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I only watch the recaps, but it almost felt like they were trying out a rain delay without calling it a rain delay. I wonder if the soil was substantially different after the rain? Either way Goldstone threw another one down regardless he was on a winning pace.
Apparently Jackson cracked the rim in the back. From Wyn tv
Great track great race great broadcast. I don’t feel like I missed anything, we saw everything that happened, no? AG didn’t appear 5 seconds up after a minute of off-screen chainless pumping, crashing contenders all blew up right in front of us, and that follow drone was actually sick (JG’s boostor triple seemed enough to win it, a singular move that could’ve added up to that 0.6seconds). Solid outing from all. A fine show.
The maybe we’re gonna sorta weather delay was suspect, but that’s about it. They slotted Pinkerton into a new start time right away (and told us about it). It was all there.
4 in a row is sick, but I have to imagine beating the two feet French dudes who helped lay out the track last year is quite nice. Some of those side hill sections were literally tailor made for them and balance bike bro didn’t care!
I’ve been a Carlson fan already but you guys should listen to him on Downtime podcast and see it you can still dislike him. He’s obviously a fan and is a solid ambassador. RicMc is still fine too. Neko rules when he shuts them down and goes silent, as per the altitude/temperature/tire PSI subject. Very funny.
Yeah I liked this one. I’d like to go there and breathe the air.
Just watched some of the replay on Flo. Watched the top three Women, then about 6 of the men's. I don't get the constant hate, the guys in the booth did a good job. Maybe if tried to watch the whole broadcast from start to end, all 4 hours I would get tired of them.
I don’t know if I am getting more use to the commentary or they are getting better but they don’t seem to bother me as much as they use to.
The delay WTF was that really about? Unless they paused to get medical staff back up after all the crashes but they wouldn’t be a “technical issue”.
Hope the riders are ok I haven’t looked or watched WYN Tv yet.
Jackson is amazing to watch. It’s like watching Gwin just do things no one else could do again.
Hence the "SIGH" in my post...as in, no, we didn't get any official communication at all nor a heads-up, we just had to discover what they were doing on IG along with everybody else. (and I posted the actual text from the post to make it easier for people who don't want to click IG links...).
Its great to see Jackson dominate, but it's interesting how Vali isn't quite there this year. She was supposed to dominate for 10yeara, but look now at all the incredible junior woman. Will Asa and the Arlans come and challenge him. Will Deegan be able to match Jets speed. Who knows what will happen in the future. Its gonna be great if WB don't destroy it first.
Oh heck yeah it was. Rain on goggles. Dusty shaded wood is a nightmare. Spectators scrabbling up/down the mountain stirring more dust than the riders would powder glaze the lightest sprinkle on goggle lens & blind instantly.
As Troy SLIPS in the left/right that Bruni doubles...
Rick - "Well, we're hearing some technical issues with our cameras up on the mountain caused by this weather"
Carlson - "Yeah, you can see how much wetter it is up there already!"
Rick - "I am hearing we're going to be suspending racing after Troy's run. Massive technical problems on the hill. Loads and loads of technical issues due to the weather"
They then skip to a recap of his crash rather than show a segment of his run.
100% corrupt to stop the race for a camera malfunction (if true) & changed the outcome
Munoz last rider w/ clear vision.
Rain & wind appear noticeable on camera for Reece WIlson (starts 20th).
Crashes start getting frequent.
Troy starts 00:57 minutes after Munoz.
HOUR of rain & 15 racers.
Race is held 7 minutes.
Maes leaves the gate in bright sunshine.
Top 10 Results all ran with NO falling rain except the course designer, Vergier.
Williams, Munoz, Maples, Kiefer, Pierron, Stevens McNabb from Q2 all dry runs pre-rain.
Bruni, Oison, Maes, Goldstone...post rain.
Never stop a race for video.
No other sport has ever stopped competition for consumer visual!!!
The only reasonable reason to stop would be if they crashed the drone in the track and someone needed to go get it.
On Bernard Kerrs video he stated that the delay was because some of the fences holding signage after the finish line had blown over.
I think that was on qually day?
Red sign blew onto track during qualifiers creating what Jewitt & others thought was a red flag.
Anyone heard a post race UCI statement?
Investigative journalists exist in MTB?
They announced live they were stopping riders during Troy's run. They'd have given him a re-run if there were a physical hindrance.
The barriers blew over at the finish line and they stopped the race to address the safety issue during qualifying. Riders on course got a re run.
Sleeper Shredit from La Thuile 🤘
Any updates on Ronan's crash / health? I mean, he walked away, but...slowly.
How much more safe / fair would DH be if races were run like surf events? ie. A week or so block of time, and the event is held at the best time on the best day--not scheduled months in advance, with no adjustment for specific conditions. Maybe in consultation with the racers?!
I know that this would be weird, and probably impossible, from a marketing standpoint, but...wouldn't it likely be more safe? And fair?! Considering the unfairness of one racer pulling 4 tear-offs, and another never touching his / her lenses, it would also be great to get each class on track when light conditions / weather are basically the same. Like, maybe run the junior men and elite women, and the junior women and elite men on two separate days, so that there's basically a 3 hour window, instead of 5-6, during which you can get four-seasons happening in one day in the Alps.
I think that kind of format would be great for Rampage, where weather determines whether or not the event can actually happen. It might even make a bit of sense for Hardline, where wind and rain could be the difference between making or coming up short on a 90ft jump.
For UCI DH, I think they've shown they are willing and able to ride in unrideable (for us) conditions. Weather and changing track conditions are the nature of the game.
He got up. Walked off. Then posted he was taking a heli ride.
(Remarkably similar to my weekend, everyone starts freaking out when they realize you have a collapsed lung).
I think this is the best one yet
Bonus for La Thuile forum thread peeps - Lawlor's The Weekend following Maples, Pinky and Luke Meier-Smith is up but won't hit homepage until tomorrow.
Troy definitely got fucked but that’s how it goes with a mountain sport on a time schedule.
Ag looked to be building to something pretty great till that big mistake. Dude still has the speed to win one of these if things go his way.
in my industry a 15 minute delay means you are probably getting my services for free or even at a loss. Would bet my budget is also a whole lot tighter even when things go right. Postponing the runs was the right move if they couldn’t credibly cover the event but it’s also on them for having issues in the first place. An injured or stunned rider down on track is just an inevitability. But camera problems is their problem.
also can we not show crash replays of dudes who spent several minutes down cause they managed to limp off. When people are all good who cares but I’m not watching for carnage.
5 words:
"Stay on your bike, Danny!"
I noticed they didn't show a replay of Dunne's crash until after he was back on his feet so I think they're improving...
Some of the best, in depth and interesting content coming from the races these days.
And it doesn't even require a SuperMaxVitalPremiumPlus+ package, How's that even possible..
Thanks for bringing the unique content @Vital MTB @sspomer !
He has popped right back up from some scary looking crashes. The fact that he sort of sat up and then laid back down after this crash was a bit scary.
It's good to see he's mostly ok.
On a related note, my favorite part of the race was during Hart's run a spectator was could be heard yelling "LOOK AT THE TIME" and probably some other Warner gold from that classic run.
...that was my thought. He sure looks like a tough kid, but that was a nasty crash. It happened so fast--it kinda looked like he got scorpioned, but then his bike hit the tree at like 50 mph, and it was kinda scary. I'm glad he's taking a pause to recuperate.
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