2023 Racing Talk

After the test race, the UCI/Discovery should make available the footage that they got of the racing. That would allow for the fans to get an example of what to expect, and would also provide feedback on what needs to be changed for Lenzerheide in June.

That'd be nice but I'm not holding my breath, as far as I can tell they did eff-all to publicize the event in any way whatsoever...

There are some videos from the test event on Full Attack YT channel. 

What are we, 3 weeks out from Jackson’s appendectomy? This kid…

Fellow 1st year Elite Jordan Williams was on a heater 1.7 seconds  up at the 3rd split but must have crashed as his 1.48 min back at the 4th split.

Jordan also won qualifications by over 5 seconds.

I think it's highly likely that both Williams and Goldstone will break the newbie mould and take wins in elite this season, neither are phased by the step up into elites from what I've seen.

full attack's raw vid

https://giphy.com/clips/torresgraphics-betteroffdead-franch-fries-dress…

i translated for anyone who doesn’t parley

Pretty wild to think that we have TWO first year pros capable of this!

And the women's elite podium was awfully young, too...

Well, I just realized that only 4 elite women finished, so maybe those podium spots are a little less important.

Any word on what up with Reece Wilson? seems like he missed the team camp and the test event

So they've improved the poles and lessened the risk of going over the bars, but you can now get a pedal caught in that overly strong mesh tape and go over the bars instead, or maybe garrote yourself if you leave the track at the wrong spot. 

Listened to Dean Lucas’ podcast about the “race” and he had some pretty positive things to say about the course marking.

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw6Xktr_nRs

Dean seemed pretty stoked on the changes, the point about the bunting is an interesting one for the broadcast.

Main negative from the fullattack videos (which was great coverage if you spoke french): the pads could be a big problem, someone crashed into one and it went flying, a volunteer had to enter the race track and put it back in place but it wasnt exactly how it was before. Lourdes had ~15 pads, Lenzerheide expected to have 60 pads.

My comment was based on Bruni's observations in the video above. He didn't seem too keen on the new tape. Time will tell if they keep it or look at other options. It'll be interesting to hear what the general consensus from the riders is concerning the changes.

The new 'tape' appears to be the same stuff used in Alpine ski racing. But in skiing, it's larger (10ft tall or whatever) and used to 'catch' the skier who is flying off course. Often two layers, one to 'slow them' and then one to 'arrest them'. This application in MTB seems more like trip wire style. If someone goes off course, it will not snap/tear like normal (old) course tape. It will likely cause them to go OTB in a case where they're maybe just riding off course and could ride it out. We'll see, I would think the ESO would have done some testing before hand. I think it looks cooler and more officially, but it could cause major problems if it acts as a very hard to break strap catching riders wheels/pedals/frames.  

Call me a hippy, but that new course tape seems reusable instead using two rows of single use plastic all the way down the track.

charlie harrison inside line is up. nothing much about current season, but great insight from a great racer.

https://www.vitalmtb.com/community/sspomer/blog/04/26/2023/entry/99621

Haha, yea, I get that. I was not asking why they used it. My comment was about the tape and how it works or could work when ridden over/through.

Just being a nerd and subscribing

Going down the rabbit hole ofwild speculations: re-using (big IF) may still not offset the impact of producing it (I guess regular tape does not require much energy to make?). BTW, I like the idea of just having poles to mark the track , as it will be way easier to get off track during practice. However, the pads are there just for looks and might indeed prove dangerous if used as a track markers due to them being at pedal-strike height (they are also soft-ish, so they can grab the pedal). 

It was interesting listening to Dean's take on things, he was very positive and inferred other riders were also feeling the same. The elephant in the room that he failed to address is the fact that fans will have to pay to watch and what that might do to viewer figures and the popularity of the sport. Watching the interview with Ruaridh Cunningham and Neil Donovan I got the impression there was a fair amount of resistance to some of the changes coming from riders, although I think that was at the start of the weekend. I wonder if things changed as the event progressed.

I'm intrigued to see how things pan out over the course of the season.

The other thing I'd love to know is how the finances worked for this race/not a race. Are Lourdes the only hosts ever to get payed by the UCI for hosting an event?