Since there is no Vital Fantasy for National Champs I'll put my predictions out there in writing to see how they hold up! Who ya got...
Since there is no Vital Fantasy for National Champs I'll put my predictions out there in writing to see how they hold up! Who ya got for the Stars and Stripes sleeves?
Predictions for Downhill: Pro Women - Maylei Leaneagh. Pro Men' - Ryan Pinkerton.
Predictions for Dual Slalom: Pro Women - Jordy Scott. Pro Men - Nick Nestoroff
Gee, last year Kailey Skelton really won convincingly at Big Bear but Aletha is having a solid year. I'm a fan of Maylei, though, and would love to see you right on your prediction.
I can't even begin to guess which guy will win. It's a pretty strong field.
(I don't follow slalom, so I have no clue on that.)
Aletha Ostgaard goes 1st in women's Seeding at US Nationals by almost 4 seconds over Kailey Skelton, with Maylei Leaneagh in 3rd.
In men’s Seeding, Ryan Pinkerton, Bode Burke and Nate Kitchen finished 1/2/3, with Ryan just 0.099 second ahead of Bode. The top 10 were separated by just over 5.1 seconds. Finals should be quite a race.
Aletha Ostgaard goes 1st in women's Seeding at US Nationals by almost 4 seconds over Kailey Skelton, with Maylei Leaneagh in 3rd. In men’s Seeding, Ryan Pinkerton...
Aletha Ostgaard goes 1st in women's Seeding at US Nationals by almost 4 seconds over Kailey Skelton, with Maylei Leaneagh in 3rd.
In men’s Seeding, Ryan Pinkerton, Bode Burke and Nate Kitchen finished 1/2/3, with Ryan just 0.099 second ahead of Bode. The top 10 were separated by just over 5.1 seconds. Finals should be quite a race.
Bode backing up his recent form in Andorra it looks like, as he was 2.7 sec slower than fastest sector 1 rider Luca Shaw in seeding. So he potentially made a mistake or had an issue at the top of the course. Like you say, finals is gonna be exciting.
Also, someone correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't seem to be any top ranked American racers riding a new Specialized Demo? Looking at other national champs that are taking place there's lots of top ranked racers in all categories on new Demos (especially in the UK and France it seems). But not much in the Specialized's home?
Bode backing up his recent form in Andorra it looks like, as he was 2.7 sec slower than fastest sector 1 rider Luca Shaw in seeding...
Bode backing up his recent form in Andorra it looks like, as he was 2.7 sec slower than fastest sector 1 rider Luca Shaw in seeding. So he potentially made a mistake or had an issue at the top of the course. Like you say, finals is gonna be exciting.
Also, someone correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't seem to be any top ranked American racers riding a new Specialized Demo? Looking at other national champs that are taking place there's lots of top ranked racers in all categories on new Demos (especially in the UK and France it seems). But not much in the Specialized's home?
any way to watch live? or just wait for the replay show...
No live video. They've said that's something they're working on for the future but right now it's not happening. It will be great when they show at least the Nationals and US Open live.
Luca, Richie, Asa, Pinkerton, Maples, Gwin if he has a good day, Cannonball Bode Burke if he can finish his run, and many more who legitimately have the chance to win like Austin, Dante, Medcalf, Kitchen, Suetos, Nik, etc- is this the most competitive senior men's USA national champs since the 90's or eeeeeearly 2000's? And I'm sure I'm forgetting someone important in my list.
Aletha Ostgaard / Kailey Skelton / Maylei Leaneagh go 1-2-3, with Aletha's winning margin 0.947 seconds after a blistering final sector.
I'm not sure how the "national sleeve" thing works. Kailey and Aletha are in different age groups. Aletha will probably be wearing the sleeve in World Cup (not sure), but I don't know if Kailey gets the 19+ Nat. Champ sleeve.... anyone know?
Looks like Aletha also had the fastest first sector to take the Hole Shot Award. Congrats to her for a great day!
2026 #USDH National Champs results. Aletha takes the women's win by .947 over Kailey and Pinkerton holds onto the sleeve over Maples by .879! Top 10s below, link to full results - https://artiming.com/result/courses/47
Luca, Richie, Asa, Pinkerton, Maples, Gwin if he has a good day, Cannonball Bode Burke if he can finish his run, and many more who legitimately...
Luca, Richie, Asa, Pinkerton, Maples, Gwin if he has a good day, Cannonball Bode Burke if he can finish his run, and many more who legitimately have the chance to win like Austin, Dante, Medcalf, Kitchen, Suetos, Nik, etc- is this the most competitive senior men's USA national champs since the 90's or eeeeeearly 2000's? And I'm sure I'm forgetting someone important in my list.
Insanely competitive and we didn't even have Dak or Asa there. Amazing time to be a USDH fan
Bode backing up his recent form in Andorra it looks like, as he was 2.7 sec slower than fastest sector 1 rider Luca Shaw in seeding...
