Topic starter
Haven't seen a thread for the forthcoming season yet so here goes, there may be spoilers during the season but until the WC kicks off next month it's speculation time.
Nationally it was great to see Adam Brayton take a SDA round win and I reckon he's a dark horse for WC results this year.
Ditto Bernard Kerr, he won Hardline at the end off last year and finally got picked for the GB team at Worlds, I reckon that'll do his confidence wonders, the talent had always been there but I think this year the results will come.
Laurie Greenland has transitioned to the elites seamlessly, with Hart to learn from i'm hoping for big things from him.
Then we have the usual suspects.
Gee will have hopefully recovered from the injury that plagued him all last year, he's had rotator cuff surgery and is on the mend, I'd like to see him back on the podium.
Danny Hart was showing bonkers form at the end of last season, I love watching him ride, I'm hoping he can take the fight to Gwin all year again.
Mike Jones, Matt Simmonds and Sam Dale I'm gonna lump together in the 'what happened?' category, a few seasons ago they were podium material and constantly in the top ten, I'd like to see them back but I'm not convinced, shame.
Rauridh Cunningham showed some good form last year, sporadic though, I reckon with the factory Canyon team and Barel's stewardship he could be a constant podium threat this year though.
I've been harsh in the past about Greg Williamson, always felt he underachieved at Trek, now he's British champ and moved to Cube I reckon he could be another dark horse for podiums.
Brendan? Hmm, difficult one, great to watch, if every event was at some horrible tech fest bitch of a course I'd put money on him....but the WC circuit doesn't work like that, top tens maybe, hate to say it but maybe spread himself too thinly with the Rampage commitments, still I'm sure his bank balance is healthy enough!
And now the foreigners.
Minaar will be there or thereabouts, especially at Fort Bill.
Gwin is the man to beat, only question mark for me is he had knee surgery in the off season, will it affect his early season form?
Loris Vergier and Luca Shaw are two young guns looking to upset the established order, I reckon Luca will break through first, quality rider.
Loic Bruni should be back to his best this year, another rider like Hart who can ride with Gwin even when Gwin's in superman mode.
Brosnan? There's a world championship in there I'm sure, certainly WC wins this year.
Connor Fearon, Mick Hannah, Blenki and the other Antipodeans....sounds disrespectful to lump them together like that but since Sam Hill dropped off the radar who has really stood out?....top 20s for these guys most races I reckon.
The women.
Rachel Atherton obviously springs to mind but what will her motivation be like after the perfect season last year?...that would be my only concern.
Manon Carpenter should be good to watch on the new Radon team, by all accounts the bike is good.
I expect Tahnee Seagrave to upset the applecart this year, in terms of raw speed I think she's the only one capable of matching Rachel.
Tracy Hannah will be a constant podium presence, I just think she's too small to muscle the bike around like some of the other women can.
Myriam Nicole is back and injury free, I expect to see on the podium most rounds, in fact I reckon with Hannah, Carpenter, Seagrave and Nicole all fit and hungry this'll be the best women's season in ages.
Is Ragot fit yet? I know Mondraker kept her on the books in 2016 even though she officially retired in 2015, something about not being too hasty and allowing the injuries to fully heal, is she racing in 2017? She was always capable of giving Atherton a decent race.
Sadly I don't know much about the juniors, I'll let others chip in on that instead, anyway long rambling post but the season kicks off soon and I bloody love it!
Posted : 29/03/2017 11:13 am