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Just listened to Anna Newkirk on the "Beyond the Tape" podcast and she threw out this stat re elite world cup finals starting slots:
In 2022 there were 11 women on the podium and in 2023 there are 10 slots in elite finals
In 2022 there were 18 men on the podium and in 2023 there are 30 slots in elite finals
I'd never heard that before and thought it was a stark example of how far we still have to go wrt women's racing.
I’m pretty sure the eventual goal is 20 women and 20 men. With the semifinal format I think 10 women is actually a pretty good number for the moment. (5th place in women’s is often much further off the winning time than 15th in men’s). But with all these fast up and coming women who are going to hit the scene in the next 5 years they will need to expand the number of women in finals for sure.
I know semis is pretty contested. But I think it does offer a lot in both women’s and men’s to keep the sport from being too inaccessible. It’s just a matter of dialing in the format and presentation.
Not sure what the ideal number for the women is based on current entries especially when you consider that 1/3 of the field is protected. That said at VDS there was 38 female entires going for 15 semi final spots so roughly 45 percent of the field qualified for semis compared to 186 men going for 60 slots - 33% of the men qualified.
Kiwi kids making an impact on things at crankworx. Camden rutherfurd took the win in u15 air dh and dual slalom. Shame he’s too young to compete in whip off, posted something on instagram of him on crabapple hits and the kid knows a thing or two about getting sideways to say the least
2024 pre calendar
https://docs.uci.org/documents/calendar/MTB/MTB_PreCalendrier.pdf?fbcli…
Nice to see there'll be an extra race next year, 9 rounds of WCDH (6 in Europe, 3 elsewhere) plus World Champs in Vallnord. Looking at different locations I guess they aren't doing the same with the World Champs as this year, where lots of different disciplines (14 I believe) are being held in the same country.
It also looks like they're dropping the practice of holding EDR races at the same venue as DH, a good thing in my opinion, EDR was pretty much ignored at Leogang and riders who want to race both EDR and DH have that option.
Here is the preliminary calendar, easier to read it like this here in the forum:
Good to see DH getting going already in May next year, it was hard to wait for June this year. Also nice to see more races! 4 double headers EDR/DHI - and now there's a World Champs for EDR as well! It will have its own separate event apparently.
As far as I can tell there are still 4 double header EDR/DHI events...
Yes, looking more closely I think you might be right, although it's hard to say as it just says Europe/Outside Europe. I see there are several EDR and WCDH races scheduled for the same day, which isn't ideal, whether at the same venue or not. Racing the EDR midweek in the run up to a WCDH race (Leogang) meant the event was overshadowed. I get it's easier for them from a logistics point of view, but it can't be good for the sport.
Sadly, or not? EDR will cease to be a World Cup discipline by about 2028. That's my wild guess anyways
Why would this be the case?
Granted ESO's enduro coverage has definitely been lacking this year, probably as a result of resources being prioritised elsewhere, but I can't see how one of the most of the most popular disciplines of the sport would cease to exist? Especially when that discipline is so loyally followed/participated in at the grassroots level?
A few years ago everybody was crying about the death of DH, and here we are in a new golden age...
Having triple headers also makes the venue extremely overloaded from an infrastructure standpoint. Many of the locations are small resort towns and having triple headers makes getting into, staying at, and navigating the area during said week a nightmare. This past Leogang felt way more overloaded than previous years, even when it hosted Worlds.
Interesting to see Cairns back on the calendar.
It'll be interesting to see if masters world champs is a standalone in the southern hemisphere. Looking at dates, there might be time for a round in Aus/NZ. Aren't the Kiwis due a return after the cancellations last year?
On the XC side of things, two rounds outside Europe in consecutive weeks in April, where do we think that will be?
if it’s Brazil again, where would get paired with it?
or would it be aus & nz?
Also national champs a week before the olympics? Guess many riders will be skipping the chance at the national jersey.
A race in October? This is either southern hemisphere, equatorial, or a bad decision.
MSA is in October this year too. Maybe ESO just like living dangerously.
Shall we read into the fact that marathon worlds at Snowshoe and the same dates listed as "outside europe" for the other disciplines?
i'd put a bunch of chips on xc world cup in bentonville early season. only b/c usac xc training HQ is there now
I had a good look at the redesigned Fort William track for World Champs today - a quick summary:
- Same start hut. Top section to deergate is all essentially the same although it has a fair bit of new track material making it a lot smoother in parts and some improved berms.
- Smoothed out straight at deergate and shitty old cattlegrid is gone, after left turn berm goes into a bus stop on the slab where folk often stop for a breather before heading down in the direction of the old track on the bedrock. This section has been totally re-worked with some big berms which spit riders back out to the right and on to the newer track. It follows the newer track for a bit before reaching the woods.
- It then takes a new line in between the old track and the rock garden where Gwin scorpioned and Reece Wilson lost a fight with a tree. This section is the most "natural" with roots, soil etc, and threads between the trees. It comes out at the road gap.
- From there it comes out into the open again with some huge berms and re-shaped jumps past the now-no-longer-there Scotland/Oakley wall ride and back into the woods.
- I didn't check out the next section today, but I think it will be pretty much the same as the British series race earlier this year.
- Track carries on down the motorway which has seen a lot of work to make jumps bigger/steeper takeoffs and longer. ESO obviously think this makes good telly. There's a funny looking hip thing just before the visit Scotland arch.
- The rest follows the same line as before, with a bit of re-shaping.
- Overall, the biggest changes the track's seen for years. New sections seem to be following the trend for more bike parky feel, but top section will be its old brutal self, and new woods could be interesting. Track looks like it's taped quite narrow and I'm not sure there will be loads of line choice.
I am a fan, not a racer so others might think I'm talking shite. Tried to get some photos. I'll put them on my Insta @bodiemovin
that's awesome intel/info! i'm embedding your insta pics here. great stuff! excited for this week.
Pretty sure they are ending the season with msa in October again and snow shoe late September. Is whistler the round before snowshoe?
US Nats U17 XC champ killed by a driver: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/31/sport/magnus-white-death-cycling-spt-int…
Couldn't find a single reference to the driver; all the articles had some version of "killed by a car/collided with a vehicle".
Rest in peace, Magnus.
that is so sad to hear. i can't even imagine what his family is going through. such a loss.
We saw this yesterday. So damned awful. He was leaving for Scotland in just a few days. So crazy and heartbreaking. As the father of a teen rider, I can't imagine what his family is going through, and his teammates and coaches as well.
So sad that the most dangerous part of being a bike racer/rider is cars.
Burry Stander, Ben Sonntag, Magnus White, and too many others.
It's possible the driver was a minor, and they cant release the name.
"He was riding on Colorado 119 (the Diagonal Highway) north of Boulder, south of the intersection with North 63rd Street, early Saturday afternoon when he was hit by a Toyota Matrix driven by a 23-year-old woman from Westminster, Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gabriel Moltrer said. The Matrix apparently crossed onto the shoulder of the highway.
White was thrown from his bicycle. He was transported to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Drugs, alcohol, and speed “are not suspected” as factors in the crash, Moltrer said. Distracted driving remained a possibility. “It is still under investigation,” he said. “They are investigating all the possible causes.”
https://www.denverpost.com/2023/07/31/csp-boulder-cyclist-crash-magnus-…
Keep on riding on Magnus. Not the way anyone wants to get on Vital. I wish I'd painted a frowned version of my avatar...
Preliminary course preview for World Champs from Jamie Edmonson. Doesn't appear to be a lot of line choice!
Yeah noticed the same thing when watching it. The track itself looks good and better than it has been but looks like a lot of the opportunity for line choice has gone.
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