It’s always a great time for the Championship Tour when it moves to the European leg.
France has an amazing culture, and the waves can, at times, be mind-blowing. If the sand banks are good, the tides are favourable, and the event site gets a bit of swell, then the Quiksilver Pro France can fast turn into one of the classic events on the tour. It does have it’s challenges, as does any beach-break event, but historically the event has loads of successes, dramas and action. It could easily serve to deliver a world champ, and it could also serve to see lower surfers safely qualify as well as relegate others to the minor leagues. France sits close to the end of the line for the 2017 season, and for that reason the event is a tense one.
Last year Keanu Asing capitalized on the clean conditions to bank his first Championship Tour win at the event. He had a dream run throughout the event, and on finals day he took out John John Florence in the semi-finals and Gabriel Medina in the final, in small left-handers that were made for Medina. It was an event that the diminutive Hawaiian just seem to synch with, but he unfortunately didn't do enough throughout the year to qualify for the current Championship Tour year, and sits at number 7 on the Qualifying Series at this moment.
This year the Championship Tour is a tight race, with Jordy, John John and Julian dominating the Jeep leaderboard. Last year John John surfed all the way through to the semi-finals, and Julian made his way to the quarterfinals where Gabby defeated him. Jordy was a round two casualty, beaten in a close heat by Ryan Callinan. In 2015 Jordy withdrew from the event due to injury, but in 2014 he was banging it, and lost to a ferocious Jadson Andre in the semi-finals. If all goes to plan, Jordy could get very close to banking a title in Hossegor, depending also on his closest competitors.
Jordy does need to pocket as many points as he can before Hawaii, because when it comes to Pipe, he’s not going to be the dominant force that John John will be, and let’s not forget that Julian was a 2014 Pipe Master.
The Brazilian duo of Medina and Toledo are also right in the mix, and could easily wreak havoc across Europe. They both won events in Europe in 2015, with Gabby taking out the Hossegor Pro France and Filipe winning the Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal, and they could turn on the heat should the conditions favour them. The European events are often held in small conditions, which definitely suits Filipe, but Jordy is also extremely agile for such a big dude when it gets smaller. Growing up in Durban and surfing tiny New Pier most days will do that to you.
Although Kelly made an appearance, getting fully barreled at his Surf Ranch, he was surfing gingerly and one wonders if he is going to be in the mix in France. Probably not. Currently sitting at 26 on the Jeep Leaderboard, Kelly can fall back on an injury wildcard should he want to compete next year, or he can go and get tubed off his dial at the Surf Ranch for a year if he so wishes, except for a few days in May when there might, or might not be a Championship Tour event there.
