Downhill World Cup: How is it for you?

Caught up with a few Youtubes and podcasts whilst travelling this week. The recurring theme is that the whole organisation seems very amateur.

Jack Reading’s Andorra video highlights how difficult the logistics for the B pit were. To get to his race run he was on a bus filled with traveling fans with his race bike, spare wheels and tools. Surely a World Cup rider can expect better, even if they are in a non elite team.

Moving the Needle podcast Loudenville review is great if you can get past Sven and Needles talking over each other. Sven points out that the lack of B zone and safety access were highlighted even before track walk, so inexcusable that became the reason Juniors was cancelled. Jack Reading’s Loudenville vlog also touches on this.

Bernard Kerr Les Gets showing approx 50 riders were allowed to get the two lifts to the top of the track but practice was closed when they got there. It is taking them an hour to get from pits to top of the track so practice has been limited.

The positives are the two French tracks have been well received apart from usual Les Gets terrible jumps.

No love for the women’s XCC, just finished? Brill result for Evie

I’ve watched every finals with GCN+ and most of the XCO.

No interest in the semis, and I think they’ve caused issues for some omnipresent riders not making the final cut (Ad Brayton, for one). Again, some have speculated that the higher injury rate this year is down to the increased pressure of 2 race runs. Get rid, I reckon, it’s not adding anything, is anyone even watching?

The drone shots have been very impressive this year, though I think it’d freak me out trying to ride with one buzzing around my lug holes.

Coverage has been fine. There was always going to be big shoes to fill with commentary and it has got better over the season. Gwin was good this week, and other guests make a welcome addition. The GNC+ app for Firestick is absolutely abysmal though, with weird zooming and freezing, and terrible menu nav….though that’s not really the racing. Probably will find an alternate way to watch next year, just based on how shit the app is.

They did though. When Bruni won in Worlds in Les Gets he got £3000. The bloke in 10th got £300.

That’s just prize money. Being a professional sports person is about what you can offer sponsors rather than prize money. If the riders are viewable by more people they are able to attract more and better sponsor. Guess who I have seen more footage of from the last race? Kade, he didn’t even make the finals but seen load of footage of his tuck and t bogs.

That’s just prize money. Being a professional sports person is about what you can offer sponsors rather than prize money. If the riders are viewable by more people they are able to attract more and better sponsor. Guess who I have seen more footage of from the last race? Kade, he didn’t even make the finals but seen load of footage of his tuck and t bogs.

I can’t even recognise a sport in what you wrote.
I don’t even know where to start … is the WC now only for professional sponsored riders?
How are they even meant to get there… in terms of paying for races to win points or physically travelling there without a sponsor?

If it is no longer a sport but a business (like football, american football etc.) then surely the participants should be allowed their own sponsors not have the UCI tell them who they can and can’t have or make them sign away their sponsorship income in a bigger UCI deal (e.g. GoPro) and drop the pretence this is about being the best or fastest rider.

Still too early to give a definitive view – but my impression is far too many changes across all 3 disciplines at once. Were they all needed? Not for me…..

EWS, being rebranded, and changing the format is a huge mistake…..The Pro-Stage the night before was a great idea, followed by a full day of racing.

Downhill doesn’t need semi-finals, especially on the same day as the ‘finals’. Which is something else I’d change. I’d go down the motorsport route; Qualifying, and Race; lose the term ‘finals’ – and the fastest qualifier gets to choose their starting position.

XC hasn’t had too many changes, just the addition of U23 XCC, which is good, but needs to be live. However, I’m not sure XC Marathon has really benefitted from the change, as some riders did XCO & XCM – and the coverage is still average at best.

Something somebody else raised; it’s possibly time for the disciplines to race separately, which might not be popular, but might need looking at. You don’t see XC ski-ing and Alpine ski-ing at the same venues, as they’re different sports – time for MTB to do similar?

As for the coverage, we’re getting more than ever from Eurosport – something RBTV couldn’t/wouldn’t do, but shouldn’t take away from the fact they did a good job after Freecaster/Rocky Roads. The sport wasn’t going to get bigger staying with RBTV….8-9 events over a 12 month period isn’t going to bring more sponsors/money in. ESO/Discovery have plans to increase the number of rounds, which is needed.

Something that still hasn’t changed is the lack of coverage from the non-MTB cycling media; it’s still treated abysmally, just look at Cycling News as an example.

You don’t see XC ski-ing and Alpine ski-ing at the same venues, as they’re different sports – time for MTB to do similar?

This is one aspect that benefits smaller teams. It allows.for.a.much smaller support crew to service riders.in 2 or 3 disciplines. It also makes organisation & coverage cheaper because you can use the same safety team, marshalls, camera crews across the disciplines.

I also like it because I can watch MoiMoi & Ed Bull screaming at b practice to go ham.

Kamakazie

Protected rider status is there solely for the benefit of the big teams who (I expect) fund the majority of the sport.

Fund what though? It’s obviously not the prize money…

Pinkbike

One of the big rumours going into the off-season about the changes coming to World Cups next year was the potential increase of team fees to $20,000. With the latest round of the information from the UCI this has turned out to be pretty accurate. Following the announcement of Enduro reaching World Cup status and the rule changes for downhill next year, it looks like the rumour of team fees rising are true.

While the headline-grabbing figure of €23,000 will only be for Elite MTB Teams competing in all three formats, the annual registration fees have risen for every type of team. An Elite Team riding in one format will see an increase from €3,500 in 2022 to €11,000 next year, while a two-format team increases from €6,000 to €18,000.

The price rises for next year have not just affected the Elite Teams as the MTB Team fees have also risen with double the cost compared to 2022.

