CONFLICT OF INTEREST - Qualifying at La Bresse - Mountain Biking Pictures

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Today at the final round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup DH, there were no points for qualifying. At the previous six rounds, there had been points earned for qualifying which counted toward a racer's seasonal total. While unconfirmed, the rumor is that a potential World Cup overall title being won on qualifying day wouldn't be as exciting as if it happened on race day, so earlier this year, the UCI and Red Bull scrapped qualifying points at the final round. The desire for maximum race-day drama is all well and good, but it just seems odd and I'm not quite sure what I think about it. My gut says it's dumb to make one race in a series different than the others. Rachel Atherton wasn't stoked which you'll hear in her audio interview.

If you were a protected rider in La Bresse today qualifying literally meant that all you had to do was break the timing beam at the start, turn around, ride the lift down and go back to bed until race day. Thankfully protected riders are fiercely competitive and while some minimized risk, none of them opted for the inside mattress line.

If you weren't a protected rider, as Eddie Masters put it, the slippery, tricky and short course was "a two-minute emotional roller coaster." Charlie Hatton (as you'll hear in interview) had like a 45-minute emotional roller coaster as he sat on the bubble, finally qualifying in 60th and making the show, book-ending his teammate Gee Atherton on the results sheet. Gee qualified 1st.

Dig into the photos and audio interviews and think about all the interesting rule changes that have taken place this year what with qualifying and start orders and stuff. We'll discuss all that after the race...which we can't freaking wait for!

Braaap This is what the start of the fastest run of the day looks like. Gee Atherton lays down a smoker in the wet. -Sven Martin

A big result for Gee Atherton even if it is just qualifying. A long two years plagued by injury but he has proven today that he can be back on top with more to come. Big props to Pete and his crew that has always believed in him and had his back. -Sven Martin

Jam packed in the tiny warm-up tent while the rain came steadily down. Rachel could have just broken the beam and gone back to bed if she wanted. Qualifying meant no points today. -Sven Martin

Rachel Atherton decided gross roots, rocks, mud and rain were better than going back to bed. @maddogboris

Forward-thinking bunch taking their own initiative. When race organizers don't provide enough shelter for warm-ups bring your own. Bernard was renting out space $50 per rider. Wyn still owes. -Sven Martin

PA swapping to wets for Loris Vergier. Interesting to note, they switch the old rotors to the new wheels so everything feels exactly the same. Especially important in wet races. -Sven Martin

First rider off today in the Elites was your World Cup leader (and already series winner), Amaury Pierron... -Sven Martin

...Massive torque out the gate and into 2nd spot today. He wanted to be last man down the hill on race day, so that he can get used to going last, which he will have to do come World Champs. Points insignificiant, experience priceless. -Sven Martin

Tahne Seagrave was absolutely on fire which results in an over 8 seconds faster time than Rachel. @maddogboris

T(ony) Seagrave in audio. -Dan Hearn

Kade Edwards with his first 1st place qualifying run all year. We kind of expected this earlier in the year is he perhaps peaking for Worlds. -Sven Martin

No Kade Edwards run would be complete without some styling thrown in somewhere. Long manual out of the corner to cross the line. -Sven Martin

First place qualifier and last guy to get it in. Trek Factory racing book-ends the results sheet and is guaranteed some hot seat time with Charlie Hatton. -Sven Martin

Joe Smith backed up his timed training result by qualifying 5th. -Dan Hearn

Gwin doesn't need any special treatment. In the mix in the hot and humid warm-up tent before his race run. -Sven Martin

Eddie Masters seems to have the perfect balance between fully serious Enduro and Downhill racing (and maybe partying in Whistler and sleeping in strangers' houses in France). 8th Place for him! @maddogboris

John Hall on the GoPro duty sees Aaron safely off in his qualifier. How many hours days and weeks of gym work gets you a start like that? Boosh. -Sven Martin

Angels and demons. -Sven Martin

Brook Macdonald is still young enough to be in with the cool-kid-and-Voreis-crowd as he nose-bonk-jibs in the final gnar chute. #loosedogapproved -Sven Martin

Vali Höll probably about 29.3 seconds ahead of the rest of the young women. -Sven Martin

Vali leaned, locked and about 30 seconds ahead of the rest of young women. -Sven Martin

Remi Thirion qualified 3rd and close behind his teammate. It would be a rad season ender for him to put together a solid run in finals. -Dan Hearn

Not sure if this is an enduro specific cornering technique but it worked for Martin Maes! 12th place qualifier at his second downhill World Cup of the year.

