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Unreal Rachel comes back and smashes it. Wish Rob was around to commentate this story.

New format is weird and agreed the production and commentary was not where it should it be.

Gotta say I'm not so stoked on the new format... commentary was awful and the cut to 30 riders plus a semi had really lost the soul of DH. Hopefully crabkworks can step up to the plate and keep real one run DH alive. Stoked to see Jordan Williams smash it!

Ok that coverage was very ordinary. Patchy sound, results list showing the elite women in junior mens, swapping from one rider to another mid run. Listening to Rick was as exciting as watching paint dry and Cedric was like a poverty Claudio. 4/10

They really need to do something with the graphics too. Hard to read and riders were often shown with green timing even though they were behind. Also, I can't help but wonder if Cedric is being paid by the word.

I'm still waiting on a 10h loop of the slideshow music to lul me to sleep every night.

As for how the riders viewed the changes, there do seem to be some who's optimism/hopefulness about discovery is perhaps a little feigned. So far on the coverage side of things all discovery has really done is announce a paywall and the commentators. The only reason they'd go with Ric and Cedric instead of Warner and Eliot is to save money. Penny pinching like that makes all their talk of "next level" seem a bit questionable. idk, we'll see.

The VitalMTB Law - all threads descend to tech nerding if given sufficient time.

My theory is that these guys feel that, with the new format, top 30 riders are going to see an increase in exposure and potential revenue. They're all betting that, while they may not be on the podium repeatedly, they can be in the top 30 repeatedly. It seems that ESO/Discovery want to focus in on 30 riders who are the main story and the "elite" and all of these Enduro dudes are excited about the possibility of getting in on the opening few years and being in that top 30. I mean, I'm sure in their minds, they're all...

New media squidlet

I imagine to ride their bikes and promote them if I was to just throw some guesses out...

4 women! HELL yeah Transition, that is so rad!

I don't think "in defence of Chris Ball, I'm also terrible" is quite as effective as some of you think it is

Weren't the 3 Atherton siblings also listed last year (and the year before, I think)?

Just noticed that it sounds like Max Beaupre will be getting in the EDR mix this year. 17th in Sugarloaf as a first showing is pretty solid!