Small wheel cartel rules timed training - Dirt

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Small wheel cartel rules timed training

All the action from practice and timed training

Never has timed training attracted so much attention. On the face of it, a Brit 1-2-3 from three very talented riders is nothing special. The real story is what happened to mr 14th place – Greg Minnaar.

Photos: Seb Shieck

An unremarkable first run was followed by a disastrous second. An early puncture led to Steve Peat having to cut off the South African’s tyre and left Greg tip-toeing down in 14 minutes. The internet exploded.

Minnaar goes into today’s qualies with even more to prove

How significant is this? Who can tell? Timed training only ever offers clues, not answers. It’s certainly not the death of 29 inch downhill bikes (just wait until you see what’s coming at Fort William) but it maybe does expose one of their weaknesses, are the parts ready for the rigours of a World Cup yet?

Enjoy the gallery from yesterday’s race:

There was still a light frost on the tops in the morning but the sun soon burned it off. Parts of the track were dusty by the time qualifying comes around.
It costs €5 to get a photo of this guy. Money well spent.
Three's a crowd. FMD Racing talking track
Sick
Timed training matters for Danny Hart
Finn and Loic
One of the most spetacular World Cup locations - let's hope the weather holds
Brosnan has been looking super good on track
Maiden voyage on the 29 into the sniping limestone
Mike Jones podiumed here in Lourdes a couple of years ago. More of the same this weekend.
This man is totally on a run. Bernard Kerr third in timed training.
From Lakes to Lourdes. Brayton knows all about rocks
Phil Atwill on the other hand doesn’t have a huge amount of this territory to practice on
Fourth for Aaron Gwin. In striking range for the reigning champ
Fayolle on the Wall
Sunny skies meant for high speed timed training
Even with a throat infection to battle, Rachel dominated by 9 seconds
A solid start for Manon on Radon. Second place but still some catching up to do
Tahnee nosing the RAD 40 into the middle woods section
Fifth in timed training for Remi Thirion. Looking for his second World Cup win.
Danny Hart comes into Lourdes on the back of three World Cups and a World title
Thirion was on the three minute mark, couple of seconds off the pace of Gee
Rachel looking to keep the winning tradition going
Typical. Laurie Greenland slashing in Lourdes
Typical. Brendan Fairclough spraying shit.
Fearon taking the new Operator north
Pompon is the face of this Word Cup, plastered over all the hoardings, big pressure.
The face of a man chasing records

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