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Photo: WSL / Poullenot / Aquashot

Photo: WSL / Poullenot / Aquashot


The Inertia

The event window for the 2016 Quiksilver Pro France has opened and closes on October 15th. The main venue for this year’s event is plage des Culs Nus in Hossegor and while contests don’t always get the green light on day one of the event window, this one was already one of those exceptions. The forecast looked promising almost a week out: “An active North Atlantic looks to provide fun to potentially good size swell for the first few to several days of the waiting period. Wind forecasts have also been looking decent and watching these closely.” Sure enough, a solid swell kicked off stop No. 9 of 11 on this year’s Samsung Galaxy World Surf League Championship Tour right on schedule. Oddly enough, only two heats were run in Round 1 before going right back on standby. Nat Young and Keanu Asing topped their heats that featured pumping surf but low wave scores.

Here’s everything else you need to know with the tour’s first stop in Europe:

This event’s winningest surfer, Mick Fanning, will not be competing at the 2016 Quiksilver Pro France as he returns to his “personal year” of spending time with family and friends and pursuing interests outside of competitive surfing.

Defending event champion Gabriel Medina, current World #2, is in position to utilize the 2016 Quiksilver Pro France as a stepping stone to a second World Title, while last year’s runner up Bede Durbidge remains unable to compete due to the serious hip injury that he received at Pipeline back in mid-December 2015.

The Jeep Leaderboard yellow jersey belongs to John John Florence for the second time in a row. The current World #1 will be looking to rebound from his hugely disappointing showing at the 2016 Hurley Pro at Trestles.

Coincidentally, John John and Gabriel are the past two winners in France with John John taking the 2014 crown. It’s reason to make each of them favorites as Round 1 starts things off today. With the World Title on the line we should witness a no holds barred approach coming from the two top-ranked surfers in the world; especially after both having just finished a lowly equal 17th at the 2016 Hurley Pro at Trestles.

Former Event Champions:

2015 Gabriel Medina, 2014 John John Florence, 2013 Mick Fanning, 2012 Kelly Slater, 2011 Gabriel Medina, 2010 Mick Fanning, 2009 Mick Fanning, 2008 Adrian Buchan, 2007 Mick Fanning, 2006 Joel Parkinson, 2005 Andy Irons, 2004 Andy Irons, 2003 Andy Irons, 2002 Neco Padaratz

Round 1 Heat Draw

Heat 1: Joel Parkinson, Nat Young, Matt Banting
Heat 2: Kelly Slater, Kanoa Igarashi, Keanu Asing
Heat 3: Jordy Smith, Jadson Andre, Kai Otton
Heat 4: Matt Wilkinson, Miguel Pupo, Leonardo Fioravanti
Heat 5: Gabriel Medina, Dusty Payne, Ryan Callinan
Heat 6: John John Florence, Conner Coffin, Joan Duru
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan, Stuart Kennedy, Jeremy Flores
Heat 8: Italo Ferreira, Wiggolly Dantas, Alex Ribeiro
Heat 9: Julian Wilson, Caio Ibelli, Alejo Muniz
Heat 10: Kolohe Andino, Sebastian Zietz, Jack Freestone
Heat 11: Filipe Toledo, Josh Kerr, Davey Cathels
Heat 12: Adriano de Souza, Michel Bourez, Adam Melling

Don’t miss any of the Live/On Demand action of the 2016 Quiksilver Pro France

 
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