Posts
373
Joined
7/24/2009
Location
Los Angeles, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
8/18/2014 8:40am
Word on the streets is:
Brian Lopes heads back to World Cup racing!!!
With 25 World Cup wins to his name Lopes retired from WC 4x racing in 2008, but is making a return next week. Surprisingly he is racing XC world cups #2 & 3 in Dalby Forest UK & Offenburg Germany, but not really expecting much in the way of results in the XC races, but hopeful in a new discipline that the UCI is testing, called XC Eliminator. Much like 4x there will be a timed qualifier where 32 riders will make the show. Groups of 4 will race approximately 3 minute long heats, top 2 advancing to the next round, until the final four are matched up. “I’m looking forward to the challenge. Obviously I have plenty of experience racing 4x, but those races are gravity fed and usually no more than 1 minute long, so tripling that amount of time with some small climbs and plenty of flats will be tough. 3 minutes is a lot longer than you think when you’re going all out and I know how strong these XC guys are, so I’ll cross my fingers the courses suit me as much as they can and that I am feeling good.”
Follow the latest Lopes info at www.brianlopes.com or on twitter at brianlopes.
Brian Lopes heads back to World Cup racing!!!
With 25 World Cup wins to his name Lopes retired from WC 4x racing in 2008, but is making a return next week. Surprisingly he is racing XC world cups #2 & 3 in Dalby Forest UK & Offenburg Germany, but not really expecting much in the way of results in the XC races, but hopeful in a new discipline that the UCI is testing, called XC Eliminator. Much like 4x there will be a timed qualifier where 32 riders will make the show. Groups of 4 will race approximately 3 minute long heats, top 2 advancing to the next round, until the final four are matched up. “I’m looking forward to the challenge. Obviously I have plenty of experience racing 4x, but those races are gravity fed and usually no more than 1 minute long, so tripling that amount of time with some small climbs and plenty of flats will be tough. 3 minutes is a lot longer than you think when you’re going all out and I know how strong these XC guys are, so I’ll cross my fingers the courses suit me as much as they can and that I am feeling good.”
Follow the latest Lopes info at www.brianlopes.com or on twitter at brianlopes.
Psyched for Lopes and interested to see the new format.
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Epic old Tomac and Tinker battles.
I mean, no disrespect, he is a killer racer, an incredible all-around rider... However, as I have been and am a DH fan, to be honest, he was a good DHer, but that's it.
Gwin, Rockwell, Palmer, Cullinan, Tomac, ALL of them were/are WAAAAAY better downhillers than he ever was... So to say he far beats them, is completely ridiculous...
He obviously is a better all-around rider, and would kill them in gated racing (though Gwin was also pretty good on DS races he entered) but not in the same level in downhill IMO...
He never won a world cup DH, but his world cup win record in general is unmatched I am pretty sure.
Pretty rad an almost 40 yr old dude is still able to make a living racing/riding bicycles and keeps on trying new disciplines of sport. I can only hope Gwin is as lucky in his career.
Rockwell was world champion once, and 3rd place once, won also 2-3 Kamikaze Downhills, and, for me, was far better DHer than Lopes.
Cullinan also was World Champion, heck, even Mike King (who for me is not a better DHer or rider than Lopes) won a DH World Championship.
So what I am saying is that to say Lopes kicked their asses or is far better in DH than those guys is not accurate. (And I say, in DH, I know his overall record in DS or 4X is unmatched by anyone, maybe Tomac could be close, but not much)
However, your final point is what counts, I think it's awesome a 40yr old dude like him is still able to be racing bikes, make as much money as he has, and be that competitive as he is still is to this day...
I'm a big Lopes fan for sure, he's an animal and serious threat in virtually any discipline on the mountain. He even kills it at cyclocross! I wonder if he's doing Megavalanche?
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