Last year we saw rookie (back then) Gabriel Medina take out Julian Wilson in his first of two wins in his first half-year on tour. I believe that both of these two surfers are absolutely able to take the win here this year. This contest has years of history - too many epic moments to mention - but some of my favorites were Andy vs Bruce, Kelly's 10 point ride in 2010 where he air dropped and barely made it out. Like I said, too many to name. This stretch of coastline is exposed to the entire North Atlantic, a region of the ocean that generates massive storm systems in the Arctic off of Greenland. During the summer, we tend to see hurricanes make their way around the Eastern United States, that end up coming around the North Atlantic and head right for Europe. Currently there is a system brewing in the North Atlantic that should make its way towards France in a few days that could generate quality over head waves.
I put a lot of thought into my team this contest after my disappointing results at the Hurley Pro, where half of my team was eliminated in Round 2, and most of the remaining surfers in the next few rounds. For waves that will be surfed in France, the surfer needs to be extremely versatile and must come with a repertoire of ability. Like I said, one heat can be sloppy on-shore and the next can be pumping beach break barrels. I went with surfers that are experienced, have aerial abilities, and have strong power surfing. I was very excited when I saw that Dane was granted the sponsor wildcard here; In 2009, he made a pretty good run here and threw down some of the best turns I've ever seen. He is a maniac in French waves; they perfectly suit is style of surfing.
I decided to go with Kelly, Mick, Dane, Julian, John John, Jeremy Flores, Michel Bourez, Taylor Knox and Miguel Pupo.
Mick Fanning was also a given for me. He has won a number of times here over the past 5 years. He is back in form this year and is also right up there in the world title race with Kelly, Parko and possible a few others pending good results in France. While he is not known for his aerial abilities, he is without a doubt one of the best power surfers on tour and is a barrel hunter.
I pretty much gave my reasoning for choosing Dane Reynolds in the paragraph above. We've all seen him surf in France whether it be in the Quik Pro, Modern Collective, Lost Atlas, etc - he loves France and French waves. He is a steal on fantasysurfer.com at $1.5 million and it'd be dumb not to add him to your team. Hopefully he can find that competitive edge in him this time around and make it deep into the contest.
Julian Wilson has been on a roll this year. After a disappointing loss to Medina last year here, do not rule him out to get the win that slipped out of his hands. He has all of the tricks up his sleeve in the air, he has great turns and is not afraid to put is head down and paddle into the biggest wave of the day.
John John is one of my favorites to win this contest. I also said that about the Hurley Pro. But I feel that he will really do well here. We all know that he is arguably the best barrel surfer in the world and he just won $50,000 for an air that he pulled on the Kustom Air Strike trip and his turns and hacks are Dane-like. With a result here, or a win, he puts himself right in contention for the world title. If this were to happen, we could see the title being decided in his backyard at Pipeline between Mick, Parko, Kelly and himself...and anyone else that might make moves on the European leg. Right now it is anyones title, and I am sure that John John is hungry for it after winning the Triple Crown last year, the Billabong Pro Rio and having a bunch of good results this year.
Jeremy Flores made me kick myself for not picking him for the Hurley Pro. In my mind, he is constantly underestimated. He knows these waves better than most of the guys on tour and has the ability to get the win here. Hopefully he can keep the good surfing up that we saw from him a few weeks ago.
Michel Bourez was a choice of mine for his power surfing and barrel riding. They call him the Spartan because he is most likely the decedent from one of the "300" warriors (not really, but probably). He has made a few runs at the win here in France and I have a feeling he will do it again this year; I could see him taking out some of the young guns with his carves that will make the non-french girls take their tops off on the beach.
Taylor Knox is the veteran that I feel could make an impact and cause a few upsets this year. Last year he made it to the semi's where he unfortunately lost out to Medina (he had no chance of winning that heat after Medina dropped a 19.57 on him right off the get go). But his surfing is some of the best and in some cases experience heavily outweighs the non-experience that many of the surfers on tour have (or do not have).
Miguel Pupo is one of my sleepers next to Taylor Knox and Bourez; this kid has proven to the world that he can take out the best in waves like Cloudbreak and Teahupoo and can throw down turns as good as anyone on tour. I wouldn't be surprised if he did that again here in France.
---------------------------------------------
Update on Day 1 results:
We only got through 9 heats today, and I must say that there were some upsets or unexpected results.
H1: 1st Taj Burrow, 2nd Kai Otton, 3rd Taylor Know
H2: 1st Jadson Andrew, 2nd Adriano de Souza, 3rd Damien Hobgood
H3: 1st Patrick Gudauskas, 2nd John John Florence, 3rd Miguel Pupo
H4: 1st Kelly Slater, 2nd Dusty Payne, 3rd Tiago Pires
H5: 1st Dane Reynolds, 2nd Joel Parkinson, 3rd Bede Durbidge
H6: 1st Mick Fanning, 2nd Wiggolly Dantas, 3rd Travis Logie
H7: 1st Alejo Muniz, 2nd Kolohe Andino, 3rd Josh Kerr
H8: 1st Brett Simpson, 2nd Yadin Nicol, 3rd Jeremy Flores
H9: 1st Michel Bourez, 2nd Owen Wright, 3rd Matt Wilkinson
I was surprised to see Pat G take the win in heat 3 - maybe he wants some redemption after a disappointing loss at home in California. Alejo and Simpo's results also surprised me, I had Kerr and Flores winning their respective heats.
We have three more heats to run in Round 1 - no word on whether they will run it tomorrow or not. Here are the remaining heats:
H10: Jordy Smith, Heitor Alves, Adam Melling
H11: Julian Wilson, Adrian Buchan, Kieren Perrow
H12: Gabriel Medina, CJ Hobgood, Fred Pattachia
I have Jordy, Julian and CJ winning their heats.
Here is the 2012 Quik Pro Teaser (will add in the Day 1 recap when it becomes available):
Here is one favorite moments: 2010 Kelly Slater's 10 Point Ride:
No comments:
Post a Comment