Every heat surfed in France is a gamble. It’s hard to say for sure, but my feeling is that this has rarely been more evident than today as the ASP World Tour’s top 10 were absolutely decimated by wildcards and underlings. Of that crew, Taj Burrow was the only one to advance straight into Round 3, which I reckon means he wasn’t as rattled after his loss to Kelly at the Boost Mobile Pro as some may have speculated. That said, here are a few highlights—and lowlights—from the land where eating snails and frog legs is considered normal:

Top Five Round 1 Moments:

1. On a particularly thick right-hander, pulling in way behind the peak, Kieren Perrow earned himself the only perfect 10 thus far, and in doing so took down Mick Fanning
2. In Round 2 with time winding down and needing a score, Kelly did what he does best: pulled off the impossible. Floating one of the bigger set waves of the day, he free-fell from top to bottom, stuck the landing and continued on his way. Garnering a 9-point Round 2 win over Tim Boal
3. The morning started with a high tide and the surf breaking right on shore. But sticking to his Florida roots CJ Hobgood made the most of it, practically skimboarding up the beach on his heat-winning wave…luckily his board and fins remained intact.
4. After decent showings at Lowers, both Dane and Jordy kept the streak going by advancing out of their Round 1 heats. It would seem that now with about half the season behind them both rookies are finally finding their footing.
5. It seemed Roy Powers was a bit underscored for a near-impossible floating reverse he pulled, but regardless, it was definitely one of the more interesting maneuvers pulled off all day.

Most Defining Performance:
Andy Irons’ apathetic single-digit heat score in Round 1 pretty much signaled that the three-time world champ’s heart isn’t in it this year. It’s time to take some time off, regroup, refocus, and renew the passion.

Upset of the Day:
Joan Duru beating Kelly is the most obvious upset, but then you could pretty much take your pick as all but one of the top 10 surfers in the world went down in Round 1.

Insight That Would Have Helped Your Team If We’d Only Known:
The forecast isn’t looking all that hot. There’s more swell on tap for Sunday, and a little more for Tuesday and Wednesday, but other than that, the charts aren’t looking optimistic. So if you hoped this was going to be a tube-riding shoot-out, forget about it, this thing will be done by the second half of the week and the boys will be headed to Spain. It’s too early to tell what Mundaka’s going to look like, but if it’s anything like it was last year the boys are in for a very long European haul.

Talk of the Beach:
People were still buzzing about the Kelly/Taj final at the Boost Mobile Pro. Every Aussie seemed to believe Taj was ripped, while most others were still trying to figure out why Taj would have given Kelly a fighting chance with that last-minute wave.

Wildcard Report:
Wildcards are to Kelly as kryptonite is to Superman. With the exception of Tiago Pires in Bali, the only surfers to beat Kelly this year have been wildcards. The trend continued in France as Joan Duru knocked the champ down in Round 1, and then in Round 2, with less than five minutes on the clock, Tim Boal had the lead. Kelly would comeback to win, but it just goes to show, he fares a whole lot better when he’s surfing against people he knows.

Quiksilver Pro France Round 2 Results:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.67 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 15.00
Heat 2: Gabe Kling (USA) 12.07 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 11.00
Heat 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) 14.00 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.67
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.00 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 9.44

Quiksilver Pro France Round 1 Results:
Heat 1: Ben Dunn (AUS) 12.84, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.06, Leonardo Neves (BRA) 8.6
Heat 2: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 17.13, Jay Thompson (AUS) 15.2, Daniel Ross (AUS) 10.1
Heat 3: Roy Powers (HAW) 13.6, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.56, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.9
Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.97, Jihad Khodr (BRA) 6.63, Andy Irons (HAW) 2.34
Heat 5: Taylor Knox (USA) 13.67, Bobby Martinez (USA) 13.40, Ricky Basnett (ZAF) 5.83
Heat 6: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 15.50, Nic Muscroft (AUS) 13.84, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.50
Heat 7: Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.16, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14.60, Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.30
Heat 8: Joan Duru (FRA) 10.50, Kelly Slater (USA) 9.94, Chris Ward (USA) 9.90
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.67, Tim Reyes (USA) 11.50, Tim Boal (FRA) 5.77
Heat 10: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 15.00, Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.40, Gabe Kling (USA) 13.5
Heat 11: Travis Logie (ZAF) 13.94, Kai Otton (AUS) 10.67, Mikael Picon (FRA) 10.34
Heat 12: Daniel Wills (AUS) 16.17, Heitor Alves (BRA) 4.74, Bruce Irons (HAW) 2.77
Heat 13: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 13.80, Luke Stedman (AUS) 12.83, Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.10
Heat 14: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 15.16, Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.63, Mick Campbell (AUS) 12.10
Heat 15: Pancho Sullivan (HAW) 14.50, Ben Bourgeois (USA) 14.30, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 9.44
Heat 16: Dayyan Neve (AUS) 15.66, Royden Bryson (ZAF) 13.34, Luke Munro (AUS) 7.76

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