April 09, 2016 (Lourdes, France) – Canada’s Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing led Canucks with a strong 4th place in the Elite Men’s Qualifications at UCI MTB World Cup DH#1 as the season gets underway in Lourdes, France. Reigning world champ Loic Bruni (Fra) Specialized Gravity p/b SRAM topped the field.

Former national DH champ, Vaea Verbeeck, qualified 20th in the Elite Women’s category and is the lone Canadian racing in Lourdes as Tahnee Seagrave (Gbr) Transition Factory Racing / FMD was the fastest down the mountain. Finnley Iles (Specialized Gravity p/b SRAM) was the top Junior man in 13th at 16s behind top qualifier Kevin Marry from France.

Qualifications

Junior Men

1. Kevin Marry (Fra) France 3:44.409
2. Matt Walker (Gbr) Madison Saracen Factory Team 2.049 Q
3. Charlie Hatton (Gbr) Great Britain 5.756 Q
4. Nikolas Nestoroff (USA) Intense Factory Racing 7.981 Q
5. Jackson Frew (Aus) GT Factory Racing 8.637 Q
6. Sylvain Cougoureux (Fra) Les Gets-Intense Team 10.754 Q
7. Elliott Heap (Gbr) Chain Reaction Cycles / Paypal 10.961 Q
8. Remy Morton (Aus) Australia 12.637 Q
9. Kaos Seagrave (Gbr) Transition Factory Racing / FMD 13.777 Q
10. Simen Smestad (Nor) Norway 13.925 Q

13. Finnley Iles (Can) Specialized Gravity p/b SRAM 16.216 Q
18. Henry Fitzgerald (Can) Steve Peat Syndicate / Uberbike Global 18.981 Q
19. Magnus Manson (Can) Canada 19.872 Q
44. Anthony Poulson (Can) Kona Factory Team Dh 43.786

Women
1. Tahnee Seagrave (Gbr) Transition Factory Racing / FMD 4:09.773
2. Rachel Atherton (Gbr) Trek Factory Racing DH 3.322 Q
3. Manon Carpenter (Gbr) Madison Saracen Factory Team 8.294 Q
4. Emilie Siegenthaler (Sui) Pivot Factory Racing 19.042 Q
5. Morgane Charre (Fra) Bergamont Hayes Factory Team 26.793 Q
6. Veronika Widmann (Ita) 45.66 Q
7. Jana Bartova (Cze) RRP 53.732 Q
8. Katy Curd (Gbr) 57.057 Q
9. Eleonora Farina (Ita) 57.475 Q
10. Alia Marcellini (Ita) 01:01.0 Q

20. Vaea Verbeeck (Can) 01:18.3 Q

Elite Men
1. Loic Bruni (Fra) Specialized Gravity p/b SRAM 3:18.072
2. Josh Bryceland (Gbr) Santa Cruz Syndicate 5.671 Q
3. Gee Atherton (Gbr) Trek Factory Racing DH 6.642 Q
4. Steve Smith (Can) Devinci Global Racing 7.288 Q
5. Troy Brosnan (Aus) Specialized Racing 8.844 Q
6. Brendan Fairclough (Gbr) Gstaad-Scott 9.5 Q
7. Marcelo Gutierrez Villegas (Col) Giant Factory Off-Road Team 9.68 Q
8. Connor Fearon (Aus) Kona Factory Team Dh 10.525 Q
9. Loris Vergier (Fra) Specialized Gravity p/b SRAM 12.03 Q
10. Aaron Gwin (USA) The YT Mob 12.301 Q

57. Mark Wallace (Can) Devinci Global Racing 23.782 Q
100. Forrest Riesco (Can) 43.013
114. Hugo Langevin (Can) 01:01.0
127. Philippe Ricard (Can) 02:00.4