You think Cannes is local to Lourdes?
That’s like Calling Brendan a Ft William Local.

there was no real home advantage. it’s not Enduro.
….
New WC venue, lots of French riders doing really well in qualifying and in the race, some punching well above (like the privateer) there have been nationals raced there and if you knew your first round was going to be there would you not be there for a few weekends before the race? If not your an idiot. Some of these guys must have had a bunch of inside knowledge on the course which would pay off, hence the number of WC riders that are riding the Ft Bill national round each year.

@Northwind, not saying he made 5s but the chances of making that at some other venues is not as easy.

commentators were suggesting that most riders were between 1 or 2 seconds on split 1 and then 5-8 seconds down at split 2 so yeah, I think Gwin found some mad line.

Did I imagine it, but was Ratboy protecting his ankle after a flatish landing towards the end of his run?

good race, good course, I think everyone forgot about Gwin after he didn’t show up last year…

Except for cheering for the GB riders and appreciating that we have a great set of riders who represent the UK that it’s something to celebrate.

I’m Scottish. Not GBish

WE have no Team GB

Personally I was most looking forward to seeing to Remi, Mike and Neko’s runs simply because they were looking the Radest all weekend. Where they were born has nothing to do with it for me.

I find patriotism (especially in multination Team sports) all just a bit too inbred.

I’m Scottish. Not GBish
WE have no Team GB

Good for you, lots of other people are British and like to celebrate that. The strength of UK/GB cycling is something to celebrate. Partly as having seen some of the Brits riding in regional races and being great for the sport and wanting to support those guys when they hit the big stage.

Do you actually have no clue as to how large a country France is Mike? There’s NOTHING stopping ANY of the riders heading to Lourdes before the event.

Ft Bill is a trail centre in comparison. Nothing changes there at all at a National apart from the 15 seconds of woods they tape in for SDAs/BDS/WC that are closed to everyday punters.

Last time Gwin did something like this was at Val di Sole. Rough and loose track, with balls out moto style riding with extra firm suspension.

Whatever he did to make up that much time, it is pretty impressive.

Not sure how I’d feel about a dominant Gwinn winning every round by big margins all season, it sort of took the fun out of it last time he did that.

Great result for Mike Jones…

Do you actually have no clue as to how large a country France is Mike? There’s NOTHING stopping any of the riders heading to Lourdes before the event.

Yep driven up and down it a lot, It’s a really small country think I’m doing 500km more next week for a week long riding road trip (1 way) than driving Calais to Lourdes. Most of the yanks, aussies, kiwi’s etc. would have been there, if yo have been there for a couple of nationals and being a pro and having some time not heading down there for a weekend etc. would really surprise me. Of course the French guys might just be on top of the world… If I lived in France and I was looking at racing the WC I’d be down there a couple of times after the snow left.

..and the ‘Mercan who just put 4 seconds into every other rider spent winter in Cali eating cookies and that top “Local” you elude to having practiced more than anyone else still slides out on the very first corner. How much do you think local knowledge came into the winning result a fortnight back in Rotorua?

As with many new tracks, this track was an entirely different prospect after just one days practice nevermind from weeks earlier before it was even taped out. Local knowledge is an advantage, yes, but nowhere near as big a deal as you seem to make out for the very top guys.

Like I said earlier, this is not Enduro.

Gwin looked much smoother than most to me, most were smacking through the rough stuff using most of their travel but he seemed to skim through at pace.

Gwin is really bloody talented.

Gain only seems to use the top 50% of his bike’s travel(!)

Warner was spot on when he said that if you can hang on to it, a bike with stiffer suspension can be ridden faster than those set up softer. We are not talking about normal riders here, but guys who are looking to hold speed and skim over bumps and holes.

To agree with Rob Warner again, I think that Bryceland will be happy after two lots of surgery on his foot and ankle that he is still up there.

As for my favourite moan, even his team manager was talking about Brendan Fairclough running out of energy near the bottom of the course. I hope he, or somebody else gets an extra large pair of arse-kicking boots and makes Fairclough take it properly seriously. He should be a top five rider every round with his natural ability, but he is pissing away the likely peak of his career! I really want to see what he is capable of if he gives up the ‘it is cool to be a slacker’ attitude and goes the extra 10%.

Overall, though, great track and a worthy start to the season. Thank god that Pietermaritzburg is off the list this year.

Last time Gwin did something like this was at Val di Sole.

That’s what I was thinking, hopefully he’ll be less dominant at the next few rounds.

Still got to wonder what Hill might have been able to do, but very pleasing to see his young protege third – with Hart and Dale on the podium.

I hope he, or somebody else gets an extra large pair of arse-kicking boots and makes Fairclough take it properly seriously

I think Neko Mullaly already did that. Brendan should be pleased with 6th.

I think Neko Mullaly already did that. Brendan should be pleased with 6th.

Yes he should. For now. In my opinion, he is the most naturally talented rider there. More talented than the likes of Bryceland and Hill even. I just want him to fulfill his potential. Sam Blenkinsop is another from a similar mould. It’s almost as if they’re scared that if they do put in as much training as the really top guys and still don’t win, then they’re exposed.

What a great sport it is, though. The abilities and cojones of the riders combines with the technical capabilities of the bikes is bewildering to mere mortals.

All they need to develop now is some kind of styrofoam solid tyre filling and it’ll be all good!

Erm…. I would go as far to say Blenki is one of the fittest out there actually. Trains his ass off along with Wyn.

