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The immaculately honed skills of the French riders differs immensely from the wild flair of the British riders I mentioned . Thomas estaque and Hugo frixtalon are entertaining skillful riders who are completely different to Benoit, loic and loris and amaury. Those boys are elite racers who have have supercharged wild winning runs but they're not the guys who pull sick whips and doubles when they don't have to . Some of the most entertaining riders in the past ten years have been guys who weren't on the podium regularly and it will be a shame to not see them...

Pardon my French, but Momo on Les Gets 2024 (and Momo -period) or even any Thirion line is anything but "deathgripping on a ski slope".

I was thinking 5ten. How many flat pedal shoes did he sell for them for many many years? Boat loads for sure. Oh well, pass on adidas. Ride concepts should drop a dime

Pretty sure you can see the chain in this shot (2nd screengrab), most likely not Pivot since the double chainring configuration keeps the chain higher. Could be wrong though.

Try 10 years.. Sam was on Nukeproof from 2013-2023 and Sram/Rockshox for nearly 20 years (2005ish to 2024?) Regardless, stoked to see him and some other "old dogs" race Hardline in less than a month edit, apparently I can't count because 13-23 is 11 seasons

Phil losing sponsorship almost annoys me the most out of all of this. All the guy has to do is post a phone clip on a dodgy pleney loamer and I'm convinced to buy the bike. Brands will regret giving up large engagment numbers on social media just to save a few quid in the short term.

With respect Phil has been struggling to be a regular top 30 finisher the last few years. And like Kade and Kaos his skills may be more valuable producing content rather than racing World cups. And that sucks cos those boys really lit up the vital raw , sleeper co. and Ben cathro videos over the world cup weekends. Sad to see the gifted steezy and technical riders are being forced out of the racing side of the sport now . I wanna see some rowdy shit being done on some wild lines not just a load of Frenchies deathgripping...

Considering he's world champ you'd think he'd be on the muc off team, but then again someone said Dan atherton could win a World Cup this year so any thing is possible

Phil Atwill and the Propain Positive team appear to have parted ways with Propain. Instagram is now labeled "Positive Crew". They're either up for grabs or stepping back from UCI level racing. Hopefully somebody gives them the steam for more World Cup racing, Phil has some of the most unique bike handling skills around.

SH: "...It’s actually been super disappointing that many long-time sponsors that I have stayed loyal to throughout my career can’t even make an effort to reply to emails or messages." Damn, choosing to not pick up the phone/email when SH calls is a choice for sure. He's not on top of the game anymore but at least pitch him some gear ffs.

The song could be a hint (or she might be fooling us) : 2 chainz by Lil Wayne

Camille Balanche on a new bike... Looks like a Session (I'm just kidding, I can't figure out if it's actually a Yeti or something else)

The fact that the only two flat tyres (I think) at hardline wales last year was jono and Matt Jones who both run good year tells you everything you need to know

ol matt jones had sh1t loads. whatever pays the bills i suppose.

Yes it has indeed been the worst year of "rumours" and tangents my favourite was: Camile Balanche to Pivot cos there is a photo of her wearing a Pivot tshirt, A post or two later, someone says, you now that's a photo of Emiline who works for Pivot not Camile.

Makes sense, besides rainbow stripes which only started last season the man has nothing left to prove in enduro. If his heart is in racing DH full time then he should go for it

For those playing along at home, here’s where we stand with the most ridiculous rumors so far… #3 - Phoebe Gale off FMD, going to Reece Wilson’s new AON team, after being prominently featured in the Orbea FMD press release. #2 - Aaron Gwin back to mentor the kids on lower budget Trek Factory after becoming a partner in Crestline bikes last year. #1 - Old man Dan Atherton returning to stomp $$$ DH podiums on a prototype belt drive after his most recent 57th at a 2018 Crankworx stop. There’s a few others close to the top 3, but...

The overall number of riders racing enduro is going to be so low. If I had a spare 100 bucks I’d say that it’s the last year of enduro. No exposure and no return on investment with a struggling industry why would anybody pay a rider to do this?

There are some rumblings going around that Richie Rude will only be racing downhill this year

Luke Wayman riding an Atherton bike in the first round of the MTBNZ downhill series at Dunedin. Round 2 is at Coronet peak this coming weekend. With plenty of pros in town at the moment it’ll be interesting to see who shows up to race