Changing the race format?

Seeing how often mechanicals and crashes take out riders in World Cup races, what would you guys say about a format that allows the top 8 protected riders and the top 8 fastest riders that day to have a rerun to try and throw down a better run? Here's some pros and cons I've come up with:

Pros
- we get to see the most exciting racers on the track more (let's be honest the last 10 riders is the best part)
- it's less likely that weather or mechanicals determine the winner
- other sports, or even events within mtb, have a multiple run format


Cons
- the stories of tragedy are just as dramatic as triumph
- more racers means a longer event or cutting the field by x number of riders
- It's the way it's always been done so why change
- it would push riders to risk more on their rerun
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Pedal4life
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7/10/2017 10:54am
Please no, this is racing & we really don't need more rules Aaron is just gonna have to get to work with his tire suppliers and get some tougher tires or he's gonna have to quit trying to crush rocks with them.
mfoga
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7/10/2017 5:31pm
Only change I would like to see is top qualifier picks his start time vs being forced to go last.
taldfind
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7/10/2017 8:17pm
In a way, we already have a two run format, qualifying and finals. I also don't think there should be any rule changes to help reduce the chance of a mechanical failure ruining a race run. All forms of sport that require equipment (as far as I am aware) experience mechanical failures that impact the competition. It is a part of the nature of the beast. And as race teams work to make their products less mechanical prone, the products they sell to us will also become less mechanical prone.

As for potential for weather to determine the outcome of a race, I think the only workable solution would be to cut the number of riders who qualify for finals down. If there had only been 60 riders to qualify for Lourdes instead of 80, then every rider would have finished their race run before the weather really stated to impact visibility and the course. However, if the UCI were to cut down the number of available slots to qualify for finals, there would need to be a boost in UCI sanctioned regional race series that are nearly as challenging as the World Cup. Think of it as a number of "B class" Downhill series across the world to help prepare riders for the World Cup. The European Cup comes to mind as a good regional series to prepare for WC racing. I can't remember if there is a regional series combining Australia and New Zealand. I'm pretty sure that there is no such series for North or South American countries. Heck, maybe the UCI and Crankworks can make nice and turn the Crankworks DH series into a "B Class" series.

As it currently stands, it is hard to watch a sweet race run ruined by a mechanical, or to miss out on what could have been a sweet run due to weather. But the top guys all seem to have a healthy attitude toward it. And even if the UCI were to implement my suggested changes, there would still be no guarantee of a race where the riders all race the same conditions. And if the UCI were to always avoid potentially bad weather, we would never get a chance to see another amazing run like Danny Hart's 2011 World Champs run, and I want to see that kind of amazing riding again someday.
MPH24
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7/11/2017 7:39am
I think the only change that should be made is the timing of the races with 24 hour notice on account of weather. For better or worse, the main event is the Men's DH. The organizers should have the ability to change the order of what category races when on race day. So for Lourdes when they knew rain could come in the afternoon, they could have had have gone with Men, Women, and then Juniors (instead of the reverse, which is normal). Yeah it throws a wrench in the live stream, but I'd rather watch a tape delay where the top 10 isn't affected by weather the rest of field encounters than live and have the race be a so-so event because the top 10 essentially raced a different course.
Kusa
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7/11/2017 11:04am
MPH24 wrote:
I think the only change that should be made is the timing of the races with 24 hour notice on account of weather. For better or...
I think the only change that should be made is the timing of the races with 24 hour notice on account of weather. For better or worse, the main event is the Men's DH. The organizers should have the ability to change the order of what category races when on race day. So for Lourdes when they knew rain could come in the afternoon, they could have had have gone with Men, Women, and then Juniors (instead of the reverse, which is normal). Yeah it throws a wrench in the live stream, but I'd rather watch a tape delay where the top 10 isn't affected by weather the rest of field encounters than live and have the race be a so-so event because the top 10 essentially raced a different course.
So basically everyone will leave after seeing men field. Not good for organizers or sponsors or even the teams and sport. There is a reason why its from juniors thought women field to men field. The best of best also proved many times that even the worst conditions are beatable because of their skills.
matmattmatthew
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Fresh Prince of Bel Air, MD US
7/11/2017 12:56pm
Nothing needs to change. Mechanicals and weather are just part of the sport.
smelly
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7/11/2017 6:44pm
Nothing needs to change. Mechanicals and weather are just part of the sport.
This. You know why Minnaar won last weekend? Because he didn't get off line and shred his tire. Crashes, mechanicals, weather - that's racing. Go watch slopestyle if you don't like it.

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