Quite a lot less folk trying at this round than normal (75 men ish from memory), but I was still well chuffed when I saw he was in!
A few months ago there was talk that any non US citizens needed to be on a pro-team to get the elite athlete (and support staff) exemption from quarantine.
And without that, it was physically impossible to do both lenzerheide and snowshoe
Fingers crossed then. It would be nice to see everyone’s favorite line-choice chap in the RB feed, not least to hear what Warner might have to say about him 😀
Only just noticed he was racing in the British Cycling HSBC kit, rather than his normal DHARCO shirt.
I’ve never quite understood the reasoning behind the descision to wear the National Jersey or not, Cathro must have enough sponsors from SantaCruz, Pinkbike and so on that they would want to be represented? Or are they only sponsoring Ben the Videographer not Ben the Racer?
I cant imagine British Cycling giving much if any support to a “maybe just about qualifier”
40th place bagged him 20 points – not sure how that translates to UCI points, but I’m assuming he must have picked some up somewhere to be allowed to enter?
From what I can see from his national champs, national series and world cup results he should now have enough points to qualify for World Cup races next year.
Although who knows the points allocations are fairly complicated.
I knew Cathro was fast but I’ll admit I’m surprised by how well he’s done. He’s qualified faster than a whole load of WC regulars and he’s sitting just in front of Adam Brayton.
Only a select few make big money out of DH racing, being good isn’t enough. Social media wasn’t really around in the he same way when he was first racing and it’s really helped his cause now as he’s very marketable.
Im sure Tahnee Seagrave said in Duncan Shaws podcast a win gets you 3k. Obviously most of the top girls and guys are on a monthly wage as well. I’ve heard 50 to 60k mentioned for guys that regularly finish top 10 but obviously Vergier , bruni and co will be on more. Add on to that some of the sponsorship deals and the top guys still make decent money.
Its a real shame how Downhill , XC and BMX seems to be ignored for road riding and even in a way CX.
Still good luck to Ben , who would have thought when he jacked in downhill first time round to concentrate on sickskills how well he would do years later with Cathrovision and pinkbike. Seems a nice guy so well deserved.
Most people will never get rich from racing but to be honest the handful of pros and WC regulars that I’ve known don’t have the same financial concerns as most people.
Being an international dirtbag and slumming it in dirty vans and cheap hotels is all part of the fun. Then it’s back to your parents country mansion to spend the off season racing motocross or something.