had put together a loop just over five miles in length with twelve sections of varying degrees of difficulty . The first rider started the day at 9am , and while the standard process is to release a single rider each minute , the NATC decided to release two riders at a time to help reduce the overall duration of the event . The Pro class were the final riders to start out on the loop , with a sevenhour time limit . Sections staggered in layout difficulty , but the unstable shale and hilly terrain made for a high-points day across all classes .
Starting on his first loop of the day , GasGas ’ s Daniel Blanc-Gonnet took a crash in section two , breaking his front brake cable ; he was able to swap parts with his minder Brian Stull , who had to navigate the rest of the loop with no front brake . This section was composed of an initial steep hill climb , a small turn in a rock garden , followed by a large rock at the end of a second hill climb . Pro riders who were able to make this gate were treated to a third hill climb and a turn in some very unforgiving rocks .
FactoryONE Sherco USA ’ s Will Myers was able to clean the large rock , but got his front tire wedged in the final rock garden and timed out of the section ; unable to find flow , he would go on to take maximum points on this section for his remaining loops . Only Pat Smage and TRS ’ s Josh Roper were able to complete the section with less than
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