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Really bad. However the reality is, WBD have not interest in running a feeder or development series. The onus for this has solely been put into other even organisers and national federations
WBD only want top 10 teams with 30 riders
If this is the plan.
I'm not mad. At. All.
All we wanted was televised Q1/2 what is this nonsense
The American Continental series seems to fall pretty flat this year, it's just too spread out and kind of a joke. To really compete, you'd have to travel to south, central and north America over 9 months. That's a big chunk of travel to move though. I'm sure there are enough venues and races to have a few feeder series races in all 3 parts and then that can make riders from those areas shine. It's already difficult and expensive enough for US, Mexican and Canadian riders to do a mixed series in North America given its size without having to fly to Peru to start the season.
juniors are pros!
I heard it's increasing to 40 for the men.
Hot take: we need less elites in finals (for men). I'd vote for 20 Elite Men, 15 (and eventually 20) Elite Women in Finals. Maybe not right this moment, but eventually.
The current package is already a long watch, and they still don't capture entire runs of every rider. I think there is lot of potential with less racers to hone in on elevating each racers notoriety; potential to adjust the schedule to minimize track degradation and allow for safer speed increases throughout a weekend; and hopefully more money paid across the entire field.
These changes feel very dependent on having an established feeder series to give young riders a path to progress, and riders on the cusp an opportunity to prove their speed and make the jump. But I don't think World Cups are the place to 'give riders an opportunity.'
I'm ready for heat, lit me up.
I'm not 100% opposed to that idea, but I think it comes with a few caveats. A shorter final will make for a better media product, but overall worse for us hardcore fans. That would have to come with Youtube live Q2, so you can still have a chance to watch your favorite riders. And the tracks would have to be more difficult with impressive features if you're really trying to catch the barely interested TV viewer. Then you will need more non-endemic sponsors because Larry watching channel 23 doesn't give a shit about which suspension brand offers the most mid stroke support, or which direct mount stem is the most revolutionary.
Now we've accidentally reinvented Hardline.
After I've typed this out I'm realizing that world cups are never going to be that watchable for people who aren't diehard bikers. Even most mountain bikers don't care about world cups. Anecdotally, my gf doesn't even care to watch most of the time, and only cares if I tell her if Tahnee won or not, and she owns 5 bikes and has raced at mtb collegiate nationals multiple times.
While I agree that there could be some changes made, chasing the mythical "channel flipper" at the expense of everyone who cares about the sport, including athletes on the bubble, might not be the best strategy.
EDIT: After some more thought, I like this idea even less. I've only been to one WC (Lake Placid this year), but from this forum and PB comments, the general consensus was that in person spectating used to be better when there are more riders coming down on finals day. with only 35-40 riders total, that would seriously limit the draw of traveling to and watching a world cup in person. And part of what makes our sport great are the spectators, like at Les Gets, or at the rock garden in MSA. Chainsaws bouncing off the rev limiter and road flares get everyone hyped, including tv viewers. At some point, trying to extract the maximum value for WB's shareholders out of DH racing is going to eventually lead to the enshitification of the sport, and I'm not sure where that point is. Over the past couple years, I think they've made the sport more professional, which is cool, but there's a limit to the money vs culture tug of war somewhere.
100% agree.
World Cup = the absolute best, where "everyone " can win each race.
I also believe that a more formalized feeder system should be created, with a clear path to enter WC races with a wild card system, so the young and promising can show their speed.
My two cents. I like watching “second tier” riders right along side the pointy end dudes. Especially when you get to see a rider develop over a few seasons. The rider that starts to qualify more regularly, then becomes a top 15-20 dude, then top 10, and finally a podium threat. I like to see this on the same courses as Loic and Jackson, it gives me scale.
I love WC racing, I pay to watch. I am not going to suddenly start paying close attention to IXS Cups. I’ll look at the results of a Monster Energy Series race, but I’m not going to watch it online.
I don’t need mountain biking to become F1 or Moto or whatever other sport we get compared to. I want mountain biking to be mountain biking and it can be its own animal.
Trouble is, with fewer riders on track come race day the more reason to not bother attending and the flatter the atmosphere becomes. So much talk about TV coverage, but it gets less and less appealing as a live spectator as numbers are cut. I've attended Fort Bill 3 times over the years, I'd already think twice now with reduced riders on track to watch.
Since we're talking about juniors and whatnot...does anyone have a stat of what percentage of junior men and women respectively make it in consistently upon transition to elite? Some interesting stuff I see from the 2021 class for example..
After Izabela stepped away from the sport earlier this year only Gracey is a real contender for the win in the elite category, with Phoebe able to get podiums.
Jackson, Jordan, Lachie and Oisin are all on the sharp end, with occasional good results from Davis and Cappello this year. Rest are either gone or barely make it into finals.
Which ever way you slice it, only max 20% make it good into elites, with the rest either vanishing completely, or barely making into race day.
For the most part I agree with that . Due to time differences I watch the races on replay and skip straight to the actual racing .From a purely viewer perspective I think the smaller field works . I obviously understand why riders would want more through to finals and I've heard people suggest you could have 40 in finals and only televise the top 20 but I'm not sure that would work and I doubt WB would be keen .
I'll hold of on judgement about the juniors until all the facts are in but I think someone from either WB or the UCI needs to have a clear explanation of how they see the path to world cup racing and to have concrete plans on how that actually happens and I'm not sure the continental feeder series is that .