Bode backing up his recent form in Andorra it looks like, as he was 2.7 sec slower than fastest sector 1 rider Luca Shaw in seeding. So he potentially made a mistake or had an issue at the top of the course. Like you say, finals is gonna be exciting.
Also, someone correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't seem to be any top ranked American racers riding a new Specialized Demo? Looking at other national champs that are taking place there's lots of top ranked racers in all categories on new Demos (especially in the UK and France it seems). But not much in the Specialized's home?
Unofficial results for women's Pro:Aletha Ostgaard / Kailey Skelton / Maylei Leaneagh go 1-2-3, with Aletha's winning margin 0.947 seconds after a blistering final sector. I'm not...
Unofficial results for women's Pro:
Aletha Ostgaard / Kailey Skelton / Maylei Leaneagh go 1-2-3, with Aletha's winning margin 0.947 seconds after a blistering final sector.
I'm not sure how the "national sleeve" thing works. Kailey and Aletha are in different age groups. Aletha will probably be wearing the sleeve in World Cup (not sure), but I don't know if Kailey gets the 19+ Nat. Champ sleeve.... anyone know?
Looks like Aletha also had the fastest first sector to take the Hole Shot Award. Congrats to her for a great day!
I'm not sure if I'm understanding this correctly: It looks like Kailey gets to keep the National Champ sleeve.
Unofficial results for women's Pro:Aletha Ostgaard / Kailey Skelton / Maylei Leaneagh go 1-2-3, with Aletha's winning margin 0.947 seconds after a blistering final sector. I'm not...
Unofficial results for women's Pro:
Aletha Ostgaard / Kailey Skelton / Maylei Leaneagh go 1-2-3, with Aletha's winning margin 0.947 seconds after a blistering final sector.
I'm not sure how the "national sleeve" thing works. Kailey and Aletha are in different age groups. Aletha will probably be wearing the sleeve in World Cup (not sure), but I don't know if Kailey gets the 19+ Nat. Champ sleeve.... anyone know?
Looks like Aletha also had the fastest first sector to take the Hole Shot Award. Congrats to her for a great day!
I'm not sure if I'm understanding this correctly: It looks like Kailey gets to keep the National Champ sleeve. Here's the summary from their Instagram post:prodownhillseries...
I'm not sure if I'm understanding this correctly: It looks like Kailey gets to keep the National Champ sleeve.
Pro Men | Ryan Pinkerton Pro Women | Kailey Skelton Elite Jr Men | Kai Burleson Elite Jr Women | Aletha Ostgaard
As of 2026, if the National Federation listed the Elite and Junior Elites as two different "events" (which USA did), then both the Junior Elite and the Elite winner get to wear the sleeve.
On the topic of highly competitive national championships, the French just duked it out for sleeves and honors in Les Menuires; one look at that start list and you feel like you're at a World Cup trying to qualify. Congrats to Marine Cabirou, Nathan Pontvianne, Ava Chaumet Lagrange and Sacha Brizin!
2026 French National DH Championship Results - Elite Women
PDF placeholder - 04FinaleFinaleEliteFemme.pdf
2026 French National DH Championship Results - Elite Men
PDF placeholder - 04FinaleFinaleEliteHomme.pdf
2026 French National DH Championship Results - Junior Women
PDF placeholder - 04FinaleFinaleU19Femme.pdf
2026 French National DH Championship Results - Junior Men
Very cool that the French Nationals results look so well-organized, and, more importantly, that they show each athlete's sponsor, no matter how "big" the sponsor is (I'm guessing that "Riding Family" is a mom / pop). It used to piss me off when I won a race, and the race promoter's would omit my sponsor's (typically a bike shop) name from a results page--especially when...position 9 would have their sponsor listed because it was more important (a bike brand or something cooler than a bike shop). Well done, France.
My teammates and I from Another Bike Shop in Santa Cruz made eight trips down to Big Bear for races one season.
Gee, last year Kailey Skelton really won convincingly at Big Bear but Aletha is having a solid year. I'm a fan of Maylei, though, and would love to see you right on your prediction.
I can't even begin to guess which guy will win. It's a pretty strong field.
(I don't follow slalom, so I have no clue on that.)
Pre-Race show from Gravity Coop for Big Bear
Action from Big Bear today. Sorry about the background hum...audio issues.
The whoops moved out of the way for Richie. Are we going to see anyone clear 'em all?
I'll predict that the new pro women's national champ will have our logo on their helmet. 😅
Pit bits photos from Natty Champs! - https://www.vitalmtb.com/community/Jason_Schroeder/blog/07/24/2026/entry/150261
Here is a sampler -
Aletha Ostgaard goes 1st in women's Seeding at US Nationals by almost 4 seconds over Kailey Skelton, with Maylei Leaneagh in 3rd.
In men’s Seeding, Ryan Pinkerton, Bode Burke and Nate Kitchen finished 1/2/3, with Ryan just 0.099 second ahead of Bode. The top 10 were separated by just over 5.1 seconds. Finals should be quite a race.
Full results are available at https://www.prodownhillseries.com/timing .
[Edited to include men's top 3 info.]
