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They have put out an invitation globally for venues to express interest, so I have reasonable confidence in this being far more global. Good example is the money that Haute-Savoie are throwing at MTB tourism these days, several other areas in Europe are doing the same as well as Tasmania, Korea (dammed if I know why with this one?). Places like Chile, would do well to try and offer to do an Enduro timed to finish say 3 days before a Redbull urban DH, or start say 3 days after the DH, makes it more tempting for tourists to come...

raw from today. first crash is insane.

As this internet exchange shifted from kooks talking about being cool, into really fucking riders breaking down the differences between dropping trou to strap on knee pads vs. tearing their dance leotards ….. It got really core in here.

Posted this before, posting again... The old EWS points and event qualifier structure was a great example of a transparent, feasible ladder for talented and motivated riders to climb into the elite field. EWS points were earned at sanctioned local, regional and national level events each with their own points tier and value table. I remember on the website from 2018-2020 there were pages and pages of races you could earn points. An EWS license was about 30USD to get an account and start earning. It seemed that race organizers were welcomed with fair terms to have their races sanctioned...

The conditions are perfect this morning in Les Gets... just ask these folks.

The Steve Peat clips while he was talking about it was great.

This is honestly shocking. WBD is a private, for-profit company. If they decide Enduro isn't profitable enough to broadcast, fine. That's their business. But why does a private broadcaster have a say in whether an entire cycling discipline gets a World Cup? The UCI is a governing body. Its job is to organize, protect and develop cycling for its members, not decide which disciplines survive based on the ROI of a commercial partner. And one of the most important jobs of a governing body is to provide a consistent pathway through the sport. Local racing → regional racing → nationals...

I'm so worried about how thin, fragile, and expensive riding pants are these days that I've quit sliding out and hitting my knee pads as a strategy for saving money. I still wear knee pads, but mostly as a mental/emotional safety blanket. This also allows me to feel total confidence in the new knee-sleeve style knee pads. YMMV

So back to team rumors... The Downtime Les Gets pre-race podcast had a bit of discussion about teams wanting to sign up and coming juniors, leaving riders towards/at the end of their career with few options. They didn't mention names, but I'm sure we can guess who might be in this bucket. Danny Hart jumps to mind first. Who else?

As someone who shot a bunch of those Vital slideshows during the peak EWS years, I recall that being the case too. For fans of the enduro format the long form coverage was great and the slideshows told a compelling story, especially over two day races. But for the average viewer or MTB race fan it never really got the same kind traction as DH content, even when the industry marketing and money was moving away from DH in favor of the EWS at that time. For those of us old enough to remember, the early years of EWS felt...

Thanks for the reminder to go back and watch this great vid on the SC Enduro Team in Chile and Colombia.

Apolgy for bad English Where were u wen EWS die I was at house watching wyn tv when vital post "EWS is kil" "no"

I agree with Jessie Melamed. This is an opportunity for some sort of international series to regrow without the pressure of having to answer to a giant corporation about viewership and advertising revenue. Seems like there is a new gen of racers really fired up about the format.

Yeah remember when they went literally all over the world, Feb to October to beauiful places with crowds that rarely got to see that level of racing? Maybe we can get a race series again that lets people build or come out from no where. I also wonder if some riders saw it coming and announced retirement while they were at the top this year....

Generally speaking, Irish people arn't particularly fond of monarchies... there were a lot of other ways they could have phrased that