Sweet baby cheeses, the track looks fast! I’m going with:
1 - Bruni
2 - Goldstone
3 - Iles.
Vergier
Goldstone
Williams
Track looks absolutely ridiculous, but could have some Andorra style weather on the cards...Some good stuff on Vital already too.
That looks bonkers fast. I guess the top half is all about being brave enough not to touch the brakes
There will be chainring sizing up, shirt tucking into pants and speed tucking all round I think!
Wonder whether Super Brunis super suspension setting magic button comes into play on that flat out straight bits too - not much of it looks smooth though....
This is a new track isn’t it? Top does look flat out fast but gets seriously steep halfway onwards. The finals were up as tbc on the Saturday due to the weather, could it just be the semis that end up being raced? My random prediction is
Kolb
Vergier
Minnaar
Good to see Cathro back on the start list, really enjoying his vlogs this year, hope he qualifies.
Really really fast track. Love it. Going to crazy at the bottom once it gets steep and everyone's knackered from holding on so tight.
Theres a fairly sizable drop to not-quite-flat right at the end of the track, just before the final corner. Reminiscent of the one that finished of Rachel Athertons Ankle in Les Gets.
Right when you are absolutely blowing, fatigued, easily off-line.... could be interesting/
Troy Brosnan shown it best so far.... its hell of a huck!
The track looks amazing but it's not really 'built'. It'll be interesting to see how it shapes under with all this traffic. I know everyone complains about bikepark style tracks but at least they hold their shape under thousands of tyres. This one will be mutating all week.
If it got wet I'd just fly home.
Some surprising qualis.
Minnaar down in 55th
Jordan Williams in 102nd
and Jackson Goldstone; 109th.
This one will be mutating all week.
Perfect. Being able to adapt to changing tracks is a great skill to have
I rode it a few weeks ago, it wasn't fast for me! What is the forecast? It was crazy in the wet.
Sounds like Minnaar and Goldstone both crashed, but are protected. Nina lost time with a bad landing on the final step-down / corner which would probably have put her on par with Valli's time.
Good to see Cathro back on the start list, really enjoying his vlogs this year, hope he qualifies.
Unfortunately Ben DNS'd.
Looks like a great track, a bit different to the norm.. but it definitely looks like it'll 'evolve' over the weekend. One corner in particular looks like it's pretty much gone (see Jackson's course preview and I think it's on the VRaw above too).
There were some points in that vid, where even if I was physically capable of riding that track at those speeds, my brain couldn't keep up with where I was meant to go.
Having now watched a few of the vids that are up, the track looks absolutely full on, makes a good change to the more built tracks. Those sections after the bridge that are steep, technical and nastily off camber look insane on the track walks, it just looks vicious. Will be a real test of skill and nerves, of course they all are but this one looks a bit crazy.
Weather on my phone says some rain tmro pm, stormy, but then dry after that.
Juniors due on from 11am tomorrow. A few Brits made the cut so that's good
I swear he turns left while in the air, what tyres for thin air?
Eurosport 11am for junior finals today.
Love a new track 😊🤘
That video had me laughing. That first bit with the lump that caught a lot of riders out. Then you'd get one that just went round it smooth like butter... noticed the rider had Atherton* on their back. Sometimes though they'd launch of stuff that just looked insane.
*may have made that bit up.
Eurosport 11am for junior finals today
It isn’t showing up on YT ☹️
EDIT: Juniors cancelled due to bad weather
Be interesting to see what the weather does to the track
Just been out with the MTB club, we got back like drowned rats, I'll be surprised if much happens today.
Well judging by this clip of the juniors I found, it looks like the track is pretty much unridable in the wet, it’s really loamy in the steep oc sections rather than rocky and those bits are now greasy mush. With more rain forecast later and then the racing kicking off early, wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more timetable changes or cancelled altogether. Fingers crossed.
Sadly have to agree with Bernard..(in a ride companion podcast). faster tracks for bigger and more spectacular crashes and injuries = better TV with no compensation for the riders and their other means of finance progressively removed.
When the bloke rides Hardline after that crash say's that you have to stop and think! (Don't you?)
Well judging by this clip of the juniors I found, it looks like the track is pretty much unridable in the wet
On the other hand..
(although, presumably, he does crash a few times based on the cuts)
Seems like the UCI are pissing everyone off
Interview with Wyn is worth a watch for a bit more background / insider info and opinions:
Yeah I watched that last night, I wish the riders could get organised and tell the uci to **** off with their bullshit
Interesting that Flo seems to confirm Fort Bill for May next year after all of the rumours (again!) of this year's World Champs being it's swan-song on the circuit.
