You wait ages for a world cup DH round then two come along at once.

After an unsettled start to the season with the monsoon at Lourdes and the bog of doom at Fort Bill, we’re heading to the “bike park” track at Leogang in Austria.

Forecast for the coming week is for showers, but with sunshine on race day…

So we should see a return to normal service, and the times are usually tight here as the course is short and not pedally (you don’t even need a chain to win).

Possibly one of the tracks where 29ers won’t have such an advantage, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Greg & Loris do well again – though Gwin & Bruni will both have a point to prove.

Hopefully Rachel will be back in action after dislocating her shoulder in practice on Sunday.

Live stream: https://www.redbull.tv/live/AP-1PWUW9K5S1W11/uci-mountain-bike-world-cup

[video]https://youtu.be/wX8T2g1zGPY[/video]
Bike park yeah….
Lots of long fast sections, another motorway, some big rock gardens?
I’d say Greg is the man to beat after the first 2 rounds, he is looking back to that level where it’s just easy.

Not sure how if Rachel will be back to full pace for this one, will be hard work.

So predictions
Greg Minaar
Tracey Hannay – sometimes winning one gives you that confidence, even without the mud she had those big jumps nailed at Ft Bill which will be a big advantage here.

also does anyone have the points standings?? UCI useless as always don’t seem to have it online. With Round 1 written off for the men and Rachel potentially missing 2 rounds it could shake up the overall quite a lot. A lot of people need to be on the podium if they want to be single digit at the end of the year

No Mike, I looked around and came up blank.

Further to the OP, Tahnee will also be riding angry this weekend. My money’s on her if Rachel’s still crooked.

Found it on Red Bull’s site. I wasn’t sure about the UCI’s rankings

Standings

If Rach actually dislocated her shoulder on sunday, there’s no way she’ll be racing this weekend.

Tahnee is a good shout for the ladies, I reckon both Gwin and Hart will be equally as motivated.

last years – no way they have that many points after 2 rounds 🙂

Found it on Red Bull’s site. I wasn’t sure about the UCI’s rankings

Standings

I found those but it’s the final results from 2016.

see

2017 standings here…

http://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/RESULTS-Fort-William-World-Cup-Downhill-Race,1049

last years – no way they have that many points after 2 rounds

Hahah you are right sorry too many things at the same time

In case anyone missed it, Matt Walkers winning Junior run would have put him 10th in the seniors. Corking ride

Leogang was interesting in 2015 because there was a section around a big tree with at least three different lines and a great camera angle to see which one the riders were taking (Gwin took the riskiest one without his chain!)
They seemed to change the route last year though, missed it out and reduced the line choices

Danny on just 70pts after 2 rounds. His season over?

With 5 rounds left and 250pts for a win? I think not.

He can’t afford another miss though. About 10 guys need to be on the podium next weekend to keep their season going.

250pts for a win?

200 for the win, 50 for qualifying first

It’s all to play for with five rounds remaining.

Danny can certainly still do it, but bad luck for Gwin might have to play a part.

Leogang & Lenzerheide are both on the easier side for WC tracks, Vallnord & Val di Sole are rocky steep tech fests. MSA is a monster with a bit of everything.

I’d put my money on Greg for the overall if forced to bet, but obviously it could go five or six ways at the moment.

If Rach actually dislocated her shoulder on sunday, there’s no way she’ll be racing this weekend.

If she got it back in quick, then I wouldn’t rule it out. I’ve 2 riding friends who have done theirs a number of times and the quicker they get it back in the shorter the recovery time. 8 days before a WC race? Debateable for sure but definitely possible.

Certainly wouldn’t bet against her taking it easy in quali and just scraping the win.

Though she has a chequered history with Leogang, so maybe she’ll just prefer to skip it and make the season more of a challenge.

If she got it back in quick, then I wouldn’t rule it out

Somebody helped her put it back in at the side of the track, can’t really get much quicker than that 😆

Hopefully she’ll be back racing this weekend. My money is on Minaar after what he said about feeling like he’s finally got a bike that fits him. I don’t think it’s a case of 29ers not suiting certain tracks, I think if the rider is more comfortable on 29 inch wheels they’ll work on any track!

Minaar or Gwin in the mens and hopefully Manon for the girls.

Nice preview on PB…
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/your-essential-guide-to-the-leogang-dh-world-cup-2017.html

That vid of Wyn Masters shredding the track looks awesome.

I’d like to see Danny get a fair crack at the track, and Manon or Tahnee take a win too.

If she got it back in quick, then I wouldn’t rule it out

I wouldn’t rule her out either, but recovery time is determined by the amount of damage done, not how quickly it is reset. There’s a few different types of dislocation too.

I’ve done mine a fair few times!.

https://www.facebook.com/claudio.caluori/photos/a.778691585631749.1073741830.293390774161835/792678760899698/?type=3&theater
Looks like a 29r Gambler

Nice.

Didn’t expect Brendan to be among the vanguard on 29in, but I guess he’ll want the advantage if it’s on offer.

I should have been there but Mrs ColP is ill.
My friends have just posted a picture of themselves with Claudio, should be a cracking weekend.
The track crew have been busy this year so maybe a few changes.

Gutted I’ll miss it this weekend.*

* 3 days biking in the Cairngorms should soften the blow, a wee bit….

Was it the same shoulder she did before? That can make a difference too (I did a lot of damage the first time I did mine, but the way it recovered, whenever it came out after that it didn’t cause a fraction of the trouble.- basically it was all a bit looser)

She’s got to be pretty pissed off about it though, I know I’ll do a big cool whip, boom. Did we ever get to the bottom of why she pulled out of the BDS there?

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/mtb/article/20170608-mountain-bike-Race-guide–2017-UCI-Mountain-Bike-World-Cup—Leogang-0

Claudio’s course preview…
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/claudios-course-preview-leogang-dh-world-cup.html

It does look very bike parky, you’ve got to admit.

Only really the mid section with the big jumps where the DH track and FR track merge for a bit. Some of the rest is pretty rocky and rooty.

Ref RA’s shoulder have a look at this from 11 min 35 secs in. It was back in the socket in about 35 seconds.

I know the camera can smooth things out, but it looks very groomed to me.

Only a little bit of woods and steepness.

Still gets Claudio’s heart rate right up though- interesting stat to see, surely it can’t be so high.

I know the camera can smooth things out, but it looks very groomed to me.

Only a little bit of woods and steepness.

Yeah, definitely a lot of camera smoothing going on. A lot of the first section although not steep is off camber, rough lines. Just before the motorway section with the big jumps there are some steeper rocky and rooty bits that are tricky in the wet, then after the Gopro drop where it goes into the woods it’s pretty rooty with awkward small drops. The last jump is big, maybe 60ft or so.

Here’s my lad doing it last year

[video]https://youtu.be/zELsLrMvLco[/video]

Bit of negativity from some of the riders…

Riders react to the Leogang track

Rumours of a practice ‘protest’ with people riding hardtails.

I certainly doesn’t look challenging, at all.

A case of too much media/sponsor influence on the direction of the type of tracks & direction the sport has headed?

She’s got to be pretty pissed off about it though, I know I’ll do a big cool whip, boom.

That’s not how Rachel’s accident happened at all

Bring back schladming!

Bring back schladming!

Here! Here!