Bode backing up his recent form in Andorra it looks like, as he was 2.7 sec slower than fastest sector 1 rider Luca Shaw in seeding. So he potentially made a mistake or had an issue at the top of the course. Like you say, finals is gonna be exciting.
Also, someone correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't seem to be any top ranked American racers riding a new Specialized Demo? Looking at other national champs that are taking place there's lots of top ranked racers in all categories on new Demos (especially in the UK and France it seems). But not much in the Specialized's home?
Cody Kelly is riding one.
That's my computer prediction for pro finals 🤣:
https://onsprint.co/pro-downhill-series/events/pds-2026-big-bear-lake/me/final
elite men
elite women
(Disclaimer: I don't have as many data points for ProDownhillSeries as for World Cup, so confidence is below average)
https://onsprint.co/pro-downhill-series/events/pds-2026-big-bear-lake/me/seeding
Sector 1
1. Luca Shaw27.011
2. Gwin Aaron27.486 // +00.475
3. Camilo Sanchez Salazar27.497 // +00.486
Sector 2
1. Bode Burke38.888
2. Ryan Kenneth Pinkerton39.082 // +00.194
3. Nate Kitchen39.769 // +00.881
Sector 3
1. Bode Burke52.837
2. Evan Medcalf53.672 // +00.835
3. Ryan Kenneth Pinkerton53.712 // +00.875
Sector 4
1. Ryan Kenneth Pinkerton32.531
2. Bode Burke33.165 // +00.634
3. Nate Kitchen33.564 // +01.033
Sector 5
1. Cole Suetos15.195
2. Dante Silva15.469 // +00.274
3. Reed Russell15.572 // +00.377
any way to watch live? or just wait for the replay show...
No live video. They've said that's something they're working on for the future but right now it's not happening. It will be great when they show at least the Nationals and US Open live.
Luca, Richie, Asa, Pinkerton, Maples, Gwin if he has a good day, Cannonball Bode Burke if he can finish his run, and many more who legitimately have the chance to win like Austin, Dante, Medcalf, Kitchen, Suetos, Nik, etc- is this the most competitive senior men's USA national champs since the 90's or eeeeeearly 2000's? And I'm sure I'm forgetting someone important in my list.
Unofficial results for women's Pro:
Aletha Ostgaard / Kailey Skelton / Maylei Leaneagh go 1-2-3, with Aletha's winning margin 0.947 seconds after a blistering final sector.
I'm not sure how the "national sleeve" thing works. Kailey and Aletha are in different age groups. Aletha will probably be wearing the sleeve in World Cup (not sure), but I don't know if Kailey gets the 19+ Nat. Champ sleeve.... anyone know?
Looks like Aletha also had the fastest first sector to take the Hole Shot Award. Congrats to her for a great day!
2026 #USDH National Champs results. Aletha takes the women's win by .947 over Kailey and Pinkerton holds onto the sleeve over Maples by .879! Top 10s below, link to full results - https://artiming.com/result/courses/47
Ryan Pinkerton is US Nat. Champ (again!), beating Dylan Maples by about 0.9 seconds, with Nate Kitchen in 3rd.
Congrats to Ryan for another championship!
But hey, what's up with Nate Kitchen? This young Intense/Monster Army guy is having a hell of a year. I'd love to see him give World Cup another go.
Pinkerton is having a hell of a year. If/when he wins a world cup, he should pick number 133!
Insanely competitive and we didn't even have Dak or Asa there. Amazing time to be a USDH fan
Although, I just noticed he wasn't even at Nat Champs. So basically zero top performing US downhill racers on a Demo at the moment
I'm not sure if I'm understanding this correctly: It looks like Kailey gets to keep the National Champ sleeve.
Here's the summary from their Instagram post:
Pro Men | Ryan Pinkerton
Pro Women | Kailey Skelton
Elite Jr Men | Kai Burleson
Elite Jr Women | Aletha Ostgaard
As of 2026, if the National Federation listed the Elite and Junior Elites as two different "events" (which USA did), then both the Junior Elite and the Elite winner get to wear the sleeve.
On the topic of highly competitive national championships, the French just duked it out for sleeves and honors in Les Menuires; one look at that start list and you feel like you're at a World Cup trying to qualify. Congrats to Marine Cabirou, Nathan Pontvianne, Ava Chaumet Lagrange and Sacha Brizin!
2026 French National DH Championship Results - Elite Women
2026 French National DH Championship Results - Elite Men
2026 French National DH Championship Results - Junior Women
2026 French National DH Championship Results - Junior Men
Very cool that the French Nationals results look so well-organized, and, more importantly, that they show each athlete's sponsor, no matter how "big" the sponsor is (I'm guessing that "Riding Family" is a mom / pop). It used to piss me off when I won a race, and the race promoter's would omit my sponsor's (typically a bike shop) name from a results page--especially when...position 9 would have their sponsor listed because it was more important (a bike brand or something cooler than a bike shop). Well done, France.
Don't forget Canadian nats 🇨🇦🤙.
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