVIL VENGEANCE TOUR +40.670
60 RUFFIN Thibaut FRA19841030 COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION +40.850
61 BLAIR Lachlan GBR19951013
+41.431
62 KLEIN Lindsay AUS19850308
+41.458
63 STRASSER Benny GER19890805
+42.544
64 FERREIRO PAJUELO Antonio ESP19900103 EVIL VENGEANCE TOUR +43.056
65 POWER Ben AUS19930411
+43.958
66 COUSINIE Fabien FRA19860814 HUTCHINSON UR +44.499
67 CHANUDET Quentin FRA19920927
+45.401
68 ATKINSON Bryn AUS19821209
+45.777
69 HEINE Felix GER19900905
+47.619
70 BEARE Jesse AUS19861002
+48.248
71 BUTTON Joshua AUS19891125
+52.942
72 MUDD Graeme AUS19930116
+52.989
73 NAGATA Junya JPN19880813
+54.932
74 MCMILLAN David AUS19940228
+55.518
75 LUCAS Dean AUS19950502 DEVINCI GLOBAL RACING +1:00.096
76 MOON Brendan AUS19910407
+1:04.280
77 HAMILTON Louis NZL19940918
+1:07.347
78 KUSHIMA Yuki JPN19930821
+1:07.428
79 BALL Luke GBR19910812
+1:07.673
80 IMOTO Hajime JPN19920607
+1:08.401
81 RISCHBIETH Will AUS19891203
+1:08.478
82 KUROSAWA Daisuke JPN19900421
+1:10.157
83 IDEGAWA Naoki JPN19800422
+1:13.774
84 SHIMIZU Kazuki JPN19920426 MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM +1:16.411
85 KAMMLEIN - CUTLER Raphael NZL19950328
+1:19.507
86 RUFFIN Gaetan FRA19910629 COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION +1:21.460
87 BARLIN Chris AUS19870504 GREEN TO GOLD RACE DEVELOPMENT +1:25.961
88 BOER Berend AUS19871030
+1:28.280
89 MADSEN Todd AUS19911015
+1:29.831
90 HARDWICK Matt CAN19950202
+1:49.978
91 CAWTE Lawrence NZL19950119
+1:50.912
92 SMITH Brent AUS19950429
+2:02.799
93 BOE Reon NZL19850320
+2:08.833

KERR Bernard GBR19910216 PIVOT FACTORY DH TEAM DNF

PRIOR Mat NZL19930530
DNF

ATKINSON Rhys AUS19880328
DNF

ARIYO SEJATI Popo INA19860724
DNF

NIEDERBERGER Noel SUI19950821 GSTAAD-SCOTT DN

Top 25 with Splits - full results PDF

Elite Women's Qualifying Results from Cairns

1 ATHERTON Rachel GBR19871206 GT FACTORY RACING 5:20.568
2 CARPENTER Manon GBR19930311 MADISON SARACEN FACTORY TEAM +18.802
3 RAGOT Emmeline FRA19860527 LAPIERRE GRAVITY REPUBLIC +21.581
4 CHARRE Morgane FRA19900609 EVIL VENGEANCE TOUR +22.803
5 NICOLE Myriam FRA19900208 COMMENCAL / RIDING ADDICTION +25.272
6 BROWN Casey CAN19901027 BERGAMONT HAYES WORLD TEAM +30.693
7 HANNAH Tracey AUS19880613 HUTCHINSON UR +35.290
8 KINTNER Jill USA19811024
+58.989
9 SIEGENTHALER Emilie SUI19860919 GSTAAD-SCOTT +59.630
10 GATTO Micayla CAN19880821 PIVOT FACTORY DH TEAM +1:09.196
11 BUCHAR Claire CAN19780426
+1:09.684
12 ATKIN Sarah NZL19930322
+1:17.138
13 LATCHEM Harriet GBR19830511
+1:46.296
14 SANDLER Veronique NZL19930417
+1:49.544
15 BEECROFT Danielle AUS19950327 GREEN TO GOLD RACE DEVELOPMENT +2:10.537
16 WILLIAMS Gabriela CZE19810728
+2:14.079
17 CRISP Michelle AUS19860801
+2:20.742
18 FLOOD Shelly AUS19910515
+2:43.590
19 BOOTH Sarah AUS19790128
+2:59.902
20 WALE Ellie ยฐ AUS19970627
+3:52.505
21 WEINERT Kellie AUS19950904
+3:56.622
22 PAASO Jaclyn USA19820318
+4:01.807
23 SEAGRAVE Tahnee GBR19950615 FMD RACING +4:16.209
24 MOLLOY Tegan ยฐ AUS19960118
+5:07.378
25 GRIFFITHS Fionn GBR19820827
+6:18.955

ARMSTRONG Victoria AUS19831011
DNF

FIRIYANTI Riyanti INA19910417
DNS

Junior Men's Qualifying Results from Cairns

1 VERGIER Loris FRA19960507 LAPIERRE GRAVITY REPUBLIC 4:33.924
2 SHAW Luca USA19961225 SRAM/TLD RACING +9.324
3 VERNON Taylor GBR19960912 GT FACTORY RACING +12.316
4 HAMILTON Connor NZL19960917 NEW-ZEALAND +31.109
5 VARLEY Aiden AUS19960816 AUSTRALIA +31.696
6 DAVIS Jackson AUS19960702 AUSTRALIA +32.230
7 WARSHAWSKY Max AUS19970609 AUSTRALIA +34.193
8 DORRIT Andrew GBR19970426 MS MONDRAKER TEAM +36.164
9 GREENLAND Laurie GBR19970218 TREK WORLD RACING +37.648
10 STEWART Neil GBR19970424 FMD RACING +37.751
11 SANDRI Connor NZL19970830 NEW-ZEALAND +42.027
12 HILL Ben AUS19960519 AUSTRALIA +42.455
13 LOVE Cody AUS19960518 AUSTRALIA - B +46.181
14 WRIGHT Keegan NZL19961105 NEW-ZEALAND +55.015
15 WILLIS Joel AUS19970709 AUSTRALIA - B +1:04.009
16 HERD Sam GBR19960118 PERTH CITY CYCLES +1:04.476
17 REID Alec AUS19970828 AUSTRALIA - B +1:15.716
18 TAYLOR Matt AUS19970413 AUSTRALIA - B +1:16.667
19 SWINBANK Bradley GBR19970630 STEVE PEAT SYNDICATE +1:17.201
20 BOOKER Dan AUS19971001 AUSTRALIA - B +1:28.321
21 LAWTON Matt NZL19970213 NEW-ZEALAND +1:55.067
22 MCCORKELL Matthew AUS19961229 AUSTRALIA +2:55.956
23 MCCOMBIE Joshua NZL19961016 NEW-ZEALAND +4:03.711
24 DENGATE Benjamin AUS19960908 AUSTRALIA +4:22.011

BRANNEY Matthew USA19961203 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DNF

MATIAS Francisco CHI19961127 CHILE DNS

MCCUBBING Frazer GBR19970208 STEVE PEAT SYNDICATE DNS

BERRYMAN Dru AUS19960213 AUSTRALIA - B DNS

Take a ride with Sam Blenkinsop during his timed training run yesterday

Win a SRAM X01 DH Drivetrain with Vital OTB

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