The prize money for race results has not changed. XC and DH Elite wins remain at €3,750. Enduro has now been added to the prize money chart, with an Elite win netting €1,000. There is a parity for the overall wins between XC, XCC, DH and Enduro.

Then you have event sponsors .. payment from a resort for using it in summer etc. etc. and payment from the media/events company and you just need some marshals and trail builders to work for free or next to free.

A lot of people paying in…. and practically sod all coming out…

App gives me two options, one to watch live and the other to watch from start. Maybe you just pressed the wrong button?

clubby
App gives me two options, one to watch live and the other to watch from start. Maybe you just pressed the wrong button?

Issues with that for me though today.

Went to the app on my tablet. Clicked Watch From Start as I was a bit late to the party, scrubbed through to the bit I wanted and then tried to cast to TV. Did this fine but always switched to live rather than where I tried to watch from. Ended up watching on my laptop instead before the result was spoiled…

Also, installed the GCN+ app on my TV but it just doesn’t work. Launches fine but then the d-pad controls to select what you want to watch or navigate menus simply don’t work.

On the other hand, I do think the Discovery coverage is (slowly) improving. Better commentary team and it would be fairly sweet. Warner and Gwin as the dream team? Much as I love Cedric’s enthusiasm he’s not very analytical.

Today’s racing was also great I thought, and the crowd reaction at the winning run was something to behold!

Seems I picked the right subscription, Discovery Plus has been fine for me with a Firestick plugged into my TV 👍

I used to watch every race on RedBullTV. It had the best vibe and I was genuinely glued to it.

I now dont watch any races and ride my bike instead. This is a really good thing to have come out of the DH mess for me. I used to actively avoid arranging rides on a WC DH day. Now I actively arrange a ride on a WC DH day.

I don’t pay for any TV package so I can only watch on dodgystream.com which never works, the results are spoilered by UCI on purpose within seconds of a result, the highlights are shit, the commentary is terrible, semis are pointless and the schedule is a joke.

WynTV, Fox Dialed, VitalRaw and BK LSD are the only things keeping DH alive.

As Jordi says – (should have) changed one thing at a time and see if it works…

the commentary is terrible, semis are pointless and the schedule is a joke.

But you don’t watch it, so how would you know? You know, if you’d paid for it and subscribed then your complaints would be valid, but as it is, GTFO.

But, besides punishing individuals on the sly and indulging in all the usual divide and conquer, the UCI, Chris Ball and his mob, Discovery etc will not take a jot of notice. They don’t have to. MTB is a sideline for them, DH even more so. The brands with sway (Spesh, Trek) can easily be manipulated via the road cycling side to silence their DH rider

It’ll be interesting to see next season if anything in terms of format changes… whether the Semi rule is change, whether the format changes at all… they don’t have to, i agree… but it’d be slightly foolish not to listen/read, especially the Pro riders opinions. Maybe going back to the Union/Reps is the way forward, i’m not really sure how that faded away after it looked like it was growing some legs.

I’ve paid for Discovery to watch it but often can’t watch it live. I could only find highlights yesterday, very annoying. I’ve emailed them to as why, maybe it was just me that was being daft but I tried the search funtion.

Maybe going back to the Union/Reps is the way forward, i’m not really sure how that faded away after it looked like it was growing some legs.

To my jaded eye:

Bruni and Iles seemed to be doing a fair bit to front the riders as a collective. They both ride for Specialized. Spesh are heavily involved on the road side. The UCI had a word.

Semis can’t be dumped if Discovery want to honour the concept of a (sort of) competitive run being free to air. So, I reckon they’ll say OK, but everything goes behind the paywall.

But you don’t watch it, so how would you know? You know, if you’d paid for it and subscribed then your complaints would be valid, but as it is, GTFO.

You ok mate? Did you read the title of the thread?

If anyone would really like Tracey back in the commentary booth, may I suggest watching the previous two women’s races with Pompon on the mic.

I watched the “semis” and the highlight reel on Saturday afternoon I have to say that it’s getting better.  The coverage at least. If they can sort out the semis and the money for the riders side of things I’d consider subs next year. It helps that the riding is awesome.

Separation would be great imho – i have next to no interest in the XC side so am constantly frustrated that DH takes 2nd place to it in the schedule.  I know XCO is an Olympic event but it’s not the “blue riband” by any stretch. DH should race on the Sunday.

Separation would be great imho – i have next to no interest in the XC side so am constantly frustrated that DH takes 2nd place to it in the schedule. I know XCO is an Olympic event but it’s not the “blue riband” by any stretch. DH should race on the Sunday.

I mentioned this in a separate thread – I see no value to anyone other than organisers in these World Cup festivals they’re pushing. The message has been that they think this is a way to grow the sport but I think that is an incorrect assumption.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of spectators (in person and online) watch both XC and DH. None of my mates that follow DH have any interest in XC, and it seemed to be that way for the majority at World Cups I’ve been to in person. Standalone WC DHs are definitely not lesser events because of lack of XC.

I would occasionally watch the XC if I was home when it was on, but the roadies coming in and winning with minimal prep has really devalued the world cups for me. Maybe the growth there is aligning XC with road to maximise the crossover of both riders and fans, then allow gravity events to be their own thing, potentially alongside something like slopestyle ala Crankworx.

This is one aspect that benefits smaller teams. It allows.for.a.much smaller support crew to service riders.in 2 or 3 disciplines.

Are there any examples of this? Some DH/enduro crossover but the events have been arranged in a way that prevents riders doing both. I don’t know of any combined DH and XC teams?