After the massive off season I really enjoyed the racing last week, both the female and male races were really good. The new format is actually pretty similar in reality (to me) because when red bull showed the first 30 riders in the full field, I used to only pay a little attention unless it was a big name, and then concentrate on the last 30 or so anyway. Thought the coverage was good and commentators were excellent. Not the excitement of Warner, but still decent.
Will be interesting to see how the Jordan Williams fares again, my money is on Vergier in the mens and Atherton again in the womans.
Any predictions or thoughts for the weekend? Qualifiers today and semi and final tomorrow...
He's clearly 'just' cruising and riding for fun, holy shit, these kids are talented.
Apparently the Leogang EWS (sorry, EDR) has been and gone already.
Races on a Thursday shouldn't be allowed.
Loads of thoughts... I'm as excited about todays racing as Saturdays as we follow the juniors more due to them being closer to my lads age and more people we see around the race paddock. Youngsters like Rudi Eichhorn who's a mate of a mate, Oscar Griffiths and a few others.
In the big boys and girls I'm going Camile for the ladies or Holl. Neither are a massive shock of course, but obviously Atherton could be a massive threat.
Boys.. I'm struggling here as they're all ridiculously closely matched... Some haven't quite lived up to my expectations like Daprela, but some like Williams are exceeding expectations. I'll take Loic though for this weeknd.
Apparently the Leogang EWS (sorry, EDR) has been and gone already.
Yes it has... Pinkbike has plenty of stuff on it. Rhys Verner (sorry) took the overall.
Elite Women
1st. Isabeau Courdurier: 28:35.010
2nd. Gloria Scarsi: 28:49.360
3rd. Morgane Charre: 28:53.570
4th. Raphaela Richter: 29:07.170
5th. Hattie Harnden: 29:09.210
Elite Men
1st. Rhys Verner: 25:08.74
2nd. Richie Rude: 25:11.51
3rd. Alex Rudeau: 25:17.46
4th. Charlie Murray: 25:31.15
5th. Dan Booker: 25:37.61
U21 Women
1st. Emmy Lan: 30:40.530
2nd. Lily Planquart: 30:58.180
3rd. Lily Boucher: 31:24.990
4th. Simona Kuchynkova: 31:45.860
5th. Elly Hoskin: 32:22.830
U21 Men
1st. Lisandru Bertini: 25:54.070
2nd. Sascha Kim: 26:08.010
3rd. Johnathan Helly: 26:09.640
4th. Raphaël Giambi: 26:14.560
5th. Wei Tien Ho: 26:15.280
Vernon smashed it by all accounts on the Enduro
The men's is interesting because on their day there's about 15 who have the pace. I love it.
Coulanges, Daprella, Bruni, the two juniors who stepped up, Kerr, Pierron, Vergier, Greenland, Kolb, Wilson (hopefully back soon), Minaar, many others... it is such a talented field.
Yep, looked at Pink Bike this morning, and saw the results for Enduro, and felt sorry for them having to race on Thursday, that sucks
and felt sorry for them having to race on Thursday, that sucks
Well as it's not televised i'm not sure it much matters what day it's on ? Only if they were doing live viewing would it matter really i think. But obviously there's some logistically reasons of why you would struggle with 6 stages and transitions etc... But sadly i don't think Enduro is really a TV sport.
Apparently the Leogang EWS (sorry, EDR) has been and gone already.
Races on a Thursday shouldn’t be allowed.
doesnt matter, you cant watch it live anyway. this way we might get the highlights show in time for it to be a nice appetizer for the DH and XC. Interested to see where/how they did the race course, Austria being notoriously anti-mtb with the exception of official bikepark/trailcentre.
Interested to see where/how they did the race course, Austria being notoriously anti-mtb with the exception of official bikepark/trailcentre
85% of tracks were full bike-park for exactly the reasons you state. Even the other 15% was mostly the same bike-park but 'allowed' lines offset from the bikepark but back onto it.
Interested to see where/how they did the race course, Austria being notoriously anti-mtb with the exception of official bikepark/trailcentre.
I don't think they should be having international mountain bike races in countries where mountain bikes aren't welcome but hey ho.
Well as it’s not televised i’m not sure it much matters what day it’s on ?
I don't know. It depends on what proportion of the field are full time pros and what proportion are part-time/amateurs. It would make the difference between a few days off work and a full week.
I get the impression Enduro is the red headed step child of this new WB/Discovery deal.
It depends on what proportion of the field are full time pros and what proportion are part-time/amateurs.
Fair point yes... But arguably the people going there seem to go for like a full week or more from what i see on Insta. Even if the racing was Sat i don't think people would generally get over Fri evening after work... Enduro seems to be more of a lifestyle sport than some where basically you're taking a week+ for an event irrespective of what day it's run on.
The few I know in the enduro traveling circus are all what you'd call semi-pro with various levels of sponsorship. They're all self employed and will take the whole week for each round. Given the budget and time spent traveling over the summer months, you can be quite sure that they work pretty hard off-season.
Well as it’s not televised i’m not sure it much matters what day it’s on ?
