2017 Team Rumours! Could this cryptic poem hold the answers?

A mystery poem has been doing the rounds which appears to have successfully predicted Manon Carpenter’s recent news, what other secrets does it hold?

We’re all looking forward to 2017 and another year of World Cup racing, but according to rumours there is going to be quite a lot of chopping, changing and switching of teams.

We’ve already heard that Manon Carpenter will leave Team Saracen after 6 years, it’s surprising news in itself but even more so when it was correctly predicted over a week ago! The following poem was anonymously sent to Descent World and mentions that Manon will leave join a new team!

Before we start dissecting the poem further let’s look at it in full below;

“Once upon time, a boat was sent,
To the south it sailed,
Many sights it saw,
A Trojan horse crossing chasms both far and wide,
In it was stowed a Scotsman,
With shore on the horizon a new vision appeared,
Built with wood working tools from Merthyr,
and able to withstand chemical 86,
A sight of beauty,
a melting of cultures were seen,
Haggis, Croissants, Sushi and Kumara,
The seas flattened,
Dogs took their last supper on alpine heights,
The air was still, but the storm passed by,
Broken suddenly,
A blue oval, roaring like the hounds of hell,
A bull upon its crown and a new fire burning,
After sound came sight,
and smell
A rich mix, departing into the distance and out of our beams,
There we sat, longing , dreaming
50 stars we saw floating over,
a vision of valleys in a princes kingdom,
with that we slept,
knowing,
waiting,
that one day soon,
a winning yeti we could come forth,
and join
the purest church of all.”

Let’s take a look at what the Singletrack Massive believe this cryptic message could mean. Remember the following theories are based on the poem above there are no facts here (unless we’re correct then we totally told you so) we would love to hear what you think it all means in the comments below.

 

Josh Bryceland leaving the WC?

There has been a lot of talk about Josh “Ratboy” Bryceland leaving the World Cup next year. Those rumours started during the last race of the year when Claudio mentioned that the Rat had concerns about his carbon footprint on the world while jet setting from race to race.

The poem above starts off with a boat, Bryceland famously lives on a narrow boat, sailing south. Is this confirmation that we won’t be seeing our lovely Rat at World Cups next year? If so what will he do instead? Perhaps a brand ambassador for Santa Cruz?

 

Troy Brosnan and Greg Williamson on Canyon?

That ‘Trojan horse” sounds like Troy Brosnan to us and the chasm could be the rumoured Canyon Factory Team which will be hoping to follow YT’s success. The Scotsman in the story could be Greg Williamson! What’s not mentioned in the poem are the rumours that Fabien Barel is alleged to be team manager!

Is this theory correct?

 

Manon Carpenter to Radon?

Ok so we know that Manon Carpenter (Built with wood working tools) has left Team Saracen, but what’s next for her? Well, there are rumours that she could be heading to university, but the poem points to “Chemical 86” or as it’s also known Radon! Are we barking up the right tree? Could Carpenter be riding for the German brand in 2017?

 

Haggis, Croissants, Sushi and Kumara

This one has us a little stumped. At first, we thought perhaps this could be a tip to where the races will take place, but the venues have already been published and there are no mentions of a Japanese race. We would love your input here.

 

Brendan Fairclough’s last racing season?

There’s only one ‘Dog’ we know of in the World Cup and that’s Brendog! But what is this poem trying to tell us? Could the man with all the whips be calling it a day on racing at the end of 2017?

 

Subaru, Ford, Redbull?

When we hear “Blue Oval” we immediately think of Ford, but they haven’t been a part of the Downhill Worldcup in the past and the sport doesn’t really fit with their brand image. Another blue oval is Subaru though who did sponsor Mondraker back in 2008, are they heading back to DH?

 

Danny Hart on Specialized?

At this point our brains have fizzled out and we are literally ripping hair out! “50 stars” is obviously pointing at the U.S but the “longing” is a little trickier to work out. Arron Gwin is likely “longing” for a World Championship but there is no way to predict that. Is Specialized the “50 stars”? Could the prince be Danny Hart? He was the one to watch at the end of last season and would certainly help Specialized and their World Cup hopes.

 

Yeti and Ritchie Rude back to DH?

Last but least is perhaps the easiest of the lot. Yeti coming back to DH with Ritchie Rude. Possible?

Ok now it’s over to you guys! We’ve spent hours going over this damn poem and we need to get Fresh Goods Live arranged. Head to the comments below with your theories for the 2017 World Cup!

---