2026 Loudenvielle World Cup Downhill

He didn’t go far enough back up. You can see someone pointing to where he needed to go back in but Asa went back in before that

Is the former owner/manager of Dorval AM now working for Scott? They showed a guy who I think looks like him celebrating after Coulanges run. The guy looking grandpa-ish. Or am I just confusing sth? 

American DH on top!

Well done Luca, glad to see him finally take a W

Luca the time

I see what you did there, and hats off to you. 👌🏻

It is Patrice Afflatet and he has been the Scott team manager for some time AFAIK.

He's been sitting on it for fourteen years.

Bring back race tape 

Luca deserved this, And has been silently stalking the podium for too long. What a run!

Good for Luca to grab a win, perservance there for sure. 

Also two different American winners back to back, has that ever happened? Hell have there even been two different Americans to win one in a single season?

Finally if they're going to just do the commentary in a studio somewhere can they get a team that understands the assignment? I feel like most of us would do a better job at being insightful, plus their timing is just ridiculous off pace, splits happening and 30 seconds until they even notice it while they're still blabbing about if they can make up the time. You would think Beaumont would get it having been in-between the tape and Ric is decent at XC but DH is bad and they keep finding a new floor. 

Also as an aside it was disappointing to see Asa tangled up in dangerous "course markings" that really don't need to be there, possibly cut or being choked by the rope and the course Marshall was just moseying over.

How would that have changed anything?

I can’t speak to any specific instance but the shear number of DSQs this weekend is unusual and I have a few hunches. 

It’s easier to tell where you left the track. Whether because of damaging the tape of just the additional visual information. 

Earlier someone also mentioned that tape helps you see which direction the trail is going whenever there’s a blind crest and I think that’s true as well. Obviously racer’s are tasked with memorizing the track but the brain is weird and this strikes me as a pointless hazard that could be remedied with short taped sections wherever this is relevant. 

Having the tape right next to you when you’re in between poles is a clue that you’re on the very edge of the track when you otherwise may not notice until it’s too late.

This is evidently a hot take for some reason even though enduro is still using tape, but if nothing else it makes the track easier to understand as a spectator. Some of the B-lines look pretty weird when there’s three rows of cones next to each other but no clear off limits zone. 

Bring back race tape. 

Now that Luca got his first Elite win, are Bernard Kerr and Dakotah Norton now the two currently active male riders who've entered the most World Cup races without an Elite win? If so, I wonder which of them is more likely to get a win. Luca had 78 WC races, with 3 2nd place finishes, before today.

If Roots & Rain is accurate, here are their numbers:

• Bernard: 113 WC races, best finish 2nd (1 time). He's been in 1 final this year, finishing 21st.
• Dakotah: 69 races, best finish 2nd (2 times). He hasn't qualified for a final yet this year. 

Vali's winning run. 

What a remarkable athlete.

You can really tell with the delay that they're announcing off site. They're always a moment or move behind where Rob and team would explode in the moment that something happened if what they were watching. It takes the enjoyment out of it almost completely. 

When Gracey hit the hole in that corner and almost lost it, she's recovered and was two corners out by the time they addressed it. Same as when Vergier crashed. 

She might be unstoppable now that she's on a proper bike.

You can have remote audio production (mixing, commentating, etc) and compensate for any distance / delay.

But that would require actual investment.... 

I watched the replay and they didn’t seem like timing was off. Which is a shame that the live broadcast is that much worse.

So glad I didn’t pick Luca.  Super happy to see him finally win.  It seemed like so many were happy for him.  

Was terrible live was a delay for sure, I thought it may have been the stream audio but the on ground reporting was fine. 
Both the commentators calling Luke Mier Smith, Remy Mier Smith was another highlight...

Guys , I think we owe Ric and Josh an apology . With the bit of perspective we just got , I’m starting to think these two clearly have some media training and experience. 😜 Sure they are cheesy sometimes , but they can also add insight and think on their feet . Are there better announcers sure , but we don’t have them 

Was a huge Mark Beaumont fan back in the day, raced him at world cups, but I think the broadcast needs a bit of life back. I’m sure he’s being asked to do a challenging and awkward thing . Especially with Ric running circles around . I honestly felt a bit bad for him for a lot of that, I know he knows everything he needs to know being a multiple World Cup winner

Like some others, my HBO/Max broadcast had zero commentary. It was so damn nice. The sounds of the the bike, the tires, and the dirt were it. 

To say riders wouldn’t have dsq’d today if there were tape would be a huge underestimation of the prep these riders put into a race run. Once race day comes along they aren’t seeing flags or tape anymore, just their line. Now I would argue that tape can sometimes be less confusing for the viewer on the broadcast but I think the lack of plastic waste and not getting tangled in the tape is worth that small trade off. 

I think it has more to do with the speed they are carrying, the gradient of the slope, and the lack of trees. They are straight hauling so any little mistake and you are traveling a pretty good distance in the wrong direction real quick. The slope is pretty steep in the bottom where a lot of people are going off, they are trying to hold on a off camber with the worse dust and loose rocks showing up off line so miss your rut and all of a sudden you are along for the ride. The course is pretty open so people are more likely to ride out a off course rather then just getting swatted by a tree with a pad on it. Another factor has to be the dry conditions, dust moves around a lot and what was stable the run before is now destroyed.

All the riders talk about how much the pace has picked up, everyone is pushing harder and harder so the mistakes are going to happen more frequently and they are going to be bigger.

The world cup riders are the best in the world, they are worried about what inch of track they are putting their tires on, they do not need a ribbon of tape in the woods to tell them were to go.

Also anyone that says "put the markers out wider" has lost the plot, the fastest line will still be right next to the marker....

Yes. That is absolutely the vibe. 

The juniors had not option for that but the elite you had to chose the language at least for me, but when there is pre race talk and no talking it’s kind of weird 😂