Sorry if this has been done already. Any news / results from dalby today?
Any reports from stw towers?

jaroslav the czech won the mens elite, (can’t remember his last name but he won it by 56 seconds.)

French U23 lady/girl won the womens elite (Anny Last came 13th)

It wasn’t as interesting as PMB downhill, that was insanely good. I like xc, I just find the TDF more exciting than this World Cup xc and I’m not a roadie at all. It needs to be a bit more… something. More Enduro, more hardship. Might as well have been cyclocross.

Try riding the course on a cross bike and let us know how you get on

the biggest thing that lets xc down, and this has always been the case, is coverage. With TDF etc, you’ve got constant coverage by air or motorbike whereas xc we haven’t got that yet.
Maybe we need cable mounted cameras that track the riders. Think dalby had 8 cameras in total. It showed today when the chinese girl was leading then the next camera view she was coasting with a mechanical ( or crash by sounds of it), so we never got to see the incident.

Think the idea of short faster courses is defo the way forward, we just need bigger budgets and better coverage

Have googled umpteen times and not found any results or coverage … Anyone got a link?

I’m not saying the course is easy to ride, it’s just like watching paint dry, watching the riders go round. There’s no jeopardy. I’d much rather be riding it myself, enjoying the greater Dalby forest area.
Watching downhill is just very thrilling, speed, jumps, berms, crashes etc. Rob Warner screaming, Nigel Page being a bit racist, that sort of thing!

I was very meh about xc racing and WC xc. Went to dalby this weekend, rode the course, watched the race, now want to dig out the Lycra and race xc again. A proper mountain bike xc course.

Yes, but watching on TV = meh. Riding = woohoo!

grtdkad – Member

Have googled umpteen times and not found any results or coverage … Anyone got a link?

http://uk.freecaster.tv/mountainbike

Yes, but watching on TV = meh. Riding = woohoo!

Would agree with that. Though being at dalby and watching it in person is pretty cool. Though it doesn’t work on the telly for me either.

The camera gaps in course coverage is just as bad in DH, plenty of incidents that never get seen during coverage. I’m sure it would be a bit more interesting to us Brits if we had a few competitors in with a chance and a bit of winning history. would we be as interested in DH without Peaty, Athertons etc?

@ B.A.Nana – that is a very interesting point. How did the Olly B do? I thought he was always in with a chance? I do wish we had some superhumans like Peaty in XC too.

Becks was 23rd after a puncture and a broken front mech for the last 2 laps which meant he only had a 28t chainring to use, so a pretty solid performance. LK was 30th ish, again good ride but not quite the top 10 he was gunning for.

Annie Last got 14th in the Womens elite which is a great result for someone who’s still only 20. Fletcher was 6th in the U23 race and Grant Furgasson was 5th (ish) in the Juniors.

I agree though, it doesn’t look great on the TV, despite pretty good coverage.

Results are on the UCI website

http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MTUyMTM&LangId=1

Report on XCRacer too.

http://www.xcracer.com/Dalby-World-Cup-2011-Day-3-Mini-Report.html

was there yesterday. Good ride from Last and Beckinsdale.

Seemed well organisd but the crowd were like zombies ……not sure they even recognised the home riders.

Watching absalon, sauser , nys coming through a crowded section to total silence was strange.

Indeed, much of the cheering seemed to be done by foreign spectators, of which there seemed to be quite a few.

Seemed well organisd but the crowd were like zombies ……not sure they even recognised the home riders.

Watching absalon, sauser , nys coming through a crowded section to total silence was strange.

It’s the English way, although I did chuckle when some chap shouted at a rider (couldn’t make out the name) as he started the climb after Worry Gill, ‘Go on (riders name) smash it..’.

I watched about 5 minutes on Freecaster then got bored…it just doesn’t work unless you’re there, i guess.

I went to the Champery WC round last year and that was superb, the crowd were great and the XC was great to watch even though we only went to watch the DH.

re: the crowd… most were riders/family from the Dalby dare or curious locals. It was £14 to get in allegedly (I was there as a volunteer) the big thing that was missing? Rider info. I recognised a lot of the names that the commentator was shouting out, but i never saw a list as to which rider was which number, or even team. I’d have liked to see Sven Nys ride, but had no idea which rider he was, all riders look the same when they are gurning up a hill with a helmet and clear glasses.

btw, Kulhavy’s was the first win for a 29er at a UCI World Champ XC round. 😀

Looked at the Specialized paddock and all top riders on different bikes. FS 29’s, HT 29’s, HT 26’s 1×10, 2×10.

http://iamspecialized.com/xc-mtb/news-article/a-truly-epic-victory

29’ers are gipping, the smallwomens ones look worse, Kulhavy’s looked better but he is quite big.

Paddock was bling tastic……and Emily Batty is quite friendly too.