If you also do the math and look at the actual sector times rather than just the split times you’ll see that Fairclough is only 1.5sec back from Gwin in Sector 2 as was Hart and Bryceland.

Seems just that Gwin was able to follow it through all 3 sectors consistently

Northwind
What are the odds he made 5 seconds on some super line? Commentators (and probably us too) are obsessed with single sections, I bet you 10 scottish pence he mostly took 1/10ths off everyone else in the bits that don’t grab headlines.

Whilst i agree to some degree, at this level, no one, not even Gwin, bests the rest of the worlds bests in the corners in one split to take 5sec out of them! I suspect he did have a good line in one corner that allowed him to carry speed through the next long section, and hence the time gain.

More talented than the likes of Bryceland and Hill even.

Goanny explain what you mean by this?
Seems a little strange that he’d keep all his extra natural Talent hidden so well while riding on the same team as Hill.
Amazing rider, yes. I’m just not so sure how one measures “natural” talent between different riders.

Go team english
Go team welsh
oh dear team scotland

If you also do the math and look at the actual sector times rather than just the split times you’ll see that Fairclough is only 1.5sec back from Gwin in Sector 2 as was Hart and Bryceland.

Good point, time gaps are cumulative not particular to each sector.

Gwin’s just back in full-on Terminator mode and I just hope Bryceland can get back to top form and the easy speed he had last season so there’s someone consistent to give him a run for his money.

It’s almost as if they’re scared that if they do put in as much training as the really top guys and still don’t win

To be fair we don’t know how much training each rider is putting in and winning in WC DH appears to be more of a mental than physical thing anyway. Hence Brendan’s sudden improvement now he’s got a very talented teammate, I suspect.

😆 @ Stuart Hall

Wee Fraser McGlone did no too shabby today TBF

I’m Scottish. Not GBish

as far as i can tell, the british riders all have GBR next to their name on the timesheet which means that there are no scottish riders, just brits. Bet that pisses you off. You’d better go and find a sport with scots in it to support, I think you’d fit right in with the soccer crowd.

Sam Blenkinsop is another from a similar mould. It’s almost as if they’re scared that if they do put in as much training as the really top guys and still don’t win, then they’re exposed.

Have you seen Blenkinsop’s results in the enduro races he’s tried? He is a beast. Won the Garbanzo DH at Crankworks and has been on the podium for the EWS.

No doubt he is supremely fit, but is also talented at a longer race format and racing blind. If he switched to enduro my guess is he’d be up there with Graves and Clementz.

Brendog on the other hand is probably not as fit as some of the others. Every year people say the same thing and every year he doesn’t live up to his god given ‘talent’

Can’t say i’ve ever seen any videos of him training his arse off like Gee or Gwin Etc. Still when you can ride rampage and make it look easy and have that much style, it’s not like he is going begging for sponsors or money.

I think it’s probably fair to say that if your qualifying top 20 in men’s elite DH you’re probably going to be pretty bloody fit 😆

FFS! Read what I wrote Wrecker.
and incase you can’t work it out for yourself, I hate blind Patriotism. It’s nothing more than a retarded, inbred and outdated way of fooling plebs.
The DH World Cup is not a Nation Vs. Nation competition, One of the reasons I love following it so much.

Brendan’s Rampage run wasn’t stylish. It was almost as if no one told him style and tricks add to your overall score. He rode nice lines well tho.

The DH World Cup is not a Nation Vs. Nation competition, One of the reasons I love following it so much.

No nationalism in DH?

Well done for confusing the one off event of the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS for year long battle for the THE WORLD CUP SERIES.

Brendan’s Rampage run wasn’t stylish.

I didn’t say it was 🙄 He rode a line that half of the field would have struggled to make it down and made it look easy.

Does anyone read his posts anymore?

You seem to love xx

Well done for confusing the one off event of the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS for year long battle for the THE WORLD CUP SERIES.

So you don’t follow the world champs only the world cup 😯

Biscuits anyone?

Biscuits anyone?

I think disco biscuits might be required here.

I think you’ll find they are racing under British cycling licences hence GB. So get over your daft Scottish nationalism. We can all support our own local riders without petty moaning.

made it look easy.

Isn’t that style though?

Style isn’t just kick outs and roost, i thought nice style was just simply doing stuff really well, effortless and casual (coming from a BMXer who ain’t happy until a trick looks/feels a certain way). Style can also be that persons unique way of doing stuff. Basically just doing stuff really well.

I love watching most elite level DH races but hate the patriotism of the World Champs.

is this really so difficult to understand?

I wrote the go team GB comment, and I stand by iT.

Yes I do understand World Cup vs World Champs.

I root for ‘our’ gang. Our riders, from these islands. The locals. The ones I see out riding our trails. The ones that inspire my kids. Yes they race for a team (or themselves). But that does not take away from the fact that they are Brits. And for that reason, I cheer ‘them on and celebrate with them.

And today, our gang of men and women did us proud. Whooooooo!

See you on the trail someday.

I love watching most elite level DH races but hate the patriotism of the World Champs.

is this really so difficult to understand?

No, but your vehemence and rudeness is.

Isn’t that style though?

I thought it rather stylish of Tracey Hannah to get back on following that faceplant.

No, but your vehemence and rudeness is.

Not actually that difficult to understand on a basic level, really. The deeper needs involved may be, though.

If you see what I mean.