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What the hey? UCI took down the Junior Women's stream. Edit: Allllllllllllllrighty they took down the Junior Men's stream too. Sweet, I've been awake for hours waiting for this.

FWIW: This year's fastest qualifying time at Val di Sole compared with 5 most recent Val di Sole men's finals winning times: Fastest qualifying time this year: 3:42.221 Prior year winning times: 2024: 3:39.004 2023: 3:34.926 2022: 3:39.774 2019: 3:37.819 2018: 3:36.778

in my defense i have had a concussion since then 😂🤣 not long after that post actually lol

Finals Stats: 13 of the Finalists were in the Vali di Sole top 30 in 2023 17 of the Finalists were in the Val di Sole top 30 in 2024 11 WC winners into Finals 9 of the top 15 are WC winners 8 of the top 10 are WC winners Top 5 are ALL WC winners 13 Countries Represented 6 French (4 WC Winners/Each w/ 2 or more wins) Bruni - 11/Vergier - 6/Daprela -2/Benoit - 2 5 British (2 WC Winners) Walker - 1/Williams - 1 4 Italians (0 Wins) 3 American (0 Wins) 3 Irish (2 WC...

Here is the list of elite riders who have raced a finals this year but missed the cut this weekend. Let me know if I missed anyone— Elite Women - Eleonora Farina Elite Men - Martin Maes - Danny Hart - Tuhoto-Ariki Pene - Luke Wayman - Finn Iles - Davide Cappello - Richie Rude - Henri Kiefer - Remi Thirion - Lachlan Stevens-Mcnab (DNF) - Laurie Greenland (DNF)

I saw Jackson's winning Q1 time was 3:42.221, which seemed longer than normal for VDS, so just for fun I looked up an old time from "back in the day." Gwin's winning time from 2011 was 3:10.356, which is WAY quicker. Over 30 seconds quicker. So it's not just my eyes, the track does traverse a lot more. Seems like that hasn't made it safe by any means, but as others have mentioned, the mega pressurized new format may have something to do with that.

hrastnik gonna nik that $100k!

30 elite men riders to finals within 5.7 seconds of each other. top 3 fastest within .775. racing is just so competitive now.

wrong, jennas little sister is in the juniors finale, also roger viera

Jackson casually passing Ronan continues to talk not sounding like he missed a beat while Ronan is breathing hard trying to talk is insane,

Just watched the Vital Raw for VDS day one and I really like what they've done with the track. In years past it's seemingly gone straight down the fall line and been mega fast and rough, and it seems like they're switchbacking and traversing more. Still very technical, definitely not easy, especially with the dust, but less deadly. Obviously not safe (Anna N. & Sam G.), but safer. I remember the 2012 track that Gwin won by almost eight seconds looked like it was straight down the hill with one brief little tight section.

Sam Gale...if you read this. No joke. We lost an incredible human being & a joyous downhiller to a similar injury at the Snowshoe NORBA National. He get an infection from a football sized gape in the back of his thigh/butt from a stump. Took 6 months of reinfection for it to get into his heart & take him from us far too soon. Jack Daub you are missed my friend! ❤️

Update from Sam Gale:

Imagine being Ronan's rear wheel lol. I wonder how many he will destroy this weekend, based on the raw, I guess that's one already.

Imagine trying to follow Ronan Dunne. Then imagine trying to follow him at Val di Sole. Then imagine following Ronan Dunne at Val di Sole while chitchatting to narrate your run. Jackson is on another level right now and it's hard to bet against him this weekend. Kid has got the speed.

If your job is to make the finals, and you only get 2 chances, you better take 2 good swings. Women Q1 - P1 4:15.135, P10 4:25.395, within 10.260 seconds of winner to qualify Q2 - P1 4:22.017, P5 4:26.702, within 4.685 seconds Only 1 rider who qualified in Q2 had a time that would not have qualified in Q1. Men Q1 - P1 3:42.221, P20 3:48.005, within 5.784 seconds Q2 - P1 3:42.995, P10 3:47.592, within 4.597 seconds Zero riders who qualified in Q2 had a time that would not have qualified in Q1.

Havnt watched 4x in a while, that shit is rapid fire! Crankworks could take a note, I dont need rider bios or how much air Bas is putting in his minion ss tires. Just show me racing!

E-bikes and relatively low power lightweight electric motorcycles will be the main transportation method for large parts of the world. Imagine replacing every 2 stroke engine in a Vietnamese city with something clean. Once the tech is affordable enough it would mean a massive improvement in air quality and noise. So what’s a niche or recreational market in some places can be the norm in others.

We spent so much time worrying about pedal kickback that we didn't stop to consider pedal kickforward

The modified one is shown in Blue