You've got 5 juniors in the men's field moving up this year who could all be top 10 at the first round , I wonder if that's an anomaly or will become a regular thing for a while as kids who've grown up with bike parks and coaching and good bikes push the level up . If it is a more regular thing now then the sport needs to make sure there's a place for these fast youngsters or when the big name superstars retire there will be no one to replace them .
I counted a dozen juniors on that list that have been signed and are still racing world cups
Without a real feeder system in place how do these kids develop and get on teams? And then if there are fewer slots why would a team give one to a young kid, when proven racers are vying for those?
But we are way off topic right now. This is the thread for all the silly stuff, the wild guesses, cryptic clues, and freckles.
New thread about juniors and feeder series' here: https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/should-juniors-still-have-place-wor…
I'm not completely opposed as long as it's not 20 protected riders every weekend. By protected, I mean being a rider on a factory team that's guaranteed a spot because the team can afford to pay for it. That's what F1 is, and it's basically 3 separate races happening with 5-6 drivers in the same "race" every time gets boring unless you have a team sabotaging one of their own drivers and manipulating the whole series (McLaren - looking at you. It's not a conspiracy folks IYKYK).
There would also need to be easier ways to rise and fall through the ranks on a race-by-race basis or else we'll end up with 1,000 different series where nobody is sure what the actual pinnacle is.
If the race is shorted too much you lose the build.
WB don't capture the the full rums even when they have time to. The long shots taken from orbit are pointless, you can't see anything which is going on. When the line is 3-4cm wide, what does such an angle show us? Yes it's technically filmed, and you can see a dot moving, but any of the detail which the sport *needs* is lost.
It's also hard to think they take it very seriously, when for example Jackson's run in MSA: title on the line, home race, wearing the rainbow stripes, in the most crucial part of the track (the rock garden) and the camera man decides to film some random person's phone who is recording it, rather than the actual action. Its a joke really.
The amount of camera angle switching at Lake Placid on the loose corner about 2/3rds down was enough to give you a headache. No two riders where the same, and you couldn't see anything of what was going on, because they cut away from the camera which could actually see the corner to film the top of a rider's head from down the hill, then swap back to the camera up the hill to film the rider in the distance.
Edit: my point being, you dont get camera men for F1 or moto GP filming people's phones during key action points or random bits of grass instead of the action. Hard to believe WB are taking the sport very seriously.
I do think this is team rumors for now, as what does this mean for Jr's as far as contracts going forward? Does it affect this season at all? Did the teams know of this change before possibly signing young guns that won't get coverage? Also, the Jr's have been hot the last many seasons, kind of being a highlight really in some of the rivalries. Where will that hype go? Will we end up with a Redbull or Monster Jr series?
There is no continental series. They simply ask favors and string together a calendar from events that went thru the effort and cost to be uci events. Maybe that will change going forward but it does not seem to be their prerogative.
also. More runs filmed and presented well is much better than full runs from both an entertainment and sporting perspective.
BK just posted a new LSD, seems really positive for 2026
”Team is changing, looking very exciting for next year, gonna have a new pits, a full-time filmer…”
So guessing not too short on funds…sounds like Pivot is still main sponsor
Hopefully a "full time filmer" means a move away from BK's motion sickness inducing wildly wave the camera around style of edits.
I’m gonna disagree. First off. No one is watching WC downhill that isn’t a huge fan of Mtbs already. Making the broadcast 30-60 minutes isn’t gonna change that. It’s hard to even find the broadcast if you are looking for it. No one is stumbling across it. So let’s not pretend making it shorter will bring in more fans. If you want it to be shorter watch it for time delay and fast forward.
Second, you guys kinda mentioned it on the last podcast, but there should be less emphasis on qualies, not more. I feel like there is currently more drama around qualies than the finals some weekends, and we don’t even get to see them. Make it 40 in the final, 20 for women, but limit the overall field of riders even more.
Finally, there were a lot of guys who came out of q2 this year that ended up in the podium or at least top 5. Those dudes wouldn’t have even been in the final if it was top 20 only. There are way more than 20 guys capable of getting in the podium. The talent pool rn is too deep to cut it down that much.
https://youtu.be/peO1_UwzxS0?si=GU3tJpux-6hjoSaT
Dak on a mondraker with teammates. Hopefully that means he's staying there.
That’s probably from a few months ago. Dak and Ryan are both in the states.
What is to say the entire broadcast start to finish needs to be live? What if they run more riders, top 40, tape all the runs, put a highlights package / feature certain runs for when the show starts and then blend to live coverage for the top 20ish riders? You still have the opportunity to show full runs from standout rides early in the day while running 1 min or less gaps for a lot of riders until the top qualifiers come down.
Being in Whiteface I have to say the most interesting time to watch on track was Qualifying and finals morning practice. The intensity really picked up for final practice. Race runs were really stretched out and pretty lacking on action for the trackside fan.....
Or option C. Stop messing with it already and just do something the same two years in a row.
And it got even worse including lower quality when he changed to Insta360.
LOL I'd already stopped watching his vids before then so I didn't even know about that!
At least they ran a race. The australian continental cup race got cancelled on the day because the shitty timing system failed and they didn't have a back up 😅
My single biggest source of pure annoyance isn’t the equipment — it’s the protagonist.
simple solution for that -> just don‘t watch his content!
and now please back to team rumors before this starts to be a BK-bashing thread again.
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