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Cathro put it best in his video today on the road-gap "the landing is a bike length long", added to the fact that it is very blind and the take-off seems to point into the trees rather than the track...
Longer landings would seem like a necessity, not just for the different abilities of riders, but even the difference between training speed and race speed, betting a few top riders have issues during qualies or finals from being unable to squash the road gap while going faster than ever before.
Pierron would probably have needed to pre-hop the entire feature to avoid landing the other side of the tape.
Having a pre-race event could've also helped some of the marshals get their ring rust off and have them remember what they're supposed to do. This includes preventing animals, people, and, heaven forbid, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, from getting inside the track.
This happened to Rachel Atherton too, btw, but in Lenzerheide. It's a weird coincidence that this seems to be a common theme for Atherton riders.
These issues are a common concern for first-time organizers and in new race venues but one would expect not to see this sort of stuff in a World Cup.
lawlor said only myriam and Jessica blewitt (i think, junior woman on GT) hit the gap while he was there. raw shows other women rolling around. jessica is dnf if results. myriam up by 7.4, so not sure if that's b/c of road gap. either way, it was no easier today with perfect conditions.
My personal feeling as to if the feature should be in the race as is or not is to simply get the racers' take on it. If majority feel it is overly dangerous then it should be changed. If not, and its seen more of a challenging separating feature, run it. I also feel those racers at the top should have more weight with respect to something like this than the riff raff.
Yes, I know, the solution I just described is not going to happen at Les Gets, but its something that could be utilized if organized in the future.
I mean at a moment, either you want a manicured man made course (boring for some) or you get a gnarly track, technical but also potentially more dangerous.
As said above, it's up to the riders to decide if changes should be made or not, they are the ones on the track taking the risks
It looks like a Dirt Merchant sized step down, with a Fade To Black style sized landing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqL1B_b8E4E
Andreas Kolb dodged a bullet too. Imagine if he did a high side crash right by that wooden jump.
What a brutal race this has been.
That gap, in a race run, did not work.
Post a reply to: Les Gets Road Gap Carnage : (