rocks began to dry and break as the day went on , and many points were taken as a result of loose dirt and sand building up on the rock surfaces from previous riders .
Smage was able to maintain a solid hold on the lead for the entire day , only taking a total of 4 points in 36 sections ; the win not only earned him the top spot on the podium , but also secured his 12th National Championship title . Despite failing two sections in the second half of the event , Roper was able to hold on to a second-place win , with Niederer and Myers battling for the final podium spot . Both Alex ’ s ended the day with 29 points , but for the first time this season , it was Beta ’ s Alex who won the tie breaker , having taken 24 cleans to Myers ’ 19 . Karl Davis Jr would round out the top 5 . A few troubling sections put GasGas ’ Daniel Blanc-Gonnet in sixth place after the first loop ; he was able to maintain that position for the remaining loops , finishing only 3 points behind Karl . FactoryONE Sherco ’ s Will Myers had an outstanding comeback in the final loop ; after finishing with 27 points and 14 points on the first two loops , respectively , Will was able to clean all but two sections on the final loop , adding a mere 4 points to his score . Unfortunately , it wasn ’ t enough to move him up the leaderboard , and he maintained a seventh-place
21 ALEX NIEDERER - TEAM BETA position for the majority of the event . Fastle ’ s travel complications did not set him up for success ; he found himself in last place after the opening loop , a position that he was unable to overcome .
“ Today started out and I was really really feeling good ,” said Niederer . “ I ended the first loop with a four-point loop , only one point behind Pat and four points clear of third place so i was really happy . I came back , ate some food , and tried to calm myself down and refocus . I took two single dabs early in the loop , and then i got to section six and took a five , which that kind of shook me a little bit because it was a dumb five ; I just spun and it was instant , there was no saving it . In section nine and ten I did the same thing and fived both of them in a row ; I just spun on the dust . It was so unpredictable , and it just instantly stopped me and would put me right to five so that was that was really kind of frustrating . For the last loop , I knew I had to really put on the pressure because I went from second to fifth before I went to the last loop . Unfortunately , I knocked the chain off in section ten in between two rocks and cost me a five ; I couldn ' t get the bike out , and it ' s not worth damaging the bike with the chain spinning around . I cleaned sections 11 and 12 and it was good enough to tie Alex Myers . That ' s the first time I think I ’ ve ever won a tie breaker on cleans and I ’ m really happy about it . The trial was