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USDH: Mountain States Cup in Angel Fire is coming up in 14days! They will have live streaming from the top to bottom of the course (FREE). Check out how they are doing it! I'm surprised to not see more Pro's signed up yet with the purses that are being awarded.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY3VbOMt58N/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Definitely one of the more intriguing stories in racing right now, the Antidote Solutions DH bike and race team concept is out to prove itself at the Loudenvielle World Cup this week: https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/antidote-solutions-launches-as05-bike-and-turn-key-downhill-racing-program.
No Gwin in Loudenvielle?
La Thule is his next WC race
Thanks. Should have posted that in the Loudenvielle thread instead.
Bruni out after a practice crash
https://www.instagram.com/p/DY7v2vADQ77/?img_index=2&igsh=MW02dnM4YnhzZ…
This really sucks😔
Can someone explain me why Richie Rude is using the Saint calipers + XTR levers combo with the M9120 levers?
I use this combo years ago, but everybody always told me that i should use the M9100 lever without servo wave.
Is this combo still there? :D
Is it me or leader's jersey has disappeared? (Please yes) Haven't seen any of the leaders wear it, just #1 plate
Here's a crazy stat: now that Luca's won a race, there are at least 20 active senior men's racers (editor's note: 21) who've won at least one World Cup DH round. Could me more, so please let me know if I missed anyone. That's a pretty competitive field. In no particular order:
It's a little less for the senior women's field. I count seven, but again please let me know if I missed someone:
21 with Ronan, unless you are considering him “inactive” due to his longer term injury compared to others on the list.
Luca has to be one of the oldest first wins in World Cup downhill in a very long time right?. Race age 30+ for a first win sounds rare
Duh, Ronan has won twice, in Poland and Les Gets.
This list is a combination of whoever I could remember off the top of my head and then looking at the quali lists from this weekend, so thanks for catching that mistake.
Are you counting Brook Macdonald or Sam Blenkinsop as "active"? Not really sure if they should be on the list -- neither has formally announced retirement from racing in general, but also, neither is lining up for WCDH this season (AFAIK). But they are both one-time winners.
I bet Luca has the most number of starts to get his first win. Also it always blows my mind what percentage of race winners win one race vs two or more. I'm pretty sure its something like 50% of elite men world cup winners only win one race.
As Tahnee said today in the post race… the first win is the easiest.
that is heavy!
Incredible that Jordan Goldstone has won 7 races already!
Marine Cabirous stats are impressive considering some serious injuries as well.
B Coulanges has won 2, Loudenvielle and Les Gets.
There’s also Laurie and Alex Fayoulle who kind of said that winning Lourdes ruined his career 🤷🏼♂️
Winning a world championship counts for me.....Charlie Hatton.
Downhill Southeast Beech Mountain Race Replay and Vital RAW. So many boulders!
I posted this in the Loudenvielle thread but I think it might prompt some more discussion about team strategy in general and the role of changing lines and effort levels right before a race run.
The overwhelming strategy that everyone was saying coming into this race was to "maintain position up top and turn it on in the steep". The thought was that you can't win or lose in the pumpy section, and all the differentiation would be done in the steep corners. Everyone was wrong. Luca went 1-1-1-2 in the first sectors before falling back to midpack. Benny Cool had a similar trajectory. Finn's splits were even more stark. Out of the top 5, only Jordan Williams and Tyler Waite's performances could be claimed to be a back half strategy. This outcome may have been a possibility all along, but the destruction of the dusty corners in the steeps definitely emphasized it. The blown out corners led to many riders with the back half strategy not making it to the bottom unscathed.
This race really highlighted teams' capability to pivot as well. Out of the top 6, 4 are on teams that are known for their on track support and ability to shift lines and strategy at the advice of support staff (Williams and Iles on Specialized), (Brosnan and Shaw on Canyon). Fabien Barel was even on the live feed saying how they changed Troy's strategy after seeing the carnage before him, and how he was going to radio even more info up to Luca. I'm not sure of the ethos of Scott or Yeti, but Benoit is known for his ability at Loudenvielle in low traction conditions, and Tyler Waite probably had 35 practice laps beforehand with Jonty instead of sleeping or something.
From Chris Kilmurray's IG:
One can dream. Can we start a petition or something?
Wyn in the booth would be amazing!
Wyn, would be great, they really need to sort the commentary out, its absolutely abysmal.
Ric talks some amount of absolute pish, and they really need to be on site and have at least one of the commentators going round the pits and speaking to the riders in the run up to the race and be able to offer some interesting insights.
Beaumont has zero energy. Josh Carlson did a better job in my opinion. “Not great, not terrible.” Now that he’s down in the pits with that girl, they aren’t utilizing him.
WYN though? He’d kill it. More than a few people recognize this…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX7cITLt8v4/?igsh=MWF3M3F3MGliem14bQ==
Wyn and Rob
This isn't impossible as, in French, we WB choose Florian Letondeur as co-commentator on side of Eurosport one. Flo is the guy behind Fast As French YouTube and Instagram channels.
Flo is doing an amazing job bringing is knowledge and insights of the sport to a sport generalist TV broadcaster. It take some time, as before that the commentary was like two random commentators knowing absolutely nothing about our sport (apart of their incomplete stats sheets) trying to adapt MotoGP/Formula 1 commentary on something they absolutely didn't understand ( Do you think this dude is on wet or intermediate tires "Bob"?... I don't know "Songe" but good question! - My stats sheet says this girl isn't random to the sport... lol). When Flo began is job, it was a bit awkward as him and the TV guy were kind off speaking two different languages. But slowly, the TV guy is getting educated to our sport and a form of complicity with Flo is appearing so the overall comment is getting really interesting (Flo as a specialist bringing real technical informations and answer legit questions someone interested in the sport can ask).
Educating professional commentators from generalist sports channels to our sport is key.
With their channels Flo and Wyn are doing kind of a same job at presenting a specialized coverage of our sport (Rob was also for Red Bull). The athletes interviews are interesting as they ask the right questions at the right place with an established complicity and with a personal enjoyable vibe. They both have that specific sensibility so i really think Wny can have the same success in English as Flo is having in French.
Things are going in the right way. Maybe not in a perfect straight line but in the right way anyway!
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