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Daprela
Wow. Just wow
Goldstone!
It's pretty unpredictable, none of the last 4 hot seat occupants have had consistent sectors, they've all gained/lost time in different places it seems...
Come on Jordan
He's in touch
Noooo!
Blimey, that Drone seemed like it was all over Vergier.
Gutted for Jordan, but also stoked for Jackson. The young'uns are on fire.
The first of many to come for Jackson I’m sure. 2 and a bit seconds, that’s some margin!
A Goldstone win was inevitable and there it is.
It was only a matter of when for Goldstone, but what a day to do it. Arguably the best race of the year so far
Arguably the best race of the year so far
In the top three for me for sure.
I was a little disappointed with the women's (final) race, it starts to feel like another era of one rider just coming out and crushing it each weekend is beginning. Which was always on the cards I suppose, but now Höll aparrently has her eye in I think she's going to be the forgone conclusion for a while yet. Which is a shame from a purely selfish perspective of wanting to see a competitive/unpredictable race.
That said, Hemstreet in P3 (IIRC) was just totally rad to watch, rough looking crash and straight back onto the bike and into the air! 😲
The men's final was exciting for sure. Kerr on the hotseat for ages... Brosnan was enough into the green that he looked to have won it. Daprela could have taken the win but for that front wheel slide (and, again, amazing to have such an incident and still be on the podium). Bruni storming down and then suddenly mysteriously not any more: drivetrain issues perhaps?
At the end though a great first elite win for Goldstone. Perhaps even more so given JW is a bit of a VDS specialist: there's probably some psychological edge to be gained simply by Goldstone winning there of all tracks.
Might have to rewatch some of it today 🤣
What the hell went wrong with Bruno's drivetrain, I couldn't see any issues at the finish line, chain was still on, he just couldn't turn the cranks for most of his run, reminded me of Warner with the lack of pedalling, did some of that top secret shrouding come loose and jam into the chainring. Jackson and Vali both pushing it to extreme limits like theirs lives depended on it, definitely more wins coming for both this year if they manage to stay upright, Hardline in a couple of weeks.
Yeah that was a blast.
Goldstone rode himself into the hot seat after taming the snake at Val Di Sole Trentino 😃😃😃😃😃
Aye I think I may have heard the phrase "Val di Sole Trentino" enough to be going on with for one lifetime 🤣
But that said, I thought the commentary came together a bit better this time round in terms of Rik and Cedric's interactions. Still a few non-sequiteur moments, but Rik seemed to be asking Cedric more leading questions to get more of a rider/team perspective on what was going on.
I still miss the line choice analysis stuff mind. Particular low point was Rik saying: "talk us through the lines here, Cedric", and Cedric having enough time to say "outside, inside, middle" before the rider was through the section and it was off screen again 🤣😭
The commentary was great apart from mentioning snake puns every 4 seconds.
Superb mens race. Fantastic. The whole top 20 is so close now, its a huge field.
Woman's was less a spectacle. I'm hoping Balanche and Hoffman (and Rachel) can push Holl so it's more entertaining, but can't knock what she did. Great run
Racing was great in both the DH and XC but, I don't think the commentary is getting much better.
Cedric just isn't natural or able to get the right words and phrases out. Maybe better in his own language, and I do hope they get it sorted but, it's a bit of a car crash at the mo.
Rob Warner and Matt Jones on the Redbull rooftop event was much better.
Really enjoyed the racing. the DH was good, with the rain clearly influencing the times on track I really did wonder if Kerr woud stay on the hotseat all the way, but as it dried up the speeds came right back, and some. Looked really sketchy when greasy.
The XC, again, was great to watch. the tactiic of the day was get out ahead and keep pushing, for both the womens and the mens.
What was clear was that the course was really really tough. very techical in places both up and down through roots, deep dusty section and pretty sharp inclines.
Nino was very impressive. he just keeps pushing on and on, even with a massive gap, just attacking everywhere he could. looked like he was really enjoying the ride, which is such a positive to watch.
XC for me, commentry was ok when Bart got a word in and if I hear "Mona Mittenwalder" one more time I'm going to throw a hissy fit. It's the new "carrying good speed" of the Warner era.
Think VdS would be a good visit next year. All the categories in one weekend seeing as Lenzerheide is off the schedule.
XC for me
yeah, I find the DH is OK. The racing is great, but the commentary is a bit off. Ric sortof gets excited, mildly, and cedric's script is made frm alphabetty spaghetti, it's not easy to follow.
XC however is much better, Bart s a good commentator, but sometimes the off tangient commentary gets a bit terry wogan, but without the humour.
was watching the british national champs, Oli Beckinsale (A name I've not heard since the 90's!) did a great job I thought.
Cedric just isn’t natural or able to get the right words and phrases out.
I think Ric is OK, he's already clearly pretty confident, give it time, he'll be fine in the role, Cedric...I can see why they chose him, all that experience, has done some commentary in the past, but perhaps just can't figure it out in a second language fast enough, God knows I couldn't do that in French. I can imagine Discovery starting to audition natural English speaking ex-racers to fill the place, it's not like there's a shortage of decent candidates: Gee Atherton maybe?
Gee Atherton maybe?
Says 'You Know' far too much to be a commentator. Like the new Pinkbike guy, like saying like all the like, time. Like.
Reece Wilson is a superb commentator so racers can do it. Like, you know.
I’d pay good money (well, the Discovery subscription fee) if they managed to poach Ben Cathro from Pinkbike.
Cathro would indeed be ace in the booth I think.
Having said that, it might be a bit of a case of "beware what you wish for". The PB content from Cathro and his team is a significant value-add over the course of the race weekend for me, not to mention some of the longer-form story-driven stuff they did last year which was genuinely very interesting and insightful.
In some kind of ideal dream world we could have it all, but I don't know whether that's a practical ask in reality.
I was impressed with Ric and Reece Wilson's commentary for the world champs last year. It was a refreshing change from the hypeman/expert combo. Accent wise it works from my English speaking northwest European pov, obviously not for other parts of the world taking a peek below the line elsewhere on the internet.
Controversial, but I think Cathro is awful. I'd like to see his behind the tape type videos but with a more polished format and a presenter that isn't trying to be 'wacky' all the time