Yeah, good point, but I still feel sorry for them, It can't be great to know that you're at he bottom of the heap, being made to to race on a Thursday is pretty on the nose. Regardless of the fact that you've still got to train like a monster, and the risk is super high. Even Jordi from Fox on their YT channel was pretty sheepish about the Fox setup for the EDR (A wee van) compared to the DH/XCO set up just a km down the lane.
Given that EDR is closer to what most folks ride, and hardly anyone rides at XCO level or buys a DH bike, it's seems it's all a bit on it's head really
Yeah, good point, but I still feel sorry for them, It can’t be great to know that you’re at he bottom of the heap, being made to to race on a Thursday is pretty on the nose. Regardless of the fact that you’ve still got to train like a monster, and the risk is super high. Even Jordi from Fox on their YT channel was pretty sheepish about the Fox setup for the EDR (A wee van) compared to the DH/XCO set up just a km down the lane.
Given that EDR is closer to what most folks ride, and hardly anyone rides at XCO level or buys a DH bike, it’s seems it’s all a bit on it’s head really
I'm struggling to argue with any of that fella.
Anyway junior DH kicks off shortly, so the big question is:
Bodhi Kuhn or Henri Kiefer?
Of the first year juniors Mylann Falquet is a little off his previous form. Once he can get it together, he's one to look out for.
Erice van Leuven or Valentina Sanchez?
As much as I'd like Lisa Bouladou to win as she's very local to us, she's not quite as fast as those two.
Can't watch, comment, view... Me and the lad are watching tonight, so i'm out of this thread until about 7pm.
Oooh, bit of rain coming 😬
Erice van Leuven
that was a nasty crash 😣
Junior Men suspended halfway through the field - absolutely chucking it down and crucially - really, really windy!
Yep… although I wonder if it’s been done intentionally so they can wake up the camera crew, the sound people and the director. It’s ridiculous- at one point one of the riders was listed as French when he was in an Australian jersey!
I'll be watching the semi-finals on Youtube because it's easy, it's free and it's early so I can go out afterwards. Watching the whole thing now is a big time commitment.
Last week was the first final I've missed in years and it didn't bother me as much as I thought. It helped that we were away from home for the weekend though. I managed to watch most of the semi's live on my phone while following the Mrs around a Morrisons in Newcastle. It was a rare "wow technology is awesome" moment.
Who is it that does the 'course car' track inspection in the black kit? I dont recognise who it is.
Dunno… but a few sketchy moments
i think he was speaking German at the bottom
Erice van Leuven
that was a nasty crash 😣
Yep, you know that was a slowmotion moment.
I see Sam Hill has qualified, be interesting to see how he does although my expectations are pretty low for him. A bit disappointed that Reece Wilson hasn’t returned, saw his name on the list of potential starters and thought maybe he would.
Goldstone or Iles for the win I reckon.
Looks like the Enduro has taken second place or lower in the UCIs eyes. The stages were well spread out and short it comparison. Transition to stage 1 was over 20km and I'm told was a tough old slog. They must be creaming it in with entry fees with the amount of competitors but don't seem to be giving it the exposure it deserves
On a lighter note I hope they don't cut the trails up too much for when we get there next Friday on the first leg of our Alps trip
Who is it that does the ‘course car’ track inspection in the black kit? I dont recognise who it is.
Domi, a young local lad, he’s a mate of my lad’s. I’ve ridden with him a few times, really good rider and nice lad.
https://instagram.com/domigradnitzer?igshid=Y2IzZGU1MTFhOQ==
Devestating news for Pierron https://m.pinkbike.com/news/amaury-pierron-sustained-a-c5-vertebrae-fracture-in-lenzerheide.html
Vertebrae break will be whole season I guess? Obviously more important things. Hope he heals up soon.
Looks like first qualies were weather dependent. Hoping its the same for all tomorrow. Don't care if it rains or not, but better if all 30 have the same course and conditions
Yeah I'd say weather played a massive factor. It'll deffo mix the racing up today. Although I won't get to see it until Sunday night. Enjoy all!
Racing Thursday is a pain but William Brodie, local lad, having his bike stolen after he finished is, for him a bigger pain. Mind you I'm sure specialized will get another to him
Womens just starting😀
Feel for him, he must be gutted.
I've often wondered when seeing the amount of bikes about once a race has ended and the amount of people wandering about that it's a thief's paradise. Always told our daughter to be vigilant and never leave the bike alone.
And the men at 10:20...
https://www.youtube.com/live/wgXnF-6bCWg?feature=share
Why did they butcher Tahnee's run on the coverage, she wasn't that far back after her crash?
Valli looks awesome though!
I like the way they didn't show Valli's post race interview because she swore but they did cut to the presenter saying what she had said 😁. If the Hoff is ok she will give Valli some competition but Valli does look very fast.
Thought it was Patrick Kielty commentating for a minute 😁
I'm really impressed with t he footage so far. Loads of cameras
No commentators for the woman's final so far though, quite nice. Unless they're just recapping the lower places
Been commentating since finals started on Discovery+
No commentary here on Discovery+ via amazon, its rubbish! Same as last week.
No commentators for the woman’s final so far though, quite nice. Unless they’re just recapping the lower places
Full commentary on GCN. Worth checking if there is more than 1 stream, I’ve seen without/with options for road races before (although you wouldn’t know it from the descriptions)
