Unsanctioned Training at World Cup #1 in Losinj, Croatia?

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UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
Downhill
Losinj, Croatia
banano
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banano
Edited Date/Time 4/6/2018 1:21pm
so many riders went to Croatia to test the track for the world cup rd1 in Losinj.
is this enduro style or what???

good way for dh? i dont think....
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sspomer
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sspomer 4/6/2018 1:25pm
4/6/2018 1:25pm
it is interesting, isn't it? considering how difficult it seems to be getting tire/wheel set-up running, any extra days seem like they would be very advantageous.

with that said, it appears that any rider or team could go out there and ride the course as it's not closed. the specialized team was shown around by the race promoter. most other venues are rideable in some fashion all year (fort william, leogang etc) and may just have some fresh sections for race day.

i don't know if it's good or bad for DH but i think a totally closed course that was only open for training the week of the race would be really cool. obviously fast riders would have to make sure it flowed and worked well, but no pre-training would be awesome.
banano
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banano 4/6/2018 2:00pm
4/6/2018 2:00pm
sspomer wrote:
it is interesting, isn't it? considering how difficult it seems to be getting tire/wheel set-up running, any extra days seem like they would be very advantageous...
it is interesting, isn't it? considering how difficult it seems to be getting tire/wheel set-up running, any extra days seem like they would be very advantageous.

with that said, it appears that any rider or team could go out there and ride the course as it's not closed. the specialized team was shown around by the race promoter. most other venues are rideable in some fashion all year (fort william, leogang etc) and may just have some fresh sections for race day.

i don't know if it's good or bad for DH but i think a totally closed course that was only open for training the week of the race would be really cool. obviously fast riders would have to make sure it flowed and worked well, but no pre-training would be awesome.
Exactly, they get for sure some advantages, maybe not about the lines but about the type of ground or the possible problems like the flats/wheels smashed.

and it makes more differences in a new spot like Croatia is...

And more....only big team/european team can do a trip like that to get the advantages...

For sure dh races at world level must be done on totally fresh track i think.

The probem about the pre testing is diffuse in the enduro scene, but in dh its easy to delete it.

smelly
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smelly 4/6/2018 4:20pm
4/6/2018 4:20pm
Serious question - Why should we care that anyone is pre-training there? Has pretraining ever helped anyone? Last year "pretraining" at the BDS in Fort Bill gave Gee a dislocated hip and the podium had no Brits. Gwin won MSA in the rain after basically just looking at the track. WC racing isn't you and your local squid crew attempting a KOM.

I think the bigger question here is what are they gonna do to prevent Gee Atherton from crashing on the stairs and knocking over people's homes?


banano
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banano 4/6/2018 10:34pm
4/6/2018 10:34pm
Oh yesss, they are superhero for sure! Not like me!
And top support, top organisation etc...

But why they want to ceck so much a new venue??
Are they afraid or what???

PS_1 MSA and Fort Bill are more than 10 Yeats world cup location

PS_2 Gwin will win in anycase....ahahah
Voxran
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Voxran 4/7/2018 12:46am
4/7/2018 12:46am
banano wrote:
Oh yesss, they are superhero for sure! Not like me! And top support, top organisation etc... But why they want to ceck so much a new...
Oh yesss, they are superhero for sure! Not like me!
And top support, top organisation etc...

But why they want to ceck so much a new venue??
Are they afraid or what???

PS_1 MSA and Fort Bill are more than 10 Yeats world cup location

PS_2 Gwin will win in anycase....ahahah
The dudes form the recent videos are also from a country where there is still snow everywhere at this moment (or the resort are all closed), so they can't train like in California, South Africa or NZ...

Losinj is opened since 2 years I think, and even if they did some work on the track, everybody can train or even take part of a race, on it (and a lot did).

