The water shoots down the riding lines, stones and roots become slippery and difficult to control. The riding skills, bike and body control on show are superb and what Aaron Gwin in particular offers the audience is great class. The fastest qualifier from the USA defied the adverse conditions and actually managed to beat Australian Dean Lucas' best time by 1.058 seconds. "I definitely didn't expect that, but when the crowd went wild like that, I assumed that I was probably well on track. However, I made a lot of small mistakes. The fact that it was enough despite these and the rain is just incredible!"

Third place went to world champion Danny Hart (GBR), who was 1.420 seconds slower than Gwin, but also put in a fantastic ride and came dangerously close to Lucas. Jerome Caroli from Le Châble finishes 51st in the men's race (+14.117). "I had a problem with the fork and therefore didn't feel confident. I don't know, this year I keep having technical problems."

In qualifying, Caroli finished 61st, despite a rear wheel defect in the final phase. In the race, the Frenchman benefited somewhat from the rain, which set in around 25 riders before the end. Many of the best riders fell behind Caroli.