3rd place for Tracey Hannah today. -Dan Hearn

Finn Iles with the thoughts on the day and a bit more. -Sven Martin

What would be going through your head if this was you going up for your race run in these conditions? -Sven Martin

Alex Marin hunting for the limits of grip and coming damn close. -Dan Hearn

Max Hartenstern exercising some German precision to avoid the inside tree. -Dan Hearn

Tahnee getting all the kinks out before laying down a super fast race run in sketchy conditions. -Sven Martin

Two Frenchmen walk into a bar... -Sven Martin

Crowd favorite, Loic Bruni, got his best set of white riding kit all dirty but it was worth it to qualify 6th. -Dan Hearn

Troy Brosnan with the Jazz hands dance. You have to down a shot everytime you see this in photos or video. It's a thing. -Sven Martin

14th for Troy Brosnan with just a 3.7 second time gap to 1st. The wet condition didn't affect parts of the track too badly and riders were still able to push. -Dan Hearn

Keeping the controls dry is key in conditions like these. -Sven Martin

Dean Lucas takes staying dry and seeing straight seriously. -Sven Martin

Myriam Nicole with the 4th fastest time over 16 seconds behind Tahnee Seagrave. @maddogboris

Mike Jones was second fastest MS Mondraker rider today. 8th place for the Brit. @maddogboris

2nd place today for Henry Kerr who is looking to end his season with a bang.

Greg Minnaar is still finding the limits of how hard he can push with a big crash in practice and a slide-out in his qualifying fun. Luckily he is protected thanks to his top 10 overall finish last year. -Dan Hearn

Joshua Barth went for the downhill-cliffhanger in training. Didn't pay off. @maddogboris

Some sections were still loamy after the rain in training but we're not sure how much will be left for finals. #mudparty @maddogboris

French Junior Mathilde Bernard qualified second in front of her home crowd! @maddogboris

Looks like Loris Vergier also watched too much of Nicoli Rogatkin's winning run at Whistler Joyride. #doyouevensupermanbro @maddogboris

Luca Shaw was looking pinned in the bottom rocks but must have had some issues on the top part of the track. We expect him with a better position than 22 tomorrow! @maddogboris

Yes that´s a freakin gnarly line. and yes that's Brook. Even more guys were on this line, but he was by far the gnarliest. ITS BROOK! @maddogboris

Marine Cabirou has the French crowd on her side. Bring earplugs for tomorrow finals! @maddogboris

We are pretty sure Aaron Gwin played it safe at qualis. The overall is already done, there were no quali points, he had to think about going back to bed for sure. @maddogboris

That's the Hoff! Even if he doesn't look like it in this picture, he is the nicest guy ever. #hoffforpresident @maddogboris

We couldn't be more stoked for Gee Atherton! After not getting selected for the UK Worlds team he showed them their folly. @maddogboris

Connor Fearon had the second fastest 4th split. Seems flat pedals work a bit better on the grassy corners. 7th fastest time for the Aussie. @maddogboris

Junior Men's World Cup Leader, Thibaut Daprela, lost a bit of time in the bottom of the track. But even in splits 1 to 3 he was behind Kade Edwards. @maddogboris

Atherton filmmaker TJ enjoying a brief moment of sunlight before the rain rolled in. -Dan Hearn

More than a few riders were caught out by the slippery roots in practice. -Dan Hearn

Hugo Frixtalon may not have qualified for finals but takes home the Vital Privateer of the Year Award! Come find us in the pits tomorrow to claim your $100 prize! -Dan Hearn

Adam Brayton didn't have a great time in Mont Sainte Anne and found the limits of grip in the corners here in practice. He held it together for qualifying to take a solid 13th. -Dan Hearn

Katy Curd pushed hard in qualis and took 5th place. -Dan Hearn

Order of the day: slick roots and slippery mud. -Dan Hearn

Rain, rain, go away... more on the way tomorrow and no cover shot for some pine trees. -Dan Hearn

Loris Vergier is still getting to grips with the track and finished one place shy of Luca in 23rd.

A few of the junior ladies had problems today but Great Britain's Maya Atkinson pulled through to take her best ever qualifying position of 3rd.

And that was the las qualification of the 2018 World Cup Season.