So I don't think that's a real problem..
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sideshow 4/7/2018 5:17am
4/7/2018 5:17am
smelly wrote:
Serious question - Why should we care that anyone is pre-training there? Has pretraining ever helped anyone? Last year "pretraining" at the BDS in Fort Bill...
Serious question - Why should we care that anyone is pre-training there? Has pretraining ever helped anyone? Last year "pretraining" at the BDS in Fort Bill gave Gee a dislocated hip and the podium had no Brits. Gwin won MSA in the rain after basically just looking at the track. WC racing isn't you and your local squid crew attempting a KOM.

I think the bigger question here is what are they gonna do to prevent Gee Atherton from crashing on the stairs and knocking over people's homes?


Strong point. Another good example would be Bernard Kerr at VDS World Champs two years ago, getting fourth after having almost two days less practice. Pros are Pros and get it done, doesn't matter who has had more time on track... Gwin only ever does like 7-10 runs in an entire weekend and most of them are 90% at a jogging pace (practicing section by section at pace).

Your ender made me laugh out loud too. Funny stuff.
sspomer
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sspomer 4/7/2018 8:12am
4/7/2018 8:12am
sideshow wrote:
Strong point. Another good example would be Bernard Kerr at VDS World Champs two years ago, getting fourth after having almost two days less practice. Pros...
Strong point. Another good example would be Bernard Kerr at VDS World Champs two years ago, getting fourth after having almost two days less practice. Pros are Pros and get it done, doesn't matter who has had more time on track... Gwin only ever does like 7-10 runs in an entire weekend and most of them are 90% at a jogging pace (practicing section by section at pace).

Your ender made me laugh out loud too. Funny stuff.
haha gee knocking over people's homes!!! the "gwin perspective" is so incredible b/c of the lack of runs he takes. it seems like that for most of the top riders. the training and experience outside of a venue add up in their performances. i think there's a lot at stake for those not in the top 10 or for newer racers, however. getting to a venue ahead of time means familiarity with the geography, the accomodations, the lay of the land, the food, the gear selection (as noted in the austrian vids)...all things that could be sucked up by practice day one, ya know? eliminating as much of the unknown can't hurt. regardless of a right-or-wrong argument, it's so fun to discuss and speculate about! it would be cool to see a world cup-level race with a completely untouched track prior to official practice!
smelly
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smelly 4/7/2018 11:08am
4/7/2018 11:08am
sspomer wrote:
haha gee knocking over people's homes!!! the "gwin perspective" is so incredible b/c of the lack of runs he takes. it seems like that for most...
haha gee knocking over people's homes!!! the "gwin perspective" is so incredible b/c of the lack of runs he takes. it seems like that for most of the top riders. the training and experience outside of a venue add up in their performances. i think there's a lot at stake for those not in the top 10 or for newer racers, however. getting to a venue ahead of time means familiarity with the geography, the accomodations, the lay of the land, the food, the gear selection (as noted in the austrian vids)...all things that could be sucked up by practice day one, ya know? eliminating as much of the unknown can't hurt. regardless of a right-or-wrong argument, it's so fun to discuss and speculate about! it would be cool to see a world cup-level race with a completely untouched track prior to official practice!
Fair point. I can appreciate for the very top riders the mental game is strong enough that everything off the racecourse may not matter, but for the up-and-coming riders it may play a roll in on-track performance. But we could make the argument that that's just racing (or being any pro athlete for that matter) - the ability to shut out everything else and just compete.

It would be cool to see a totally blind event - no pre-runs, no practice, no trackwalk. Just show up and roll out of the gate.
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Jerome 4/7/2018 4:11pm
4/7/2018 4:11pm
I would love if blind racing was more a thing (but it's really difficult to enforce especially when there is a lot at stake)
No doubt the top racers would do well but we might see some other riders shining. It takes another animal to read and commit to the terrain. it's also incredibly satisfying to nail something new.

Going back to the topic, pre riding the terrain might benefit less experienced riders but the top guys can easily adapt to any terrain and by their standard, world cup track are not incredibly challenging..

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