It looked a great potential track, but any degree of moisture will mean the elites will now probably be won by a lighter rider who can actually slow down at all on the steeps. Goldstone or Greenland would be good bets IMO.
Tracks like this are always going to be high risk for decent racing. The Vital Raw videos really showed how blown out many of the shallow catches were and how much earth each rider was shifting on each corner.
It would be great if the riders could get together and tell the UCI, Discovery etc to jog on, but I just can't see it happening. They are clearly not happy - now loads of criticism of the new format is coming out after what seemed to be a three line whip not to speak out. The format has been ruined, the coverage put behind a paywall and the commentary is terrible. Only the move to more footage from more of the course is an improvement. And what has happened to slow tech sections - they don't exist anymore apparently. 🙄
Hard to argue.
Dom Platt posting on PB not happy it was cancelled, Wyn Masters the same.
I posted about Rheola and arguable the UK Nationals at Rhyd Y Felin this year, the mud, slip, crashes were honestly ridiculous. I think I washed my lads bike 13 times at Rheola just to allow things to move, it was bonkers. His team mate crashed 5 times on race run and still got a podium in youth girls. I don't think my lad had a single run out of 15 runs where he didn't lie down. But this is what we are both rider and parents sign up for. It's how it is, the weather, we accept and just go with it. I've seen rain for 38 hours over a weekend, but you just get on with it.
I'd be amazed if many riders agree this should've been cancelled.
It would be great if the riders could get together and tell the UCI, Discovery etc to jog on, but I just can’t see it happening. They are clearly not happy – now loads of criticism of the new format is coming out after what seemed to be a three line whip not to speak out.
Yeah if you see the podcast with Bernard he seems genuinely upset that the riders union lost traction. (more resigned perhaps??)
Is it a daft question to ask if someone else just did a DH WC and got 80% or so of the riders with decent prize money, let them keep GoPro footage etc for their sponsors and provide medical insurance etc. would anyone care about the UCI event they call WC?
Considering a win only gets you €2000 and 10th gets you €200 which doesn’t even cover tyres it wouldn’t take much
would anyone care about the UCI event they call WC?
The problem is that the uci and British cycling are tied together. So you get a licence and points from BC which allows you or not to enter the WC races through qualification points etc. If you don't have one, you don't have the other.
This is a downside in some ways but also a plus, without the BC/UCI how do you decide who can or should be allowed to race? Or attempt to qualify? Unless you have these restrictions, then it's a potential free for all?
This of course doesn't affect the top 30 or 50 in the world, but could easily affect the other up and coming riders.
The more this season goes on, the more we all get the fact it's gone properly wrong in many ways, but it doesn't mean there's a quick and simple answer
Junior practice from this morning. It's a massacre
Ben Cathro speaks a lot of sense in his vid
Sadly have to agree with Bernard..(in a ride companion podcast). faster tracks for bigger and more spectacular crashes and injuries = better TV with no compensation for the riders and their other means of finance progressively removed.
Yet he turns up to ride hardline to help a company sell more drinks. He is always moaning about money yet is clearly doing very well from the sport. His company made £111k according to his latest accounts 2022 filings at companies house and £67k in 2021. Not bad for riding a bike
does seem a bit mental using courses where the chances of it being cancelled due to rain are so high
He is always moaning about money yet is clearly doing very well from the sport.
He's done well out of being canny with the exposure (advertising, sponsorship) the sport has brought him.. but that doesn't deflect from the fact the actual prize money for winning elite-level races is pretty pitiful.
does seem a bit mental using courses where the chances of it being cancelled due to rain are so high
It's an outdoor sport.. I'd rather run the risk and have an interesting race than suffer constant bike-park tracks which hold up in all weathers.
I'm suspicious that there's excessive "efficiency" in all aspects of organisation and that extends to weather contingency and safety planning. Its absolutely fine to cancel a race over safety issues, but not being prepared enough to anticipate them is another matter entirely.
Having an off-camber grass slope that will turn into a deep slop horror with any wet traffic, needing to carry speed into a big wood feature jump onto a mud runout seems a tad optimistic, especially in the mountains in late August/September.
It's one thing having a bit of slithery fun, but not with those kinds of consequences.
His company made £111k according to his latest accounts 2022 filings at companies house and £67k in 2021. Not bad for riding a bike
That’s not profit though is it? It doesn’t sound like much at all.
I though Wyn’s comments about the lack of ‘world’ in the UCI formats were bang on. Asia and South America would love some of this. As for the weather, maybe course designers could come up with routes that had slower b lines for wet weather conditions and a lines could be closed if there’s excessive risk on the day. After all it’s fastest down the hill however they get there.
