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Damn Gwin is a natural in the commentary boot. So well spoken and does not pretend to be talking to casual viewers.

Is Chris Ball an actual ghost now? Come out and say something about what’s been going on this year. Answer some questions. Make a statement. Do the opposite of nothing.

I debated on publicly griping about the schedule change but decided I am pissed enough to do it. We got to send Bodie to Loudenvielle and Les Gets for his first elite World Cups on a petition spot and send Kasen along with him to film and put together a couple Rooted episodes. It was all super last minute, required work to be moved around and missed and cost a shit ton of money. We were stoked to pull together some sponsor help to get those two there. The earliest they could get there was the originally scheduled track walk...

Check Kolb's IG story for a side view of that crash .

Update from Cami: As most of you might know I had the biggest crash in my career in Vallnord, Andorra. I was blown by a sudden wind gust on the road gap in my quali run, apparently crashed hard on the landing. As of today, I don’t remember the accident. I’m suffering from a moderate head trauma and contusions in my chest, but no broken bones. I’ll be staying in a neuro rehabilitation center in Switzerland for a few weeks but should make full recovery. I’m very sad and disappointed to miss the rest of the season but getting better...

Here ya go... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqJqk8jR4e0

Not just asa, hes got some very close competition from nz, tyler waite and oli clark. Already beating elite times at national rounds. Tyler actually bet asa at crankworx Rotorua this year in the taniwha dh.

Another year or so and Asa will blow that graph all to hell.... He's already beating WC elites and can't even race Jr yet.

Damn I was way off! Last 26” victory is fitting for Ratboy.

I wonder who the last person to win a world Cup in shorts was?

I thought the Nicolai Nucleon 16 looked a bit "busy" with the idler and rear LAL derailleur, and maybe it's the angle/lighting, but this Slash with both pulleys, big chain slap guard, long rear fender, chunky seat tube, shock mount etc. brings me late 90's vibes too. It probably rides great, but with the swoopy tube junctions and straighter/angular rear end, the lines don't flow that well IMO and it looks a bit "unfinished" in the industrial design department. In front of a white background with studio lighting, it would probably look more finished. My 0.02$.

Yea that bike has been baked in for quite a while. I believe they shot the promo video and photos for it last fall. Assuming issues with supply chain, waiting on aluminum version and old stock to clear out of shops have delayed it. The shops stock is probably the big one. Shops bought a bunch of not-that-old Slashes for 2023 season and with bike glut and Specialized's insane pricing this year they've had trouble moving them out. Trek can't launch the new frame until the shop inventories are much lower, so they're waiting.

so theoretically, you could win every semi-final race, DNF all finals and have no points for a UCI ranking? do qualifying points count for anything?

The UCI maintains a database with all riders UCI Ranking points on their website which is updated weekly. It’s easy to drill down to individual riders and see their total points and race results. If a rider’s name does not show up on the list/search it’s because they have not scored any points. For a privateer, like Adam Brayton, he requires 40 points to gain entry to a World Cup race. He was personally caught out because he mistakenly believed he would be awarded UCI ranking points for the Semifinals he raced in the last two rounds. The UCI ranking...

You can enter without race points by paying the trade team fee. Which is now nearly 5x more expensive since eso took charge with no improved payout to the riders r any tangible improvements in onsite medical and safety improvements.

I would ask where in the rules it says you don’t get UCI points for not placing in a qualifying spot or completing a finals run but you could just as easily ask where it says you should get them. After reading Chapter XI of the UCI MTB rules the only place where scoring UCI points at world cups is explicitly mentioned is in 4.11.013 which is for the last round of the series exclusively in the finals runs. In the past, at least for what I remember, your points earned in a World Cup weekend were directly linked and...

I saw Goldstone posting about his kit for this week, so I guess he is in. BTW, from The Union's IG:

Yoann on a new bike....

The silver lining is that with less riders racing world cups, more riders will shift to crank works races, which means more Elliot and Rob!

The racers will keep getting screwed if they allow it. They need to step up and say we won't race. I bet they make as much in prize purse at Crankworks. Tell RB we are all coming and they can expand the DH race portion. Maybe then next year Van derpoole can try and win stripes for DH too when no one will come to UCI events. Spoiler alert he will crash 😂