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The 8-hour training actually makes perfect sense if you think about it. If you’re going to force a 12-year-old to commute electrically assisted/throttled in a 6-inch painted gutter next to 5,000lb distracted SUVs going 50mph, they probably need Stroad-warrior level tactical training. Why build a protected bike path for $1M when you can just blame the kids for not having a Ebike Safety Certificate while they dodge F-150s?

No problem, I didn't take your message as aggressive. I have to say I was expecting more "sporting" questions, like who is DragonSpeed, why a sportscars racing team is coming to DH, what are our goals etc. Regarding Thibaut, we discussed about this with him and the partners. You can imagine I am not the only one to be convinced and to decide. We chose the riders together, and the partners are happy with all of our 4 riders, including Thibaut. We had no potential sponsor that said "no" because he is on. Thibaut brings performance, I think we all...

I also force them to eat broccoli and go to bed at a reasonable time.

You're very entitled to your own opinion, but I didn't hear the same contradictions you did. I've re-listened multiple times this morning and I still can't hear it the way you have. I heard Markus say they knew they were facing tough times but weren't expecting the PE firm to get to a point where they aren't willing to inject cash. The Fire Sale was an effort to get through that specific period without having to ask for more cash. That failed and then they were told 'no more'. As for your previous point, it's not exactly clear to me...

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...

What if the riders had to tick off everything in practice before throwing down a final run in competition? Anyone trying something for the first time in finals gets an instant point or ranking penalty. The riders would need to be certain they could reliably land their features and tricks and might be less inclined to take these huge do-or-die risks in their final run. There would still be progression with the athletes striving to make history, but it might lead to fewer roll of the dice moments.

Social views will include all social media platforms, long and short form. That 225M social is entirely plausible on that basis. Reminder: these kind of reach/views stats are actually more important for sponsors (especially non-endemic) rather than core fans as it feeds into paid/earned media views matrix. In terms of WBD cumulative channel views of racing, with 122M+ subscribers, 15M doesn't seem unreasonable, especially if you factor in clips appearing in other shows etc and if you're applying either YouTube's 30s or Meta's 3s threshold to count as a view. The smart team managers/owners/sponsorship heads will be building this into...